In This Issue
Focus
4 Pre- and Post-Event Strategies for Relationship Nurturing
Explore ways to use strategic planning, personalized communication and meaningful follow-ups to turn professional events into powerful networking and business opportunities.
8 Growth Architects: Building Your Firm’s Business Development Foundation
Discover how to evaluate and structure business development efforts to drive sustainable growth, with insights from industry leaders on setting realistic goals, integrating roles and embracing future-focused strategies.
14 What Is The Actual Return On Investment of Cold Outreach vs. Strengthening Relationships?
Discover the key to maximizing ROI by balancing the speed of cold outreach with the lasting impact of strong relationship-building.
Pre- and Post-Event Strategies for Relationship Nurturing
By Tara Arrington
Whether you are planning a firm-hosted seminar or organizing attendees for a chamber of commerce reception, developing strategies to engage with attendees before and after the event can make the event more successful.
An event can lead to your firm scoring a dream client, aligning with the perfect partner or making meaningful connections in the referral space. If you’re not developing relationships outside the event though, they have the potential to be a waste of time and resources.
Starting before an event begins, analyze your guest list to help you pair attendees with the team members you want them to meet. Obtaining the list is easy when you’re organizing a firm-hosted event, but it’s not always simple for events your firm attends or sponsors. Jen Lemanski, senior manager in practice growth for PKF Texas, says that she will work with her coworkers attending an event to identify a handful of people they should meet. Lemanski specified that this is most effective with smaller events.
“We don't bother [assigning potential targets at large events] because finding one person in a sea of 700 people is just not going to happen,” says Lemanski.
A little personalization can make an
impactful difference when engaging with attendees prior to an event. Kelsey Blum, partner marketing manager at Brand House Marketing, explained that their team prioritizes individualized communication before events. Brand House Marketing is MBE CPAs’marketing firm, providing marketing services for both MBE CPAs and clients.
“When individuals see emails from their tax manager versus our generic company email, the likelihood of them opening it increases dramatically. We also like acknowledging past interactions or anticipating discussions on specific topics,”says Blum.
Social media is another tool to engage with attendees prior to your event. Blum states that they use social media to spark conversations and build excitement before an event such as MBE CPAs’Annual Leadership Summit. Sharing content for the Leadership Summit would look like highlighting the program and/or speakers, using relevant hashtags and engaging with users who interact with your call-toactions.
Pre-event communication can also elevate an attendee’s experience. Since their Annual Leadership Summit includes keynote speakers, Blum and her team will send polls and request questions for the speakers.
As a marketer in a notoriously introverted industry, growth professionals are sometimes called to coach accountants on business development. Though Lemanski shared that their partners are heavily engaged in BD, relevant training
sessions are helpful for managers and senior managers. She covers dos and don’ts in networking training and meets with those new to the firm, one-on-one, to create a strategy for success. Her biggest piece of advice for accountants to improve BD skills? “Don’t congregate with your coworkers at a networking event.”
If you are organizing the event, leverage your coordination skills to enhance communication. Jennifer Brown, growth manager at Pease Bell CPAs, used careful organization to foster new opportunities during a dealmaker’s event. Held at Top Golf, she ensured each bay included a banker, lawyer, CPA, private equity professional and a high-net-worth individual.
“We put our people in each bay to meet the right people and we had three to four big deals [from the event]. Although the event was expensive, it paid for itself five times over,”Brown said.
When it comes to non-firm-hosted events, choosing the right opportunity is central to developing a relationship strategy. When you’re deciding which events to sponsor, Lemanski recommends discretion.
“We are picking either organizations or events where we know there’s going to be a rich environment for networking,”she said. She also recommended reaching out to event organizers for their expertise, such as requesting recommendations or asking them to be on the lookout for your team members. If it’s an organization you partner with often, you can ask for their assistance to help
one of your team members connect with another event attendee.
Following an event, surveys are an actionable way to engage with attendees, especially for firm-hosted events. Blum said their team reaches out to attendees to understand what went well and what didn’t.
“In doing so, the attendee also feels like their input is appreciated, and when they see changes the following year, they feel like their feedback was validated. In the post-event survey, we also ask for their suggestions for speakers, which I think is fun because everyone suggests numerous people, allowing us to vet a variety of individuals for the next Summit,”says Blum.
