I think that a lot of people assess business development at the time a signature on a contract happens. And that assessment is often based on expected revenue or on how many deals get done on a particular calendar. But it is what happens after signature—integrating the deal into a business—that is a much better assessment of the value of business development. This means that project management and execution excellence are very important to business development deal success.
One habit that I highly recommend is communicating the contract:
1) Summarize the deal in plain language and communicate it to everyone that matters to the success of the deal.
2) And then use this summary (or better yet a copy of the actual agreement) as your constant guide to drive strong support and to drive your own priorities in the months that follow signature.
The spirit and intent of the agreement are captured in those pages and having everyone understand and act on this is central to the success of implementing the agreement, and realizing the revenue/opportunity associated with the agreement.
“Here's the thing: there isn't a shortage of ideas. There's a shortage of execution.” (Borrowed from Seth Godin’s blog) This is what I’m talking about. Love that contract and love its implementation or you’ll be doomed to waste all the effort that went into the courtship and negotiation. So commit to extending the honeymoon and you might just be surprised that it leads to new opportunities for the next…
