What It Takes To Be Good At Biz Dev? A Few Reflections
A former co-worker at Verizon who was new to the group once asked me what it takes to learn how to be in Partnership Development. At the time I didn’t really have an answer. It had seemingly just happened for me. But after much reflection, it didn’t just happen for me. In addition to some basic skills, I had a lot of help along the way. Here’s what I think it takes to be effective at Partnership Development (and Product Management):
- Vision – ability to see the future and visualize possibilities
- Persuasion – ability to sell this vision to your management and your potential partner
- Negotiation/Contracts – patience and attention to detail necessary to grind out an agreement, the requirements/specifications necessary to implement it, and the perseverance to manage the partnership (product) once launched
- Leadership – ability to inspire members of cross-functional teams and get them to share your vision in order to develop and launch the partnership (product)
- Communication and Organization – ability to keep everyone on the same page and up to date
All of this starts with a mentor to help you master these skills.
Vision and Persuasion
My former boss Shane taught me how to see the big picture and to sell that vision as we cranked out a multi-stage e-commerce strategy for a wholesale distribution company taking the company from a crude web site, to a polished online catalog, along with e-commerce and customer support applications that were back-office enabled. He was a great mentor and a friend.
Negotiation/Contracts
My former boss Patricia mentored me on the intricacies of negotiations, term sheets, and the contract process leading to a handful of multi-million dollar deals and dozens of smaller deals. It takes patience, perseverance, and creativity. She too was a great mentor and a great friend. She created the Partnership Development executive in me.
The attorneys I worked with (Allison, Cody, and Mark) were very gentle with me and helped me through the contract process. I still consider them friends today.
Together, all of these kind people helped me to understand the value of and how to get to a win-win-win partnership (both companies win, along with the customer).
Leadership
My former boss Kendall taught me how to survive in a matrixed organization with the result being the successful launch of over a dozen new features in a 3-month window for an online trade show startup. She was very good to me. A great mentor and a friend. She’s the one that pushed me into a larger organization to beef up my Product Management skills.
My former boss Karl taught me how to lead large cross-functional teams. He was a great mentor and a great friend. He created the Product Manager in me and helped me develop the confidence to try new things resulting in multiple successful product trials and the launch of millions of dollars worth of new products.
The Communication and Organization skills seem to come from practice. Lots and lots of practice.
If there is a theme in this story it’s that you need people to help you on your way towards developing the skills of your profession. I was very lucky to have had some great bosses/mentors/friends along the way to help me grow into my Partnership Development and Product Management roles. Thank you.
I look forward to passing these skills on as I advance in my career.