Creating meaningful relationships following an event can be orchestrated with the help from marketing. Brown used a mixer with one of their referral sources, a local law firm, to create networking maps for her firm’s partners. She worked with the law firm’s marketing director to
pair each Pease Bell partner with a partner from the law firm, analyzing their services and specialties to create the best matches possible.
“[The partners] were excited about it. Their backgrounds really aligned, so they had a lot to talk about,”Brown emphasized. Thanks to research, Brown didn’t receive pushback, and she plans to replicate this formula with their manager group.
Business development can feel uncomfortable for accountants because they worry about coming across as too sales-focused and unauthentic. Education-focused events offer a natural way to follow up with event attendees. For example, Lemanski’s team sends event attendees a landing page following an event with information about their services along with relevant presentation materials. If one of their team members meets a potential client at a networking event and engaged in genuine conversation about a particular niche, PKF will send
their corresponding one pager to the prospect.
Quality over quantity also leads to a more authentic message. Blum states that their team limits post-event communication from the firm at large to two follow-up emails.“This way it isn’t too much communication but enough where the attendee feels as though their feedback is appreciated,” she said.
An accounting marketer’s strategy can help nurture relationships, but like most marketing projects, buy-in from CPAs and other firm leaders is key for an event’s success. Marketers can provide tools and expertise, but CPAs must take ownership in their networking efforts, leading to authentic relationships and potential dream clients.
Tara Arrington, leader of marketing, communications, and engagement, Kassouf & Co. Inc.. Contact at tarrington@kassouf.com.
PLATINUM
Ben Sappington
Ben Sappington, a seasoned business development professional with nearly two decades of experience, is at the helm of growth efforts for the Aerospace & Defense and Transportation & Logistics practices at Moss Adams. Since joining the firm, he’s played a vital role in developing and optimizing nationwide sales strategies, as well as guiding a team of BD professionals toward firmwide success.
Ben, you’re known for your strategic approach to business development (BD). How do you approach carving out time each day to maximize success?
Intentionality is everything. I always start with a clear focus on my highest-impact activities. In a role like mine, you could get distracted by a hundred tasks, so I prioritize those that align with the firm's growth goals. Each day, I make sure most of my time is spent on activities that directly support those objectives — like nurturing industry relationships or prepping for key client meetings. The idea is to balance immediate BD needs with longterm relationship-building that will generate the best results down the line.
Let’s talk about picking a niche. How can someone determine the right focus area for BD?
Choosing the right niche is crucial for anyone in BD. I recommend starting by assessing where the firm’s current strengths lie and where you see the most potential for growth. Look at where the firm already has clients and ask, “Is there an industry we could expand within?”For example, I initially started in agriculture, where Moss Adams had a strong foundation, then transitioned to aerospace and defense because it presented substantial growth potential. Picking a niche involves assessing both your personal strengths and the firm’s capacity to support that industry.
What does a successful day look like for you?
A successful day involves a mix of high-touch client interactions and strategic internal planning. I start each day by prioritizing my outreach efforts — connecting with prospective clients, following up with existing ones, and touching base with key partners. After that, I spend time strategizing with our internal teams to make sure everyone’s aligned. When you’re clear about what your niche needs, you can balance relationship-building with tasks that keep your strategy moving forward.
For those with a broader role or fewer resources, can you offer advice on where they should focus?
If you’re a solo BD person, you must be even more intentional. I recommend ranking your firm’s top growth areas and aligning your time with those priorities. For instance, focus on just one or two major industries that offer substantial client potential rather than trying to cover everything. Identify key events, partnerships and decision-makers in that space, and devote your resources to those specific avenues.
Do you have any final thoughts?
Once you’ve identified a niche, how should someone allocate their time within it?
Once you’ve selected your niche, focus 80% of your time there. For me, that means staying deeply connected in the aerospace, defense and transportation sectors. It’s not just about attending conferences and trade shows, although those are important. It’s about understanding the community and aligning with the industry’s rhythm. The remaining 20% of your time can be spent maintaining general relationships or exploring emerging opportunities, but those core industry relationships should get the lion’s share of your attention.
Intentional BD is the difference between just being busy and actually moving the needle. When you pick the right niche and devote most of your time to it, you’re creating depth instead of surface-level connections. Depth is what generates trust, credibility and eventually growth. So, be clear on your goals, pick a niche that aligns with your strengths and your firm’s direction and make every effort count.
