The Wrap

The most important thing to realize about business development is that in order to be good at it, you'll have to find within you the savvy of a salesperson, the artful touch of a networker, and the musical energy of hustler. The whole point of this practice is not only to create long-term value for your company from your customers, markets and relationships, but to find synergistic relationships between all of them so that the capability of each can multiply the capability of the other. You'll need to wear a lot of hats – but it's absolutely critical that you perform when the time comes.

You've arrived at the end of the e-book, and consequently, you've now traveled all the way through the business development process. You've learned it's best to go after the big dogs – decision makers at large organizations that serve a group of targets – but if you can't get them, you shouldn't be afraid of going after the up-and-comers, either. You've learned how to plan, how to prospect, how to approach, how to pitch and lastly, how to close.

Now you're ready to get out there and put your knowledge to work. Experience is the best teacher, after all. Good luck!