Taking A Coaching Approach to Business Development

Why sustainable growth starts with people, not pipelines.

In many professional services firms, business development is still treated as a set of activities: targets, pipelines, bids, events, CRM updates. Important, yes—but rarely sufficient on their own.

What I’ve learned over many years working as a coach and mentor alongside multidisciplinary practices is this: business development only becomes sustainable when it is developed, not imposed.

That requires a coaching approach—one that works simultaneously with the individual, the business systems around them, and the culture that shapes behaviour every day.

Why Traditional BD Approaches Often Fall Short

When BD is approached purely as a technical or sales discipline, familiar problems emerge:

• capable professionals disengage or opt out
• activity happens, but impact is inconsistent
• knowledge sits with a few individuals
• growth becomes fragile and person-dependent

The issue is rarely a lack of intelligence or effort. It is a lack of alignment—between people, processes and culture.

A coaching-led approach addresses this head-on.

Pillar One: Working With the Person

At its heart, business development is human.

Confidence, motivation, communication style and personal purpose all influence how someone shows up with clients and colleagues. As a qualified coach (ILM Level 7), my work starts here—helping individuals:

• understand their natural style and strengths
• reframe BD as leadership rather than selling
• connect growth and relationships to what matters to them
• build confidence through reflection and practice

When people feel ownership rather than obligation, behaviour changes.

Pillar Two: Supporting the Business Processes

Coaching alone is not enough if systems work against the desired behaviour.

Many firms have strong processes on paper, but they are not always practical or embedded. A coaching approach helps organisations:

• simplify and humanise BD processes
• make account planning, client insight and follow-up usable
• clarify roles and expectations around client relationships
• support consistency without bureaucracy

The aim is not more process, but better process—designed to support people in doing the right things well.

Pillar Three: Shaping the Culture

Culture is where BD either sticks or fails. If collaboration is not rewarded, silos persist. If client ownership feels risky, relationships stay protected. If leadership behaviour doesn’t align with messaging, trust erodes.

As a member of the Association of Business Mentors, my work with leadership teams focuses on:

• modelling the behaviours they want to see
• normalising conversations about growth and relationships
• reducing reliance on individual rainmakers
• embedding BD as a shared leadership responsibility

Over time, business development becomes less about pushing and more about pulling people into a common direction.

Why Coaching Creates More Resilient Growth

The real value of a coaching approach is not short-term activity, but long-term capability.

When people, processes and culture are aligned:

• confidence increases
• relationships deepen
• opportunities are followed through
• future leaders develop earlier
• and the business becomes less vulnerable to change

Growth becomes something the organisation is capable of sustaining, not something it has to constantly chase.

From Activity to Capability

Business development does not fail in professional services because people don’t care. It fails when it is disconnected from who people are, how businesses actually work, and what is genuinely valued.

A coaching approach reconnects those threads.

It turns BD from a set of tasks into a leadership capability, shared across the business and reinforced every day—through behaviour, systems and culture.

That is where meaningful, resilient growth comes from.