Interview by Christine Proulx Grzyb
How can sales and marketing collaborate to ensure quality prospect interaction?
Having sales and marketing aligned is critical in getting deals closed! I believe both can work together to develop a clear and laser-focused approach to landing the client. We always leverage our marketing talent at Withum to work with our leaders, create content, design and launch campaigns. We then leverage our sales team to specifically target those efforts at very specific companies or individuals within those companies. Having sales and marketing live inside the same CRM technology solution is an absolute MUST to guarantee that everyone is on the same page and not tripping over each other. Both must work together to continuously analyze the results to ensure we achieve our desired outcomes.
JamesCBourke,CPA,CITP,CFF,CGMA, managing director — advisory services,
Withum Smith+Brown,
PC
Marketing’s clients are the people in the sales function. Marketing exists to support the objective of driving firmwide revenue, not just creating visibility, credibility and relevance (VCR). Many marketing organizations are focused on VCR and forget why they are there in the first place. Firms can spend lots of money on VCR and not drive revenue, but I wouldn’t recommend it! Once these concepts are fully embraced, marketers have the mindset to be optimally effective and wise choices and implementations follow. When I ran marketing, I always judged our performance by how the sales organization (our clients) perceived our organization.
Gale
Crosley, CPA, CGMA, CEO, Crosley+Company
Sales and marketing must operate as aligned, equal partners to strategically close deals and drive revenue. By sharing goals, creating open communication channels and maintaining mutual accountability, these teams can ensure every prospect interaction is intentional and impactful. Marketing brings expertise in branding and messaging, while sales offer insights from client interactions—together, they craft strategies that resonate with prospects. Regular collaboration fosters innovation and ensures a seamless client journey, from the first touchpoint to closing the deal. Trust and transparency allow both teams to adapt quickly and refine their approach based on feedback. Celebrating shared wins and learning from challenges strengthens the partnership and ensures a unified effort toward growth. When sales and marketing complement each other, the firm thrives.
Jeff Jacobs, director of development, Wilkins Miller
An overlooked fundamental is having sales and marketing not aligned in their CRM prospect lifecycle stages. Setting up“rules for CRM tools”clarifies the handoff for when marketing owns a lead and when Biz Dev (BD) owns a lead. It could be as simple as marketing owning opt-in communications and BD owning leads from opt-in to close. If these “rules for CRM tools”aren’t set up, a lead may receive a marketing email inviting them to set up a free consultation within hours of a proposal email from BD, leading to unnecessary confusion in the prospect's mind. When marketing and BD communicate their“rules for CRM tools,”there are clear lines of communication with leads in the pipeline.
Mark
Jamnik, co-founder, Kindred
By leveraging each team's strengths, sales and marketing can work together to ensure every prospect interaction is strategically designed to close deals and secure new revenue. Marketing can craft targeted materials that clearly convey what sets the firm apart, while sales will focus on reinforcing these messages during conversations. One way to achieve this is by having marketing implement nurturing campaigns, such as emails and newsletters, to warm up leads, which the sales team can then follow up with personalized communication to convert them into active opportunities. Regular strategy meetings allow both teams to analyze prospect behavior and develop tailored responses that address distinct challenges and goals. By aligning these efforts, both teams ensure that every prospect interaction is optimized to drive revenue and close deals.
Michael J. Stephano, CPA, managing partner, Stephano Slack LLC
Interviews by Eileen Monesson
Growth Architects: Building Your Firm’s Business Development Foundation
By Stacy Dreher and Kaila Yim
Business development
(BD) has become increasingly vital to accounting firm success, regardless of firm
size.
As competition intensifies and service offerings expand, firms are recognizing the need for dedicated business development resources. However, building an effective BD function requires careful planning and a clear understanding of your firm’s readiness.
How to Assess if Your Firm is Ready for Business Development
The first step in evaluating business development readiness is examining your current growth trajectory.
Art Kuesel, President of Kuesel Consulting, encourages firms to ask the critical question,“Is your current business development engine strong enough to achieve your growth goals without business development support?”He’s seen firms as small as 50 people successfully support a full-time business developer, while some firms of 250-300 people operate without one.
