Business development metrics and scorecard

Linking business development plan to Balanced Scorecards

In a globalized economy companies often find the task of business development to be far more challenging than their initial plans which may even have a textbook simplicity about them. While a traditional business development plan may be good in itself if may suffer from inadequacies resulting out of a lack of attention to evolving market details and changing taste patterns.

The business environment in 21st century has seen a seismic change with consumers getting access to an ever increasing range of choices for products and services. The internet has been an enabler of open dissemination of information and with social networking and blogging gaining ground, customers today can rapidly shift opinion about a brand and even measure its value with its competitors with ease. Even large organizations cannot hide behind their preeminent market position or economies of scale while pursuing their business development objectives. New upstarts and innovative companies are already pushing at the established order in many industries and competition for new business is at an all-time high. As consumers choices become less stable and the business race heats up, it becomes critical for businesses to evaluate the need to redefine their business development plan and tailor it with the changing times.

The Business Challenge

At times management is aware of complexities that await them in the real world but are reluctant to see the light and naively pursue policies under misplaced belief that with time the performance will improve. Different organizations use different measures to deal with the challenge of developing their business under a dynamic market conditions - some tend to remain idealistic and present their potential and existing customers with a set of facts about their products , which while being true, scores low on garnering instant attention. On the other hand some managers end up believing that hype based marketing campaign based on sheer can give dividends and end up tailoring their business development plans in the same vein. However soon they realize that such a approach can only bring temporary benefits and gain customers who have limited loyalty with brand they purchase. The goal of getting the right balance can often become a unending paradox unless proven performance measurement paradigms are not introduced.

The Solution

The complexity of the business development challenges that managers typically experience lead them to explore different performance management tools. At times managers can go ahead introduce complex concepts that do more harm than good or even start the use of costly software which may fail to address the specific issues at hand. This leads to the loss of valuable time and effort and can also lead to wrong decisions.