#21: Business Development in a Virtual World
We are almost six months into our “new normal” of working in a mostly still virtual world. Business developers in the A/E/C industry have really had to pivot and adapt to a virtual meeting world. There has been no in-person meetings, conferences, or events.
So, where are we at now? How are business developers keeping client relationships strong and building new relationships?
I turned to a BD Pro, Andrea Pender, to ask what the “state of BD” is now, some of the lessons she has learned over these past months, and pushed her for a prediction of what next year might look like for business development professionals.
Again, this is the second episode of many that will be focused on planning for 2021. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast, so you don’t miss any great episodes from me or the great business developers and marketers I have scheduled.
In this week’s episode Andrea and I talk about:
- Lessons she has learned from the past few months of business development during the quarantine
- What her business development efforts look like now
- Resources she has developed for her engineers
- How she has been able to get meetings with who were often thought of as previously “untouchable”
- Her tool to make it easier to get meetings scheduled
- Her predictions for the future of business development in the A/E/C industry
Meet Andrea Pender
Director of Business Development for RLG Consulting Engineers
Andrea has over 14 years of Business Development experience. With a passion for building relationships Andrea works closely with her clients and uses her leadership skills to mature and develop strong client and consultant relationships. Andrea uses her experience to create an inspiring atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration within the marketing and business development department. As Director of Business Development, she manages the team by applying her signature spark of energy to every project she engages in. Andrea serves as the Immediate Past President of the Dallas Chapter of SMPS as well as the President of the Park Forest Library. She also has a passion project called “The Plant-Based Executive”. She currently resides in Dallas, TX with her husband and two dogs.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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3 thoughts on “Business Development in a Virtual World”
Very impressed with your overview on this topic! Thanks for your advice!
This was really insightful! Thank you so much for sharing your advice:)
Thank you so much for listening Ashley!