One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that businesses often go looking for new opportunities before taking a close look at what they already have.
A professional practice may have hundreds of former clients or patients.
A contractor may have relationships with designers, appliance salespeople, real estate professionals, and other trades.
An accountant may know attorneys, financial advisors, and bankers who work with exactly the same kinds of clients.
A business may have suppliers who understand parts of its operation remarkably well.
Most of these aren’t leads.
They’re relationships.
There’s already some familiarity.
Some history.
In many cases, some trust.
That changes the nature of business development.
Instead of asking, “How do we find more strangers?” it can be worth asking a quieter question first:
“What do we already have that we aren’t making very good use of?”
I’ve asked some version of that question in every business I’ve been associated with over more than forty years.
Quite often, there was more sitting there than anyone realized.
Much more.