Partner support and service capacity go hand in hand when evaluating readiness. Lori Langholz, Chief Business Development Officer at BDO USA, emphasizes the importance of having“a large enough group of principals who want a business developer.”She then advises firms to analyze how much they want to sell and if they have the capacity to service the new business brought in.
Understanding realistic timelines for success is equally important.The typical
sales cycle runs 3-9 months, according to Kuesel, from initial meeting to signed engagement letter. Firms must be prepared to invest in business development as a long-term strategy rather than expecting immediate results.
How to Structure the Business Development Role for Success
Structuring the business development function requires careful consideration of firm needs, markets and goals.While traditional BD models focused purely on new business generation, firms now recognize the need for deeper integration with firm operations.
Geographic, industry, or service focus represents one of the first decisions firms face. According to Langholz, "We continue to have a geography forward model where we have business developers who support a particular geography, but we are leaning more and more into industry go-to-market as
well as buyer-centric go-to-market approaches."
Some firms are moving beyond traditional "hunter" roles to embrace a more comprehensive approach. Ralph MacNamara, Chief Growth Officer at Kaufman Rossin, advocates for a combination of business development and sales enablement rather than pure business development alone. "When you have these lone salespeople in a firm, they’re not as integrated as much as you would like within the practice."
This integration proves crucial for enhanced collaboration and long-term success. Business developers should participate in technical training, understand service delivery, and work closely with practice leaders. MacNamara encourages firms to involve BD professionals in practice area meetings, industry team meetings and regional sales strategy meetings, noting that bringing in leads is just one component of their overall value.
The relationship between business developers and partners requires careful consideration. Kuesel emphasizes the importance of positioning business developers as partners to the partners. "If there's anything in the job description or compensation model that encourages competition, that's not a good thing," he explains. "You don't want the business developer competing with partners for business."
For smaller firms just starting their BD journey, a hybrid role often makes sense.This might involve combining lead generation with sales enablement activities or proposal support.The key is ensuring the structure aligns with firm capabilities and market opportunities.
Setting Goals and Expectations
Setting appropriate goals for business developers requires balancing ambition with reality. Many firms struggle with this balance, either expecting too much too soon or failing to establish clear metrics for success.
Jack Kolmansberger, Chief Growth Officer at Herbein + Company, takes a measured approach to first-year goals. "Even if you hire the best business developer in the world, they’ll need to build credibility in the market and within the firm," he notes. His firm focuses on recognizing both effort and outcomes, particularly in the early stages.
The pressure to show immediate results can lead to poor decisions. MacNamara warns against rushing to meet arbitrary targets. If a business developer is pressured to have immediate results, they might bring opportunities to the firm that aren't quite a fit but pressure the firm to accept them because they need to meet their goals, he explains.
Another successful model includes the layering of performance metrics.
Langholz describes BDO's approach: "First and foremost, it's revenue. Behind the revenue goals, we measure opportunities — how many opportunities are they both bringing to the firm and participating in?Then we back that up another step — how many meetings are they having?"
Langholz suggests metrics should evolve with experience, noting that meeting quotas becomes less important for business developers who consistently generate revenue significantly above their quota.
Keys to Long-term Success
Long-term success in business development relies heavily on cultural fit and firm integration. Business developers must be viewed as valuable team members rather than outside sales representatives who occasionally bring in leads.
Compensation structure can significantly impact long-term success. "Through mutual trust, we can account for the anticipated first-year learning curve and build appropriate compensation packages in the future, particularly for bonuses,”explains Kolmansberger.“We're not looking to be us versus you. If one of us wins, we all win." His firm avoids rigid formulas in favor of recognizing both effort and outcomes.
Clear communication channels between business developers and firm leadership help maintain momentum. Regular meetings to discuss opportunities, challenges and changing market conditions ensure everyone stays aligned.This ongoing dialogue helps firms adjust strategies and support as needed.
Langholz emphasizes the importance of collaborative relationships between business developers and partners.The most successful business developers, she notes, develop what she calls "situational fluency" — understanding exactly what support each partner needs, whether that's lead generation, presentation preparation, client expansion or project management.
Growth Considerations for the Future
As firms evolve, their approach to business development must adapt. Technology integration increasingly influences business development success. Kolmansberger describes his firm's efforts to leverage data analytics: "We're trying to develop success metrics and models for each of our core industries and then identify gaps and opportunities."
