Four years ago I changed careers. I assumed a leadership position in a new industry that I had limited experience in. My objective was to build and grow a software consulting practice. The role was a challenge and I intentionally decided to take it head on.  Here is a brief list of my teams proudest accomplishments:

• Expanding the practice internationally
• Securing public sector accounts
• Establishing a growing Oracle Practice
• Built an industry brand via delivery of valuable niche products and services.

In the last four years I’ve experienced many challenges, obstacles and success.  My purpose with this post is identify six key lesson’s I’ve learned developing a scalable consulting practice from a business development perspective:

It’s all about the People! Selling technology and large software projects is complex.  Inevitably you will run into conflict and politics both within your internal sales pursuit team and from the client side.  Acknowledging that people have unique perspectives, insights, ego’s and agendas is a must.  In a software project, rarely is the technology the problem when things go awry, it’s the people that you have to develop, manage and lead.  The consulting sale is never a one man show, but rather a collection of experts that come together in a team that attempts to deliver a solution that will add value to your customers business.  Don’t underestimate the value of alignment, communication and relationships.

Your product or service must serve a niche: Trying to be all things to all people generally means you end up with nothing.  Every one of your customers has unique needs and there is never a one size fits all approach.  Gaining efficiencies in the way you sell and deliver your services will only occur if you sell to a niche.  Clearly define one product or service followed by clearly defining  your demographic or niche.  Next, create marketing material that addresses common inefficiencies you uncovered during your research and develop a list of comprehensive sales questions that speaks to your target demographic.

Don’t sell everything  to your customer: One of my Account Executives reminded me this week me that going into an account and selling your customer with every single service you offer is like coming to a meeting with a “machine gun and blasting them away with products and services hoping to get a successful hit”   The machine gun strategy  is ineffective because you can’t possibly be an expert at everything, your customer won’t take you seriously.  Put aside the machine gun and use a sniper rifle instead.  Carefully do your research, assess your clients environment and position a service that meets your clients unique needs by asking lots of questions.  Flush out where the issues are and use your sniper rifle to put a bullet in the specific problems your customers face.

Align your business around one common theme. At Waggware we tried selling our customers anything we had a hint of competency at.  We tried to sell everything!  Whether it was Customer systems, Operational solutions, Outage systems or Generic IT staffing services we tried selling it.  This lack of focus was ineffective and our customers didn’t take us seriously.  After a painful assessment of our our strengths and weaknesses, an evaluation of our competition we made the decision to stay close to systems that touched the customer of a Utility company.  We rallyed around the theme of “Equipping Utiliities, Empowering Consumers”.  As a result of our efforts we continue to get inquiries from Utilities across North America for information and are business is growing at a very rapid pace.

Network Network Network! Networking takes time, takes effort and you will not realize the benefits immediately.  Plan to network and you will reap fruits from the networking seeds you sow today.  I`ve developed a plan and a strategy that involves meeting and connecting with as many industry and technology professionals as I can.  I do this both in my own industry (Utilities) and in my own local community.   From an industry perspective I try to attend all the big conferences and participate in the social media forums.  Even though Waggware generally doesn`t do business in it`s own local comunity I make a committment to stay involved.  By way of local networking I stay on top of local talent, identify potential alliance partnerships and gain advice from professionals that are in similar non-competing industries.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes: Failure is painful yet it is often the catalyst for generating great ideas.  I’ve heard someone say that “If your not making mistakes, your not trying anything new and your probably not creating great ideas or products.”  I agree with that statement.  I’ve made my share of mistakes but these failures have made me a stronger person, executive and leader.  The important point here is to fail fast, recognize that you’ve made a mistake and change course.

Developing a consulting practice is hard and challenging work.  You will face tension, fear, dissappointment, politics and frustration.  Take up an attitude of  faith rather than fear.  Faith in others is the number one factor in developing a scalable consulting practice.  When you trust in others abilities great things happen and great things only happen when ordinary people come together as a team and do extra-ordinary things.  It’s never a one man show.