Romance and Sincerity

Managing, Strategy, Business: David Maister Live videocast

In thinking about business development, there are two basic mindsets that must be distinguished. On the one hand, you could focus on trying to win each transaction, transaction by transaction. Somewhat rudely, I call this the mindset of going for the quick hit, or the one-night stand.

The other way of coming to market is trying to build relationships. Trying to get good at romance, where you're trying to persuade potential clients to enter into a long-term relationship with you.

The key point is that we must understand that whilst either can be made to work, there is a crucial difference between being good at one-night stands and being good at romance.