Business Development Talk with Tim Reitsma

Tim Reitsma is the Co-Founder of People Managing People, an HR community for Non-HR people based in Vancouver, Canada. 

How has business development changed since Coronavirus (COVID-19)? 

Business development has shifted to be more consumer-focused. These days, it’s all about the consumer experience. Better CX translates to higher conversion rates and customer loyalty. 

Tim Reitsma (Courtesy)

How do you improve the consumer experience?  

One way to improve CX is to shift from the traditional tier approach to a concierge approach. This means that one customer service agent will have the expertise to resolve an issue instead of being transferred from agent to agent. 

Where is it going?  

It’s headed in a more high-tech direction. More and more businesses are incorporating Automated Intelligence into their business plan. Companies that fail to do so are falling behind in customer service. They can’t adequately meet the demands of customers. 

Automated Intelligence is a great point.  How have you used it?

HR generally spends a lot of time onboarding new employees, triaging employee requests and common questions, and managing primary benefits. All of these tasks can be automated with software like Bamboo HR. This frees up our time to work on more complex tasks like improving the company culture. 

How should business development managers adapt?  

Managers should stay abreast of current technological trends. To stay ahead of the competition, managers must know what their competitors are doing. It’s essential to stay up to date on the development of your top competitors. 

What is the best way to stay up to date?  Where do you start?

A great place to start would be community forums to research your direct competitors. You can investigate conversations that customers have to identify their pain points. Another great tactic is through an SEO competitive analysis. You can see which other businesses or publishers are competing for space on Google.