Being the first to know and understand business changes are critical – it keeps your business ahead of others; you will also be better prepared, researched, and potentially in a smaller competition pool.
Similarly, you might have a great sales-pitch script for the new lead – but you also need to be able to deliver it in a manner that the buyer will actually respond to. So, being able to convey your message is also critical.
And then you are into negotiations, what do you do as a small company when facing trained professional negotiators?
But then, what if there is an opportunity out there, that is searching for solutions – can they find you?
Then, what do you do if you didn’t get the work? Do you have a have opportunity to discuss this? Or, can you pitch an idea before you commercialize it – to get design feedback – so that when you do go to sell it, you can?
Do you have a network that enables you to “find the right person to talk to” within the large clients?
Or maybe you have something you are developing – do you have a way to find partners or persons to help you complete the item? And then, what about the opportunity to pitch the new item to potential buyers?
What about politics? Is there a government policy holding you back, or does one need to be developed to enable you to move forward? Maybe it’s an item impacting your client – not you directly – that stops them from buying from you? Can you be heard or change the item?
All of this is sounding like a job description for a business development person, or perhaps even a team.
Can you find this person, and if you do, can you afford them? Can you afford not to hire them?
As Saskatchewan’s potash sector grows, the priorities may shift from hunting for work to completing the work, but you still need to compete for it and plan for the future. Rumour has it that “booms” do not last forever. What will you do next?
As an example, you probably have skills that can be applied towards a developing sector such as small modular reactors or SMRs. This will be a series of multi-billion dollar projects in Saskatchewan. Do you want a part of it?
The accompanying picture is a perfect example of the situation you need to be in. On the bottom left are a VP and CEO of the SRC, who are developing an SMR with Westinghouse. To their right is a VP of Westinghouse, who is talking to the world’s leading podcaster on negotiations (Mark Raffan, the Negotiations Ninja). On the top there are executives from GE Hitachi and X-Energy – SMR vendors. In the middle is Jeremey Harrison, Minister of Trade and Export for Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Suppliers Association (SIMSA) does all of these things for its members. This is why our membership base has grown by nearly 50 per cent through COVID. We help our members “sell more stuff” by doing all of the above for them.