Some firms are exploring specialized roles within their BD teams. BDO, for example, has recently added national account executives to focus on their largest strategic clients. Langholz notes this change reflects their firm's upmarket movement and their clients' increasing sophistication.
When planning for growth, firms should also consider industry specialization
within their BD function. MacNamara suggests that bringing in professionals with deep industry experience and established networks can help accelerate business development efforts.
Advisory services represent another key growth area for many firms. At Kaufman Rossin, MacNamara reports that advisory services now comprise 80% of his focus, reflecting a broader industry trend toward specialized service offerings beyond traditional tax and audit work.
The future of business development demands increasingly diverse skill sets. Kuesel notes that digital marketing efforts support lead generation, and these opportunities require qualification and sales support. Firms need to be realistic about roles specialization rather than expecting one individual to support all aspects of business development.
Building effective business development capabilities takes time, patience and commitment. Firms that thoughtfully assess their readiness, however, carefully structure roles, set appropriate expectations and maintain focus on long-term success can build sustainable business development functions that drive growth well into the future.
Stacy Dreher, marketing director, James Moore & Co.. Contact at stacy.dreher@jmco.com
KailaYim, marketing specialist, Froehling Anderson. Contact at kyim@fa-cpa.com.
Nikki Burgeson Principal and Director of Sales and Business Development Rehmann
As a principal at Rehmann, Nikki Burgeson develops strategy, leads Rehmann’s business development team and spearheads the firm’s sales culture integration efforts. She does this by aligning the skills, talent and technical expertise of business advisors with new clients to ensure they receive customized, financially rewarding business solutions.
Nikki let’s start with an instance where you’ve adopted new digital strategies in coordination with your marketing department.
Our team knew that outstanding functionality was becoming available in the fast growing area of automated proposals. We decided to bring this opportunity to our Accounting Solutions group as they were eager and receptive to testing and rolling it out.
What were the first steps?
Rehmann’s proposal team, led by Melissa Furest, began our initial research on functionality and key vendors for consideration. Through several rounds of demos and a detailed analysis system, the team vetted several solutions to make a recommendation for advancing the Firm’s proposal process.
We selected Qwilr and the product is very impressive. So much so that other industry groups chimed right up and told us they wanted to be next in line, so we sped up the rollout.
Let’s switch to another digital advancement underway at Rehmann. You have a new website, and it is being put to the test by the firm’s significant investment in digital ads. How’s that going?
We launched our new site in 2023, and since then, we’ve seen a remarkable increase in both the quantity and quality of leads. This surge can be largely attributed to our strategic digital ad campaigns, showcasing the effectiveness of our digital marketing efforts. This has been especially true for Orlando, a market that we have been focusing heavily on with brand awareness campaigns and now, lead generation campaigns.
I believe this is a direct result of the increasingly social nature of business interactions today. Our digital marketing strategy, particularly through targeted ads and engaging
content, has significantly boosted our online presence. Digital marketing allows us to meet people where they are, get in front of them, introduce them to our brand and allows for touchpoints throughout the entire buyer journey. For instance, we can host a mixer one night and see a noticeable spike in website leads the next day. This clearly demonstrates the powerful impact of our digital marketing initiatives. What resources do you bring to this effort?
We have a wonderful digital agency for creative testing, audience segmentation and for media buying. We add to that our new data intelligence tool, ZoomInfo to research leads, integrated with our Client Relationship Management (CRM) database, Salesforce. These resources collectively enhance our ability to generate and convert high-quality leads through our digital strategies.
What’s next and is there an interest in or drive to develop marketing and BD digital solutions in house?
I see digital adoption picking up speed as we learn to use these technologies to boost efficiency, engage clients and stay competitive. Digital transformation is a critical pillar in our strategic plan. We want to ensure we are equipped with the skills that improve efficiency like deploying a digital user experience that drives client satisfaction and using technologies that inspire our people toward innovation. We have a strong interest in creating tailored solutions that meet the firm’s needs. Developing these applications internally can provide greater control over features, like real-time feedback, along with customization and integration with existing systems.
Furthermore, we encourage input through our internal Salesforce steering committee. We meet monthly to prioritize development, share new ideas and develop strategies to increase adoption.
