Article · Professional Services

How to build BD credibility and spot opportunities for partners over the break

The edge in BD comes from spotting quieter signals hiding in plain sight, with lead time. A story about tea in The Economist shows how it works.

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A blue and white illustration of a tea house and a woman with a parasol

It has been a heavy news cycle, locally and globally. In normal circumstances, world affairs take centre stage. For BD credibility over the longer term, though, the edge often comes from spotting the quieter signals hiding in plain sight, the ones that offer lead time. These small touches help you get an edge with your stakeholders and add value partners notice.

Here is an example. It is not an international headline. It is a piece about tea in The Economist: producers in Fujian want to restrict use of the name lapsang souchong. It sounds benign, one to gloss over. It is actually loaded. This is not about tea. It is origin linked intellectual property, and the enforcement and disputes that follow.

The Economist is excellent for BD. Subtle, elegant, yet loaded. You have to look hard, but it is extremely useful if you dig. The biggest value lies in spotting the cues before the mainstream reports them after the fact. It takes time, but for younger BDs this is how commercial literacy gets built, and with it a career based on adding commercial value through insight and foresight.

So what is in this one? First, use of the name is being tightened. BD notes: trade mark strategy, geographical indication protection, customs issues and competitor challenges. Clients with place based product names may need audits. Second, authenticity is the premium. BD notes: consumer law substantiation, label and web copy review, traceability clauses. Clients using words like authentic, heritage or traditional may be exposed. Third, climate restrictions are limiting production. BD notes: contract reviews on force majeure, allocation and pricing terms. Clients with tight or regulated supply chains may need stress testing.

None of that requires a legal qualification. It requires reading with the client in mind and asking, for each line, who in our client base would care about this and which partner should hear it first. A two line note to the right partner, a week before the issue reaches the trade press, does more for your standing than a quarter of pitch formatting.

Over the break, pick one serious publication and read it that way. Not for the news, but for the second order effects. That habit, kept up for a year, is the difference between a BD person partners tolerate and one they seek out.

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