Finally, You Can Fix the Partner BD Crisis

Behavior follows confidence.

New results from more than 1,000 partner survey responses reveal a Confidence Sinkhole blocking high-velocity business development.

Any partner who doesn’t believe they can develop business won’t. They will cling to one of thousands of reasons not to. It’s easy.

Our survey reveals the sinkholes are uneven and deep within a firm. And they’re gender and partner classification specific. Here are the details:

At The High End of Confidence

30% of all partners report the highest confidence in their BD skills – but even this hides gaps:

The Gender Gap

• • • • Confidence drops to 15.7% for women partners
      • It jumps to 36.8% for men

The Equity Trap

• • • • 37.0% of equity partners report the highest confidence
      • 23.9% of income partners are feeling the most confident

At The Lower End of Confidence

• • 21.9% of women partners say they lack confidence in the BD skills
  • 22.1% of male partners indicate little confidence
  • 10.9% of equity partners show minimal confidence
  • 37.0% of income partners report little to no confidence

The Frozen Middle

The remaining partners bring some degree of confidence – but not enough to comfortably lead a BD call.

This is not a formula to drive revenue.

It’s either an amazing resource or a sinkhole for most firms.

Here’s what we recommend to turn this into an impressive revenue stream:

Train the Willing First  

These partners want to boost their confidence and skills. This boosts new business and shows other less confident partners there’s benefit to jumping into the BD fray.

Deploy Micro Training

These short on-demand sessions – 3 to 5 minutes each – boast 90% completion rates. Partners can watch and rewatch on demand to increase their understanding. They can move at their own pace – boost comfort, skills, and confidence.

Kill the “Only Wins Count” Culture

BD activity drives skills and new business. But few firms celebrate activity. Only wins.

Congratulate at least 2 partners who are not rainmakers on their BD efforts – even if they didn’t win – at every partner and practice meeting.

De-stigmatize the no and the loss.

Talk about the effort and prep. Stress the importance of trying and working at it. Add how any and all quality BD activity leads to wins.

Leadership dialogue on the value of BD effort is one of the most powerful motivators for partners outside the most confident.

Replace Training with Experience

Create a buddy system of partner pairs. Assign each an exercise in listening and talking to clients in a BD setting.

Create a time code to track and ensure it gets the time and gravitas it deserves. Set a minimum number of hours to be spent on this exercise. Rotate pairs to new partners every 4 to 6 months.

After one rotation – start sending these pairs to clients – with the rainmaker stepping back a bit to allow their buddy to play a meaningful role with a safety net in the room.

Track BD Confidence as a Leading Indicator

Revenue is a lagging measure – by the time it drops, you’ve already lost ground. Confidence surveys give you early warning signs and let you intervene before the sinkhole opens.

Create a single-question survey for partners. Make it confidential – but share aggregate results with the firm.

The market is too volatile to let 70% of your equity partners stay on the sidelines. Build their confidence in 3-minute increments, or watch your ‘Confident 30%’ find a firm that knows how to hunt.