Bad Growth

Back in the day when I was a newly designated Business Development manager my team was given the task by an equally new Operations Director to grow our pipeline. The Director wasn’t happy with the overall topline pipeline values and had a sense that we needed more. But the direction was clear - more dollars were needed.

I think you know where this is going. The team delivered new, bigger pipeline numbers. At the same time, I pulled my new Operations Director aside and gave a clear warning - the numbers you are about to see will bear no resemblance to reality. You gave them a task to create a larger pipeine, and wanting to please you they did it.

Problem is it’s all fiction. The new opportunities are simply value-drivers and probably not aligned to vision or strategy. But they checked the box. They are distractors, not enablers. And they come with opportunity cost.

I always like to remind my teams that not every dollar is a good dollar, at least as far as sustainable growth is concerned. As our Operations Director discovered growth teams will deliver whatever pipeline value that’s desired if the only direction they get is “grow our pipeline”. Precious time is going to be spent trying to qualify opportunities that drive pipeline value but have no real value to the corporation. The Director needed to consider factored value, not topline value, as a key indicator. The focus should have been on increasing the potential of winning existing opportunities, not making the pipeline appear healthier than it really is.

Sustaining growth that’s aligned with strategy is hard. Thornbrook Partners understands the challenges you face, and is here to help companies navigate these important growth stages. We’d love to talk to your team about how Fractional Business Development could help you achieve the growth results you most desire.