SERVICE DETAILS
 

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Product (Service) Development is a critical cross-discipinary function. It needs to be aligned with the company's strategic strengths and a clear-eyed market analysis. Just as it is not wise to build your company around a product or service that you cannot support from an engineering or operational perspective, it is also not a good idea to design a product with features that build in cost with no clear idea of whether there is a demand, or the willingness to pay, for those features.

There is perhaps no function that can consume more time and resources than Product Development. Development plans, design criteria, key performance indicators, cost and schedule targets are all aspects that need to be defined and measured depending on the complexity of the product.

SALES AND MARKETING

This is the classical heart of a business development plan. A thorough Market Analysis leading into a Marketing Plan that includes selling basis and tactics is fundamental. While there are no shortage of guidelines available commercially on how to develop these plans, care must be taken to make sure they align with all the other aspects of the business development plan.

PROPOSAL MANAGEMENT

Good proposal management can make the difference between winning and losing the job. Depending on the business your company is in, proposals may be how your company gets a good percentage of its business. A process needs to be in place that ensures proposals are done on a timely basis and that all internal inputs are accurate and reliable. Whether it is a technical write up or an internal cost assessment all relevant staff and departments need to know what is expected from them. Missing a proposal due date, or worse, submitting a winning proposal with grossly underestimated costs is an ugly way to learn this lesson.

CONTRACT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

These two functions are not normally thought of as part of Business Development, but they should be. For a company to grow it needs to keep its customers happy. Both disciplines need to balance the competing requirements of keeping costs and risk down while meeting the customer's needs. This can be a daunting task. It is all the more difficult if the organzation does not have clear goals and plans.