Interview by Richard Shippee
Four Important Steps to Improve Lead Quality with Marketing Technology
The landscape of lead generation is evolving and that means accounting marketers must shift their focus from merely generating leads to cultivating high-quality prospects that are more likely to convert into loyal clients. By strategically utilizing a robust marketing technology (MarTech) stack, firms can not only streamline their processes but also gain invaluable insights that refine your targeting and engagement strategies. By following these steps, marketers can leverage marketing technology effectively to enhance lead quality, ultimately leading to stronger client relationships and increased business success.
Step 1: Start withYour MarTech Stack
A well-integrated MarTech stack is the foundation for improving lead quality. Begin with a robust customer relationship management (CRM) system that centralizes all client interactions and data. This allows your team to manage leads effectively and track their journey. Next, incorporate marketing automation tools to streamline communication and nurture leads based on their behavior. Implementing analytics tools will enable you to assess campaign performance and gain insights into lead engagement. Finally, consider using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data and optimize your marketing strategies, ensuring you are targeting the right prospects with relevant messaging.
Step
2: Build a Best Practice
Developing best practices is essential for maximizing your MarTech investment. Start with team training for your CRM to ensure all users understand how to input and manage lead data effectively. Establish a lead scoring system to prioritize prospects based on their engagement level and likelihood to convert. Utilize data insights to refine your understanding of your audience, tailoring your approach to meet their specific needs and preferences.
Step
3: Plan and Execute Campaigns
With a solid foundation in place, it’s time to plan and execute targeted campaigns. Use account-based marketing (ABM) platforms to identify and engage high-value accounts. Nurture leads through marketing automation, delivering personalized content that aligns with their interests. Leverage lookalike and remarketing technology to target similar audiences and reengage previous visitors. Additionally, use AI to enhance content creation and targeting, ensuring your messaging resonates with potential clients.
Step
4: Measure and Optimize
Finally, measuring and optimizing your efforts is key to improving lead quality over time. Use AI tools to predict lead quality based on historical data and engagement metrics. Employ analytics to identify trends and patterns, allowing you to adapt your strategies accordingly. Continuous optimization will help you refine your approach, ensuring your marketing efforts are focused on generating high-quality leads that contribute to your firm’s growth.
Siouxsie Jennett
Marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs) are essential in a firm's growth strategy. Marketing activities should generate leads aligned with key industries, ideal client profiles and services. Sales activities then progress these leads into SQLs, where the sales/BD team identifies an active opportunity for deeper qualification. Unprogressed leads may return to nurturing. Typically, firms need 2-3 times more MQLs than SQLs, making lead data quality and CRM use critical.
A functionally integrated firm, not siloed, is better positioned for growth. Marketing and sales can collaborate by 1) Jointly designing and monitoring growth strategies. 2) Agreeing on key industries and ideal clients to generate high-quality leads. 3) Holding joint meetings to share best practices, fostering collaboration and reducing silos.
Amy Franko
Amy Franko Associates amy@amyfranko.com
How do
marketing
and sales collaborate to qualify leads and generate new business opportunities?
Marketing excels at contact management, events and content, while BD is great at generating and executing conversations. For example, in an industry-specific webinar, marketing and BD can attract attendees: BD reaches out to prospects and referral sources, while marketing targets clients. Post-webinar, BD manages proactive outreach and marketing continues lead generation. Qualifying inbound leads can fall to either marketing or BD.The key is having a scorecard and process. Instead of pushing website leads to partners and phone leads to voicemail, use a scorecard to assess:
• Is the company in our target industries?
• Is the company the right size ($1-25MM, $50MM+)?
• Is this the type of service we want to grow (1040s vs. Corp returns)?
These parameters, paired with a clear process, guide the first discovery meeting.
Neil Barrow Rev Ops Advisors neil@revopsadvisors.com
Marketing and business development (BD) are distinct functions that collaborate closely across phases of a unified client development process. Marketing generally focuses more on the early phases, driving branding and lead-generation activities, such as research-based strategies and data mining to identify prospects. BD capitalizes on the results of marketing initiatives, converting opportunities into clients through trust-building, exploratory meetings, solution curation and the navigation of buying decisions.
