CEOs who operate in the federal sector have many options for maximizing their business development effectiveness. Almost always, one option is to augment internal personnel with business development consultants. Those who can help you win new business come in a wide variety of types and sizes, each with their own set of strengths and limitations. They include: Selecting the right type and the right firm or consultant requires you to clearly understand your own goals and objectives. Specifically, what do you want to achieve by bringing this consultant or firm into your company's business development operations?

If addressing one or more of the situations or objectives listed below, consider the Strategic Business Development Consultant: I believe there are four principal criteria when selecting a Strategic Business Development Consultant in the government market sector: Business development consultants who have previously led successful companies or operations are the most likely source of people with the capability to achieve consistent, long-term revenue growth. These include former CEOs and corporate officers responsible for major business units or operations.

While important to the process, experts in government regulations, the FARs or DFARs, market niches, or proposal production will not provide knowledge and experience derived from actual hands-on experience in achieving significant revenue growth.

The most important credential to examine is the revenue growth records of the companies led by your potential business development consultant. If he or she has not achieved significant revenue growth while leading a previous company as President or CEO (or Senior VP, Business Development), there is little reason to believe this consultant will help your company grow. On the other hand, if your candidate has achieved significant revenue growth in leading one or more companies, there exists solid evidence that he or she may help you.

Also, your business development consultant must have the capability to distill his or her successes into learnable knowledge and principles that can be applied within your firm, The best way to judge this capability is to invite the potential consultant to present his or her approach to your firm. That presentation will give you the opportunity and information to judge his or her ability to communicate clearly, collaborate with your staff and work effectively in your market sectors.

Finally, test yourself. If you answer 'no' on two or more of these, you should develop and implement a strategy to improve your business develop effectiveness. Retaining a strategic business development consultant can help you focus your efforts and upgrade your capability.