Structuring the Pursuit Process for Success: An Example of Excellence in BD Professional Development
By Bill Scott, Vice President of Education, SMPS National

Business development (BD) is a crucial component to any successful professional services firm. It’s not just how a firm gets new clients with new work. It’s also how a firm gets follow-on work from existing clients. I have long been a believer that how a firm handles its BD effort may be more important than who handles it. In fact, SMPS has been promoting the creation of a formal business development structure and an integrated process, a BD culture if you will, through its educational offerings for years. While not rocket science, this business 101 approach to managing the marketing and sales efforts of the firm is not often present in many firms.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in PBS&J’s internal corporate business development training program as an observer. The program is called “Marketing & Business Development Institute,” or “MBDI” for short. The course was developed two years ago under the leadership of PBS&J’s Pamela Brady supported by a design team of BD professionals and the PBS&J University. Additionally, the program has the complete backing of Todd Kenner, P.E., PBS&J’s president. The firm already had a robust corporate marketing structure in place and a lot of talent in the BD area. PBS&J’s culture is for the technical professionals to write the proposals and manage the BD process. Corporate marketing is divided, by function, into four separate marketing groups that support the BD effort. PBS&J recognized the potential efficiencies in resource allocation to be gained by standardizing their internal policies and best practices.

MBDI was developed to create a consistent, efficient, and effective corporate-wide approach to business development. It ensures the entire pursuit team is focusing its efforts on the client’s issues, solutions to those issues, benefits to the solutions, and proof that the benefits and solutions are real and will work. MDBI also allows for a training environment as close to a real-life RFP pursuit as possible. It is a terrific tool for training junior staff, indoctrinating new recruits, and harnessing the efforts of seasoned personnel.

The program draws 24 to 30 students and faculty together for 2 intense 3-day training sessions. The first session focuses on the pre-positioning activities associated with a project pursuit. The second session focuses on proposal and presentation activities. The “students” are Marketing Department staff and technical staff from various operational divisions. They are pulled offline and travel to a central location for these two training sessions. In between the sessions, they work in their home offices, actively involved in ongoing projects while additionally working on the MBDI program.

The two MBDI training sessions require students to undergo a rigorous introduction to PBS&J’s policies and procedures. Comprehensive training is provided in areas from proposal writing to presentation skills. During the training, students are grouped into teams of five or six and implement what they’ve learned in a mock scenario where they compete against other in pursuit of a fictitious project. This exercise has a feel similar to the popular TV show “The Apprentice.”

This program represents a significant corporate investment of time and resources to assemble. Pamela Brady has a robust team involved in the training; 7 to 12 senior executives serve as activity leaders, and the PBS&J University staff and individuals from Marketing offer support.

What has ensured the program’s success is buy-in and support, which begin at the very top of the organization. This level of support has allowed the MBDI program access to the firm’s top executives, adequate budget, frontline participation from the field offices, and latitude to design such an innovative program with the flexibility to make changes as needed.

Because MBDI is an in-house training program, it is easier to work through a real-world project scenario the firm might encounter. In an outside training course, students might be paired with potential competitors or individuals whose corporate cultures may be different and which might restrict their ability to explore all the options available in a project pursuit.

There are several additional benefits to the MBDI program. For one, working together helps to break down any barriers between the Marketing and technical staffs. Further, the structure provides students with immediate feedback from peers and senior staff. Additionally, MBDI provides management with a tool to evaluate personnel on performance, personality, and ability to work with others. Finally, the program builds camaraderie among the students and relationships they can carry forward.

MBDI is a fantastic program. I was honored to be allowed to observe. Pamela Brady and PBS&J are to be congratulated for their efforts and innovation in creating such a robust training program.
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