Business development training for professional services and B2B firms across the UK, Europe and USA.
Every firm tells its people that business development matters. Very few ever show them how to do it.
So your analysts wait to be told what to do, your senior associates collect contacts they never follow up, and your partners fit BD into the gaps between matters, if at all.
Not because they can’t do it, but because nobody has ever taught them, and most BD training is written for salespeople rather than for professionals who’d rather not be seen as one.
What is business development training?
Business development training teaches fee earners how to win and grow client relationships. In professional services that means networking, referrals, spotting opportunities with existing clients and having commercial conversations, delivered in a way that fits how professionals actually work. It’s different from sales training, which assumes people want to sell.
Signs your firm needs it
- Your people know BD matters, and it still isn’t happening.
- Everyone goes to events, comes back with cards, and nothing follows.
- Your senior associates are told to build a pipeline with no explanation of how.
- Cross-selling gets discussed at every partner meeting and never moves.
- You’ve run BD training before and nothing changed.
- Your best BD performers are naturals, and nobody can explain what they do differently.
- There’s an expectation that people will develop business, and no support for doing it
Three flagship programmes
I’m regBusiness development looks completely different depending on where someone sits in a firm. An analyst four years in doesn’t need the same session as a partner with a book of clients. Running one generic course for everyone is the main reason BD training doesn’t stick.
So I run three programmes, each built for a different stage of a career.
Future leaders: building BD early
For: analysts through to managers
The habits people build early are the ones they still have at partner level. This programme is about starting properly rather than picking things up by accident.
It covers building a network before you need one, the commercial confidence to talk about what the firm does and what it costs, and the everyday habits that become a pipeline in ten years’ time. For a lot of participants it’s the first time anyone has explained why business development is part of their job at all.
They leave with: a clear view of what BD means at their level, a small set of habits they can sustain alongside a full workload, and the confidence to start.
Senior professionals: from contacts to opportunities
For: senior associates, managers and senior managers
By this stage most people have a network. What they haven’t got is a way of working out which parts of it matter and what to do about the parts that do.
This programme covers prioritising relationships instead of maintaining all of them equally, having the conversation that moves a contact towards an opportunity, and building a pipeline that’s real rather than a list of people you once met at a conference.
They leave with: a prioritised set of relationships, a plan for each, and a way of tracking whether any of it is working.
Partners and leadership: leading growth
For: partners, heads of sector and leadership teams
At this level the question isn’t personal technique. It’s whether the firm actually has a business development culture or just talks about one.
This programme covers taking ownership of growth, holding people accountable for BD in a way that works in a partnership rather than a sales team, cross-selling across teams without it feeling like an internal sales process, and setting the tone that makes everything below it possible. If your partners aren’t visibly doing BD, nobody underneath them will either.
They leave with: their own BD plan, and a clear view of what they need to do differently to make the rest of the firm’s efforts work..
How the programmes work
1. Discovery. I talk to you about what’s actually going on. Where BD stalls, what’s been tried before, what your people believe about business development, and what your firm rewards. Generic training fails because it’s answering questions nobody asked.
2. Design. Each programme is built around your firm, your sectors and your services, using examples your people will recognise. Segmented by seniority, so nobody sits through a session pitched at someone else’s stage.
3. Delivery. In person or online, as a single session, a short series, or a full programme across cohorts. Interactive throughout, because BD is a skill and you can’t learn a skill by watching.
4. Embedding. What people do afterwards is what decides whether the training was worth it. That might mean action plans people commit to, follow-up sessions, briefing their managers so the habits get reinforced, or [individual partner BD plans].
What it costs
Training is priced as a programme rather than by the day, and depends on the number of cohorts, how much bespoke design is involved, and whether you want follow-up built in.
I’d rather quote you properly after a conversation than publish a number that turns out to be wrong for your firm.
Why work with me
I’ve been running Helen Cox Marketing since 2016 and have worked with clients across professional services and B2B, from magic circle and silver circle law firms to top ten accountancy practices and large consultancies. Before that I was in-house.
That matters more for training than for anything else I do. I’m not a professional trainer who’s read about law firms. I’ve sat in the partner meetings, written the sector plans and watched good BD intentions die in a busy month. When someone in the room says “that won’t work here”, I usually know whether they’re right.
I’m a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM) with Chartered Marketer status, and a trainer for the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
Who this is for
This works best for professional services firms and B2B businesses where fee earners are expected to bring in work: law firms, accountancy practices, consultancies and B2B organisations. I usually work with HR and L&D teams, managing partners, heads of sector and marketing directors.
It’s less useful if you’re after off-the-shelf sales training, or a session to tick a CPD box. Programmes are built around your firm, and people leave with actions rather than enthusiasm. That takes more of your input at the design stage than a generic course would.
I’ll tell you on the call if I think you need something I don’t offer.
Let’s talk
Most firms don’t have a business development problem. They have a training problem that looks like a business development problem.
If your people know BD matters and still aren’t doing it, book a discovery call and let’s work out why.
I work with B2B businesses, law and solicitors firms, accountants and consultancies in London, the UK, Europe and the USA.
FAQs
No. Sales training assumes people want to sell, and most professionals don’t see themselves that way. These programmes start from how professional services actually win work, through relationships, reputation and referrals, and build from there. It’s a different starting point and it lands very differently in the room.
No, and that’s the point. The three programmes are pitched at different career stages because an analyst and a partner need completely different things. Within that, each is built around your firm, your sectors and examples your people recognise.
Yes. Plenty of firms start with a single workshop or an away day session to see how it lands before committing across cohorts. It’s a sensible way to do it.
It depends on the format. An away day session is usually half a day, and a full programme runs across several sessions over a few months. We’ll work out what’s realistic for your people’s diaries, because a brilliant programme nobody can attend is worth nothing.
Both work. In person is better for the interactive elements and for the conversations that happen in the breaks. Online works well for cohorts spread across offices and for shorter follow-up sessions that keep momentum going.
Workshops work best at around 12-18 people, small enough that everyone contributes. If you’ve got a large group and want it interactive, cohorts work better than one big room.
By making it specific, and by planning what happens afterwards before we start. That might be action plans people commit to, follow-up sessions, or briefing their managers so the habits get reinforced. Training that ends when the session ends rarely changes anything, and most firms have already paid for one of those.
Yes. Some firms bring me in for their marketing and business development teams rather than their professionals, whether that’s skills development or strategic thinking.
It’s a free 30 minutes for me to understand what you’re dealing with and work out whether I’m the right person to help. If I’m not, I’ll tell you and point you somewhere better.
Case Study Highlight
Crossing the Atlantic: designing and delivering a three-part BD programme for a US investment bank
A US investment bank wanted to make business development more consistent across the firm. I designed and delivered a tailored three-part BD programme in Washington DC, helping everyone from first-year analysts to managing directors build stronger relationships, develop their networks and take a more intentional approach to growth.
Happy Clients
Collaborative and also the right sort of challenging. She fitted into the team very well and is a strong communicator and, crucially, rolled her sleeves up to get things done.
Martin Cook, Head of Sector, Financial Services,
Burges Salmon
She delved into the breadth of marketing and business development channels, offering valuable insights on how we could enhance our approach.
Gavin Richardson, Managing Director,
Mortgages for Business
Let’s talk…
For more information on any of my services, get in touch and let’s talk.