--- title: Business Development Habits for Success - Stratford Group Ltd. description: Having spent a lot of time in professional service environments we can tell you two things remain constant - Growth and Management... image: https://www.stratford.group/hubfs/MK-Blog%20and%20News%20Images/BLOG-Business%20Development%20Habits%20for%20Success.png --- [![stratford_logo_200px](https://www.stratford.group/hubfs/stratford_logo_200px.webp) ](https://www.stratford.group) - [Management Consulting](https://www.stratford.group/management-consulting-services) - [Strategic Planning & Implementation](https://www.stratford.group/strategic-planning-implementation-services) - [IT Digital Services](https://www.stratford.group/digital-solutions) - [Cybersecurity](https://go.stratford.group/cybersecurity-it-digital-strategy-for-organizations) - [CEO Advisory & Board Governance](https://www.stratford.group/ceo-board-governance) - [AI Prompt Engineering Workshop](https://www.stratford.group/generative-ai-prompt-engineering-workshop) - [People & Culture Consulting](https://www.stratford.group/people-culture-consulting-services) - [Virtual & Interim HR Support](https://www.stratford.group/virtual-interim-hr-services) - [Leadership Development](https://leadership-development.stratford.group) - [HR Strategy & Organizational Development](https://www.stratford.group/hr-strategy-organizational-design) - [Total Rewards](https://www.stratford.group/total-rewards-consulting-services) - [HR Policy & Compliance Review](https://www.stratford.group/hr-policy-and-compliance-review) - [Intellectual Property Agency](https://www.stratford.group/full-service-ip-agency) - [IP Strategy Review & Design](https://www.stratford.group/ip-strategy-review-design) - [Virtual IP Department](https://www.stratford.group/virtual-ip-department) - [IP Strategy Education](https://www.stratford.group/ip-education-services) - [IP Patent Portfolio Impact Assessment](https://www.stratford.group/ip-patent-portfolio-impact-assessment) - Resources - [News & Events](https://www.stratford.group/news) - [Blog](https://www.stratford.group/blog) - [Resources](https://www.stratford.group/stratford-expert-resources) - [Contact](https://www.stratford.group/contact-us) # Business Development Habits for Success Having spent a lot of time in professional service environments we can tell you two things remain constant - Growth and Management... Nov 20, 2017, 9:55:28 AM We have spent a lot of time in professional service environments and can tell you two things have remained constant: 1. **Growth **has always been (and still is) about building relationships; and 2. **Management **will always be concerned about the sufficiency of the internal habits that build relationships. Our personal approach to business development in a professional service environment is as follows: - **IMPRESS** your clients with exceptional service and a few unexpected value-adds. - **INFORM** your clients about other organization wide offerings and capabilities. - **INCREASE** the depth and breadth of your client relationships to your organization – yes, you may have to introduce your clients to a few of your colleagues. - **IMPROVE** and leverage the varied BD skills of all your teammates. - **INQUIRE** about the needs of clients and future clients alike. - **INTEGRATE** a BD activity into your calendar every single day. Use whatever BD activity that comes naturally to you – and occasionally some that don’t. - **INITIATE** know how to ask for the business – and do it. Your future client is expecting you to initiate this critical (never fatal), conversation.   ![Business Development Habits for Success](https://www.stratford.group/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Business-Development-Habits-Blog-Post-1.png?width=581&height=1453&name=Business-Development-Habits-Blog-Post-1.png)   *This article was published more than 1 year ago. Some information may no longer be current.* [Revenue Growth Strategy](https://www.stratford.group/blog/tag/revenue-growth-strategy), [Sales and Marketing Strategy](https://www.stratford.group/blog/tag/sales-and-marketing-strategy) ![Stratford-Horizontal-Logo-RGB-White](https://www.stratford.group/hubfs/MK%20-%20Stratford%20Logos/Stratford-Horizontal-Logo-RGB-White.png) We Believe Better is Possible. ### Better Results --- - [Strategy](https://www.stratford.group/strategic-planning-implementation-services) - [IT Digital](https://www.stratford.group/digital-solutions) - [CEO Advisory](https://www.stratford.group/ceo-board-governance) ### Better Teams --- - [Virtual HR](https://www.stratford.group/virtual-interim-hr-services) - [Total Rewards](https://www.stratford.group/total-rewards-consulting-services) - [HR Strategy](https://www.stratford.group/hr-strategy-organizational-design) - [Leadership](https://www.stratford.group/leadership-development) ### Better IP Strategy --- - [IP Agency](https://www.stratford.group/full-service-ip-agency) - [IP Strategy](https://www.stratford.group/ip-strategy-review-design) - [IP Education](https://www.stratford.group/ip-education-services) - [IP Management](https://www.stratford.group/virtual-ip-department) ### Better Support --- - [About Stratford](https://www.stratford.group/about) - [Join Stratford](https://www.stratford.group/join-the-team) - [News & Events](https://www.stratford.group/news) - [Blog](https://www.stratford.group/blog) - [Resources](https://www.stratford.group/stratford-expert-resources) - [Pricing](https://www.stratford.group/pricing) - [Employee Login](https://www.stratford.group/stratford-internal-resource-library) - [Legal Disclaimer](https://stratford-21099497.hs-sites.com/legal-disclaimer) - [Privacy](https://stratford-21099497.hs-sites.com/privacy-policy) - [**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/stratford-group-ltd/) © 2009-2026 Stratford Group Ltd. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Stratford Group Ltd.", "url" : "https://www.stratford.group/blog/author/stratford-group-ltd-" }, "dateModified" : "2023-06-22T17:56:39.359Z", "datePublished" : "2017-11-20T14:55:28.000Z", "headline" : "Business Development Habits for Success - Stratford Group Ltd.", "image" : [ "https://www.stratford.group/hubfs/MK-Blog%20and%20News%20Images/BLOG-Business%20Development%20Habits%20for%20Success.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.stratford.group/blog/business-development-habits-for-success", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.stratford.group/hubfs/Stratford-Horizontal-Logo-RGB.png" }, "name" : "Stratford Group Ltd" } } ```