I've spent more than 20 years building businesses, finding customers, losing customers, chasing opportunities that went nowhere and occasionally turning an opportunity that looked dead into a great customer.

And along the way, I've learned a few things.

Some came from big wins. Some came from mistakes. Some came from spending a lot of time trying to figure out why someone who seemed interested in doing business suddenly disappeared.

I don't have a magic sales formula. There isn’t one perfect email, presentation or closing technique that works every time. But I know from experience that good business development comes down to a few things: persistence, preparation, curiosity and willingness to try something different when nothing is working.

Here are some of the lessons I've picked up along the way.

First, Your Selling Season Is Every Day

Years ago, I had a conversation with my sons about their selling season. They thought it was September, October and November.

I told them their selling season is every day.

The number of companies with too many customers is zero.

And yet, I see businesses treat business development like something they can turn on and off. Things are going well, everybody's busy and nobody has time to work on the next customer. Then business slows down and suddenly it's all hands on deck to find new revenue.

There's a problem with that approach. Relationships take time. Trust takes time. Getting in front of the right people takes time.

If you wait until you need the business to start developing it, you're already behind.

What I'd do: Make business development a standing part of the week, even when things are going well. Identify the companies you'd like to work with, find the right people and start building relationships before you need something from them.

1. Fire All Cannons

One email to one person isn't business development.

I know we all love email. It's fast, easy and requires almost no effort. You can send 50 messages before breakfast and feel like you've accomplished something. But sending isn't the same as connecting.

When you go into battle, you fire all cannons. 

You never know what someone will respond to. Maybe it's an email. Maybe it's a phone call. Maybe it's LinkedIn, a mutual connection or an old-fashioned letter that arrives on somebody's desk.

The point isn't to bombard people with the same message six different ways. 

It's to understand that different people respond to different approaches.

And sometimes the person you're trying to reach isn't even the right person.

What I'd do: Pick five companies you'd really like to do business with. For each one, identify three people who might influence the decision and three legitimate ways to make contact. Don't send everybody the same message. Give each person a reason to talk to you.

2. If the Door Is Closed, Climb in a Window

My father had a saying: If they throw you out the door, climb in a window.

I've found that to be pretty good business advice.

Not every "no" means no forever. Sometimes it means “not now.” Sometimes it means “wrong person.” Sometimes it means the person you're talking to doesn't have a problem you can solve.

I once pursued a healthcare company for four years.

Four years!

I talked to different people in different departments. I tried different approaches. I kept looking for the place where what we offered matched something the company actually needed.

Eventually, we found it. That company became a multimillion-dollar customer.

Now, I'm not suggesting you should spend four years chasing every prospect who won't return your calls. That's a good way to spend four years accomplishing absolutely nothing.

But there is a difference between a bad opportunity and an opportunity you haven't figured out yet.

The trick is knowing when to change your approach instead of simply trying harder at something that isn't working.

What I'd do: When you hit a dead end, ask yourself three questions:

• Am I talking to the person who actually owns this problem?
• Is there another part of the organization where our experience would be more valuable?
• Have I given them a compelling reason to talk, or am I just asking for their time?

Sometimes the answer isn't another follow-up. It's another door.

3. Hang Around the Rim

I'm a basketball fan, and I like to think about business development the way Dennis Rodman approached rebounding.

He knew where to be when the shot didn't go in. That's what I mean by hanging around the rim.

Not every missed shot is a dead opportunity.

They might need what you're offering but have other priorities right now. The budget may not be there. The decision-maker might change. A project may get pushed back.

Six months later, everything could be different.

The mistake is treating every opportunity as either won or lost.

There's a third category: not yet.

Your job is to stay close enough to be relevant when circumstances change, without becoming the person whose name makes somebody sigh when it appears in their inbox.

That's an important distinction.

"Just checking in" every two weeks isn't a strategy.

Sharing something useful, making a relevant introduction, congratulating someone on a business milestone or remembering a challenge they mentioned six months ago? That's how you maintain a relationship.

What I'd do: Keep a list of good opportunities that aren't ready today. Record why the timing isn't right and what would need to change. Then create a legitimate reason to reconnect.

Stay useful. Stay relevant. Stay around the rim.

4. Did I Offend You?

Here's one of my favorite email subject lines.

Did I offend you?

Yes, I've actually used it.

You know the situation. You had a good meeting. Everybody seemed interested. There was talk about next steps.

Then nothing.

You send an email. No response. You follow up. Nothing.

At some point, you have a choice. You can send your fifth variation of "just circling back" or you can ask a real question.

The most valuable real estate in an email is the subject line. If nobody opens it, the brilliant message you spent 45 minutes writing doesn't matter.

"Did I offend you?" is unexpected. It's human. And it gets to the point.

Here's a version you can steal:

Subject: Did I offend you?

I enjoyed our conversation and thought there might be something worth pursuing here.

I haven't heard back, so I wanted to make sure I didn't miss something. Did I offend you, did priorities change or is this simply not the right time?

