David Mackenzie Ogilvy was a British advertising tycoon who founded Ogilvy & Mather. He is regarded as the “Father of Advertising” across multiple business circles. He was one of the pioneers of utilising meticulous research into consumer habits for developing his campaigns.

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In a recent article, I came across his philosophy toward Sales and Business Development, which I found is practical for most of us learning the ropes of Sales as we go along building our Business.

Business Development and Sales Philosophy

• Regard the hunt for a new client as a sport
  • Get Serious after you get a client. Till then play to win but focus on making it an enjoyable process
• Never work for a client so big that you can’t afford to lose them
  • You can never provide them with candid advice and you will become a lackey
  • Land your ideal client when you are ready to be candid with them
• Take immense pain in selecting your client
  • First-class people are not in high supply. Always retain the power to choose with whom you wish to work
• Add Limited Clients yearly
  • Clients need to be with you for life
  • Fast growth results in low-quality training of staff, resulting in best people focussed on serving new clients and losing older ones
• Only Seek clients with a product or service you are proud of. If You have your product or services, you will never help your customers to succeed
• Only focus on working with someone you can add value to and improve their work in your field of service
• Don’t take on clients whose business is dying. Customer success defines you and your margins won’t be able to handle non-payment
• Only work for clients who want you to make a profit. Clarify to your customers that you are planning to take a certain % of their profit. State clearly that make money only by helping them make money

• Never make a public statement that you are pursuing someone. Succeed in public but fail in private
• Avoid contesting for a customer when there are more than 4 players. Lot of time is wasted in meetings
• Getting a new customer is a solo performance. Singularity is important in winning accounts
• Remain flexible when selling your solutions. Never go with a fixed Mindset
• Clearly state your flaws to your prospects. This develops trust and allows you to develop credibility when you boast strong points about your solutions
• Don’t get bogged down in case studies or research. Focus on your clients and talk about them
• Explicitly tell them when they should hire you
• Never engage outside source commissions for leads. Such leads are not worth the trouble
• Beware of those who have great ideas but no budget. Very few such companies make it to the top and generally not worth the effort
• Never underestimate personality. Very few difference exists between firms. In the end persona of the person leading wins or loses the deals
• Fire clients 5 times more than they fire you. If client’s behaviour erodes morale, walk away
• Use your specialisation to find new clients. Show the world how good you are