A day in the life of a Business Development Manager in Lockdown - Well, where do I start?

As BDMs, we all know that getting out there and having that face to face interaction with others is key to what we do in our role and so when lockdown first happened I think it hit us all for six as it was such a huge change to our usual routines. We were so used to the freedom of being able to get out there with a flick of a switch and just turn up to an event and know for sure we would bump into people we knew and chat business, it was easy – oh, I do miss the good old days!

The restrictions were relaxed over the summer period and we then went into this tier system and quickly adapted to the 'new normal’ of business life. Tables of six could be booked and we still, of course, were allowed to have our one to one meetings.

Now we’re back in lockdown 2.0 but one thing I have noticed is we are all actually finding different ways of keeping up with our contacts, helping each other, and checking on everyone’s wellbeing to make sure all is ok. I love being a BDM, we look out for one another and it shows through the contact we all have with each other. To me, there’s no better job in the world!

My day consists of eyes open and straight on LinkedIn (guys we all know what this is like don’t we!) and boy is it addictive or what?

Primarily my role is to increase the exposure of Feldon Dunsmore, make introductions, facilitate relationships, bring in business and really try to get the message out there of who we are and what the firm is about, and why it is different. However, my role involves so much more on a daily basis and the role as BDM for Feldon Dunsmore is so varied. No one day is ever the same. 

Just a quick glance of my daily life…

Eyes open – Good morning LinkedIn! 

Check emails and diary for scheduled business meetings, webinars, and contact calls that I have for that day and jump straight on those with the good old Zoom, Teams, and even Facetime, discussing ways that we could work together and cross-refer – I love this part but blimey I can natter away at times! Lol

Hi again LinkedIn!

Pick up with our lawyers on their 1-2-1 meetings for their personal and professional growth and ensure they’re ok too – that’s important too guys, we all know that.

It’s me again LinkedIn!

Continuously working on our business and marketing strategy and trying to ensure we stay on target each month for the things we all need to do to ensure the smooth running and projected growth of our firm. This often includes marketing for LinkedIn (our weekly blog posts) and managing our company page and followers. Marketing meetings with the partners to discuss current and future business and strategically moving that forward and discussions on potential new clients and how those meetings went and how to move forward with those too.

Yes, you’ve got it – LINKEDIN!...seriously though I swear I’m starting to feel like I’m married to this thing.

Get my boots and scarf and get out there for my windy walks with my contacts one to one, (and no, I don’t really like looking like I’ve been pulled through a hedge backwards guys!), but I am getting used to it I must say - Anyway the fresh air and exercise is great and I might actually lose a few lockdown pounds in readiness for when I’m allowed to get my glad rags on again so not all bad hey.

Then I remember I have a child to pick up from school, so off I go and pick him up and sort him out. Once sorted and fed, I’m back on it nattering away to my contacts and staying in the loop with what’s going on with the outside world. It’s non-stop but I love the fast pace of the role and always being on hand. 

LinkedIn is a fantastic tool to keep up to date with projects that clients and my network are involved with, and, in particular, I love seeing how well my contacts are doing and love supporting them all wherever I can, liking and sharing posts, commenting and making introductions. 

It is a massive understatement that clearly 2020 has been very challenging for all businesses but we remain extremely busy and have found new innovative ways of communicating. The level of new work that we have created through the year is a testament to the hard work and efforts of everyone at Feldon Dunsmore making it one of our best ever despite the difficulties we have all experienced. 

Although it will be nice to think in 2021 we can go back to how we used to operate there are definitely lessons that we can all take from the past few months as to how business development can still work in a world where we are denied face to face contact. I’m sure some of this will continue long into the future. 

We’re all trying to do the best as BDMs and do you know what guys, I think we’re doing a fab job so let’s keep going, supporting each other and working as hard as ever – See you all the other side of Lockdown guys!

Author: Sharon Baxter

20 November 2020