In best practices, marketing and sales align their initiatives, sharing growth goals and cascading them through the firm by facilitating collaboration among its strategic practice areas.They treat practice areas as shared internal clients, focusing on each function's strengths to achieve goals. Synched initiatives help both groups reach targets, engage prospects, create compelling experiences, motivate action and expand client relationships over time.
Sco� Moore
The Rainmaker Companies scott@therainmakercompanies.com
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What Is The Actual Return On Investment of Cold Outreach vs. Strengthening Relationships?
By Danielle Reynolds
There is no one size fits all for best approach to business development and it often varies by firm, size, goals and ultimately the skill set of individuals in those positions.
Often firms may feel like they must choose between cold outreach and nurturing relationships. Both strategies have their own merits and can significantly impact the return on investment (ROI) in different ways. Understanding the dynamics of each approach can help businesses make better informed decisions on where to allocate their resources.
Cold Outreach
Cold outreach involves contacting potential prospects who have had no prior interaction with your company.
This can be done through cold emails, calls or social media messages.
Pros:
1. Broad Reach: Cold outreach allows you to reach a wide audience, potentially uncovering new markets and opportunities.
2. Scalability: It can be easily scaled up, making it suitable for rapidly growing businesses.
3. Immediate Lead Generation: With a structured approach, cold outreach can quickly generate leads and fill the sales pipeline.
Cons:
1. Lower Conversion Rates: Since there is no prior relationship, conversion rates tend to be lower compared to warm leads.
2. Time-Consuming: It requires significant effort to identify
prospects, craft personalized messages and follow up.
3. Risk of Rejection: Higher chances of rejection or being ignored, which can be demoralizing for sales teams.
ROI Considerations:
1. Cost-Effective for Initial Contact: While cold outreach may have lower upfront costs, the lower conversion rates mean that the cost per acquisition can be high.
2. Data-Driven Strategy: Utilizing data analytics to target the right prospects can improve ROI, but it requires investment in technology and expertise.
Strengthening Relationships
A strategy of strengthening relationships focuses on building and
maintaining long-term relationships with existing clients and prospects through consistent engagement and personalized interactions.
Pros:
1. Higher Conversion Rates: Established trust and rapport lead to higher conversion rates and repeat business.
2. Customer-Loyalty: Strong relationships foster loyalty, leading to long-term customer retention.
3. Word-of-Mouth Referrals: Satisfied clients are more likely to refer your business to others, expanding your network organically.
Cons:
1. Resource Intensive: Building relationships requires time, effort and resources, making it a slower process.
2. Dependency: Relying heavily on a few key clients or referral sources can be risky if those relationships falter.
3. Scalability Challenges: It can be challenging to scale personalized relationship-building efforts.
ROI Considerations:
1. Higher LifetimeValue: Clients gained through strong relationships tend to have a higher lifetime value, contributing positively to long-term ROI.
2. Lower Acquisition Costs: The cost of acquiring new clients through referrals and organic growth is typically lower than through cold outreach, but does involve spending money through organization involvement, meals, etc.
The Verdict
There is no doubt both cold outreach and nurturing strong relationships have their place in any business development strategy. Cold outreach can be effective for quickly expanding your reach and filling the sales pipeline, but often comes with lower conversion rates and high acquisition costs. Spend time focusing on your
messages, processes and overall approach and consider the benefits of using this when“selling”a specific product or service, not just a general inquiry.
Conversely, investing in stronger relationships yields higher conversion rates, customer loyalty and referrals, resulting in a higher lifetime value and better long-term ROI.
Ultimately, the most successful businesses strike a balance between these approaches, using cold outreach to identify new opportunities and relationship-building to nurture and retain valuable clients and referral sources. By leveraging the strength of both strategies, firms can maximize their ROI and achieve sustainable growth.
Danielle Reynolds , business development manager, Whitley Penn.
Contact at
Danielle.reynolds@whitleypenn.com
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For more information and to register, visit AAM’s Skill Building Course website.
Business Developer Fundamentals Certificate
This course is an advanced skill-building program for those with business development responsibilities that helps develop job-critical skills such as building teams for pursuits, managing a pipeline, coaching teams and individuals, as well as providing general leadership and supporting the firm’s sales efforts.
NEW Updated Module 1
Advance your career and contribute to your firm's success with AAM's comprehensive training programs. All courses are available on-demand, allowing you to learn at your own pace. For more information and to sign up, visit AAM’s Skill Building Courses.
