While business development has come to mean different things to different companies, the core principles behind creating long-term value are universally applicable. Whether you’re a salesperson, relationship manager, marketing executive or an engineer, if you work in biz dev, you understand the importance of top-line growth. Getting there, however, can be more challenging.

With that in mind, I recently surveyed extremely successful executives at both large public companies and privately-held businesses to uncover practical, impactful tips for business development professionals.

Build Relationships Early In Your Career

“Looking back, I would have focused on developing relationships and expanding my personal networks, both within the organization and outside of it, much earlier in my career,” Beth Brooke-Marciniak, global vice chair of public policy at Ernst & Young, told me, “Women in business can often find themselves excluded from so many natural networks, so it’s important to make a conscious effort to build … Read more