Plug and Play

How a professional services business managed international business development during peak workflow and the holiday season.

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Background

A boutique search firm experiencing high growth without a full complement of support staff.

The overwhelm was starting to show and the holiday leave was approaching along with an international business development trip and a largely empty bookings diary.

Need

Urgent requirement for a safe pair of hands experienced in search process and business development.

The Risk

Wasted international business development trip or worst lost cost if flights cancelled.
Support team already overwhelmed and unable to support the Partners BD scheduling across time zones.
Lost credibility amongst clients.

Approach

We established the initial list of BD targets and set about contacting and scheduling. This wasn’t a hard sell approach, but we were time framed, and diaries were tight with 2 weeks' notice so there was urgency, whilst maintaining and developing relationships.

We instigated routine updates every few days and concentrated on a range of contacts to illicit conversations.

The Result

Full diary of meetings and a consistent follow up on return from the US. Including zoom meetings with connections that couldn’t do face to face.

Strong pipeline that brought in a significant ROI.

ExecutivEdge now knows this business and can support quickly and efficiently without the need for expensive temps and long briefings. Making it a future proof process.

“This truly was “plug and play” Leanne came in with all of her experience and gentle persistence and within days was pulling together a schedule that saw me catching up with 24 potential clients, we even put in an additional location, ultimately giving me £100k pipeline to follow up with half of that coming in within a matter of weeks. It was a first for me! Leanne continued support until the end of the holidays, and we continued the BD consistently as a result. That heartbeat created continuity that was hugely beneficial in flattening the ever present “feast and famine” cycle.”

Partner, A Professional Services Company