Either way is fine. I'd rather know than keep pestering you.

That's it.

You're not trying to make somebody feel guilty. You're trying to get information.

Maybe the opportunity is dead. Fine. Maybe priorities changed. Also fine. Maybe they've been buried for three weeks and simply forgot.

At least you're giving them an easy way to tell you.

And sometimes the best thing you can get from a prospect isn't a yes. It's an honest answer.

5. Assume They Lost Your Email

Congratulations. You got the meeting.

Now don't assume the person you're meeting with remembers who you are.

They're busy. They have other meetings. They may have accepted your invitation two weeks ago and haven't thought about it since.

I've found it helpful to send a short message a few hours before the meeting that reminds them who I am, why we're getting together and what I hope we'll cover.

Something like:

Looking forward to our conversation this afternoon. As a reminder, we help companies with [specific problem]. I thought we could spend a few minutes understanding what you're working on, where you might need help and whether there's a reason for us to continue the conversation.

Simple! You're helping the other person arrive prepared. You're also giving them an opportunity to correct your assumptions before you spend half an hour talking about the wrong thing.

The goal isn't to impress them with how much you know. It's to make the meeting useful.

And once you're in the meeting, remember something else: they took it for a reason.

Find out what that reason is.

Ask questions. Listen. Let them explain the problem in their own words.

You might be surprised by what they're actually trying to accomplish.

6. Yes, We Do That

This one requires some judgment.

You walk into a meeting expecting to talk about one service. The customer starts describing a problem that's a little different from what you had in mind.

What do you do?

A lot of people immediately steer the conversation back to their presentation.

"That's interesting, but let me tell you about our three service packages."

Why? The customer is telling you what they need. Listen.

I've changed what I was offering in the middle of a meeting because the conversation revealed a better way to help the customer.

That doesn't mean promising something you can't deliver. It means understanding the underlying problem well enough to recognize where you can actually create value.

Maybe they don't need a big engagement. Maybe they need one experienced person to help with a specific decision. Maybe they need a project, not a permanent hire.

Don't make somebody buy your entire solution when they only need part of it.

What I'd do: Before presenting your offer, ask:

• What are you trying to accomplish?
• What's making that difficult?
• What have you already tried?
• What would a useful outcome look like?
• What kind of help would actually make a difference?

Then shape the conversation around their answers.

Make it easy for the customer to say yes to something that solves their problem.

7. When They're Buying, Shut Up

I've watched people talk themselves right out of a sale.

The customer is interested. They've asked about price, timing or what happens next.

And the salesperson says, "Great. Let me finish walking you through the presentation."

No. There is no prize for getting to slide 27.

The best PowerPoint is sometimes no PowerPoint at all.

When someone is ready to buy, the conversation has changed. They're no longer asking you to convince them. They're asking you to help them move forward.

Answer the question. Clarify what they need. Agree on the next step.

Then stop talking!

You don't have to deliver every point you prepared. You don't have to demonstrate everything your company can do. You certainly don't have to introduce three new objections they hadn't thought of yet.

Know when you've made your point.

And know when to get out of your own way.

8. Expect the Unexpected

One more thing about closing business: a verbal yes isn't always the finish line.

I've seen opportunities get complicated at the very end.

A new person enters the conversation. Legal has a question. Procurement needs something. The budget changes. Somebody wants to revisit a decision everyone thought had already been made.

It happens. Don't assume the deal is done because everybody smiled at the last meeting.

Stay involved. Find out what's holding things up. Help solve the problem.

And don't take every last-minute complication as a personal insult.

Sometimes closing the business is simply another part of earning the business.

What I'd do: Before ending a meeting where the customer seems ready to proceed, ask:

• Who else needs to be involved?
• Is there anything that could prevent us from moving forward?
• What needs to happen between now and the decision?
• Who owns the next step and when should we reconnect?

It's a lot easier to handle an obstacle you know is coming than one you discover three weeks after you thought the deal was done.

Run through the finish line.

There's Beer at the Finish

Business development is an exercise in optimism.

You have to believe the next conversation might lead somewhere. You have to be willing to hear no, adjust your approach and try again.

But optimism alone doesn't get the job done.

You need to be curious enough to understand the customer, persistent enough to stay in the game and practical enough to recognize when it's time to change direction.

If I had to boil all of this down, I'd say:

Get in front of the right people. Find out what they actually need. Stay relevant. Make it easy to move forward. And don't quit just because the first approach didn't work.

Some opportunities will never turn into customers. That's business.

Some will take longer than you expected.

And occasionally, the company you've been trying to reach for four years will turn into one of your best customers.

That's why you keep going.

There's beer at the finish.

On we go.

About Chris Hessler

Chris Hessler is CEO of The Advisory Bench, which helps business owners and CEOs find the experienced operators, advisors and leadership talent they need to solve difficult problems and make better decisions.

If you're working through a growth, customer or leadership challenge and could use another experienced perspective, let's have a conversation.