There were some industries through the pandemic that hit the jackpot with a flood of cash into the market.  Real estate and construction were beneficiaries en masse drawing value from a unique cultural cocktail of a geographically mobile workforce, a shortage of housing inventory, and a rush of available cash into the market. Sales roles in this unique market began to belly up at the bar of counter sales limiting the time needed to “beat the streets” and “shake the bushes”. Moving into this next season, those who see growth and success in their business will be those who commit to the art and science of business development; the literal development and cultivation of new business.   The world that we are inheriting is a world captured in a simple, non-cliched acronym coined by futurist Dr. Bob Johansen…V.U.C.A. Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity What will stand out in a VUCA world?  Clarity and simplicity. Sales is not hard…sales is tedious.  Sales is the fuel in the tank of any business to ensure range and duration.  Without sales, there is no fulfillment, no operations, or no administration.   You can have marketing without sales…for a while.  Sales funds marketing, operations, and administration.   The VUCA clouds have formed and it is time for the bar-belliers to get off their stools and hit the streets. Where do we begin? First, ask yourselves this question, “where has 80% of our business come from before?” Before you cop out and answer “word of mouth”, stop and reflect on who that word-of-mouth response represents?  Friends?  Past clients?  Trade partners?  Vendors?   Identify your top 3 channels.  If you are in construction you might identify your top channel as Architects, then past clients, then real estate developers.  Again, those are examples…so what are your past channels? Once you have a top 3 list of the channels by where you have procured 80% of your business in the past it is time to coordinate and systematize that list into a series of proactive follow-up steps. Next, take your list of the top 3 channels by which 80% of your business has been generated in the past and now identify the individual names (not just entities…but individual names) that are mouthing the word about you so that others are interested enough to call.  Add to this list names other names of those that could begin spreading the good news of your mission to their networks that you have not tapped into next.   You will be well served working to identify between 10 and 20 individual names from each of your top 3 channels. Finally, take the names from your lists and start with the first, most lucrative channel you have identified from the first step.  Open your calendar and begin proactively setting appointments to have Facetime with each person on the list. I know…this sounds a lot more challenging and time-consuming than just sitting bellied up at the bar.   You might say, “We still have a backlog of business that we cannot get to for weeks or months, the last thing we need right now is more sales.”   You must reframe your thinking.  The best time to sell is when you don’t think you need to sell.  The market can smell a desperate business.   Work hard to keep your sales pipeline pressurized so that you can tap into it at a moment's notice.  It is naive to think that the market will continue proactively walking into your door and placing orders at your counter. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity are on the prowl. It’s time to push back from the bar, count your steps, and hit the streets proactively to bring value to your market by reminding them that you are here and you are ready to serve.