The New New Business: The Importance of Transparency and Building Trust with Chris Bachler
Business development director Chris Bachler leads new business initiatives, forging new relationships and finding new business opportunities across Jack Health, global brand experience agency Jack Morton’s healthcare practice. A 20-year industry veteran, Chris has a background in marketing and consultative selling and has worked across a number of verticals for several marketing agencies. Over the last five years, Chris has had a major focus on pharma and healthcare, working with many different therapeutic areas including dermatology, respiratory, MS, Rare Blood, diabetes, cardiovascular and Oncology.
LBB> What was your first sale or new business win?
Chris> I can’t remember my first. However, the most impactful one was when I was at a creative marketing agency and had the opportunity to meet with new people that needed help in a pinch. I met with them, brought my team in and we helped with this small project that solved their immediate problem. That “win” ended up building trust and getting us more conversations and growing the relationship to bigger and better wins over the next few years.
The first win was small, but it was a classic case of “opening the door” and impressing them with our creative and work ethic. It felt great to trust the process and make a client look good, which helped make us look good. This got us introductions to more people in the company… a “land and expand” business development scenario.
Situations like this helped me learn that when you’re selling solutions in a consultative way, quite often the best partnerships start with listening and building relationships.
LBB> What was the best piece of advice you got early on?
Chris> One simple thing that sticks with me is “plan your work and work your plan.”
Business development is a hard, long process where you can easily lose your focus. But if you can create a plan, hold yourself accountable to it and execute it, you can wake up each day and see things you need to accomplish in order to succeed.
LBB> And the worst?
Chris> I can’t think of bad advice given to me. I’m sure there are some that have come my way, but I try to pick out all the positive things and make them part of my mindset.
LBB> How has the business of ‘selling’ in the creative industry changed since you started?
Chris> This is a topic that can be talked about for hours, I’m sure. The first thing that comes to mind is that people aren’t sitting in their offices like they used to. The world of “remote work” has changed the way we reach out to people. In sales, we’ve had to adjust our techniques, getting more creative and being more understanding to the personal lives of prospects. Even something as simple as “let’s grab coffee” has changed.
LBB> Can anyone be taught to sell or do new business or do you think it suits a certain kind of personality?
Chris> I think it’s both. Like any job, you want to love what you do, so you need to have the type of personality that is built for doing new business.
With “learning how to sell,” I don’t think that ever should end. I always try to pick up new ways of thinking, new tips, new ideas. There’s no one way to ensure you’ll get a sale, so I always stay open to trying something different.
LBB> What are your thoughts about the process of pitching that the industry largely runs on?
Chris> I’ve always been taught that pitching is just 1 part of winning business and it’ll always be there in some form. It makes getting smart on your account and building strong relationships even more important. When you are “working your plan,” you’re trying to put yourself in a better position compared to your competition, which can help you stand out in a pitch or maybe avoid a pitch altogether.
As far as improving, I’m sure a lot of people in my role would agree that it would be great to have more transparency in the client’s budget expectations early on in the process because a lot of ideas can be scaled accordingly.
LBB> How do you go about tailoring your selling approach according to the kind of person or business you’re approaching?
Chris> For me, it just seems like part of the process. I stay true to who I am and stay open to listening to and understanding who the person is that’s in front of you.
LBB> New business and sales can often mean hearing ‘no’ a lot and quite a bit of rejection - how do you keep motivated?
Chris> When you accept the fact that you will hear more “no” than “yes”, then the motivation is how good the “yes” feels because you’ve trusted the process and connected with a customer who “gets it.”
LBB> The advertising and marketing industry often blurs the line between personal and professional friendships and relationships… does this make selling easier or more difficult and delicate?
Chris> I think it just makes it delicate. You have to know your audience and make sure to build the relationship in an appropriate way. As the relationship grows, I think it will naturally become more personal.
LBB> In your view, what's the key to closing a deal?
Chris> Transparency, building trust, and showing your client that you’re an expert in solving their problems.
LBB> How is technology and new platforms (from platforms like Salesforce and Hubspot to video calls to social media) changing sales and new business?
Chris> All of these tools, whether it’s a CRM or a Marketing tool, are just making new business efforts more efficient and allow us to focus on being more strategic and getting more done.
LBB> There’s a lot of training for a lot of parts of the industry, but what’s your thoughts about the training and skills development when it comes to selling and new business?
Chris> I think it’s an important part of being in new business. Being able to hear from others in business development about their experiences helps you grow. I’ve found my biggest growth as a “new business person” when I’ve been able to collaborate with and learn from my peers.
LBB> What’s your advice for anyone who’s not necessarily come up as a salesperson who’s now expected to sell or win new business as part of their role?
Chris> Walk into the new role with confidence. A lot of times, if someone comes from a non-sales role into sales, that means they had a job where they were doing the things that the company sells. Moving into sales just means you get to talk to people about those things.
I started out as a marketing and account manager and was presented with an opportunity to grow my career and be a bigger part of my organisation in a business development role. I jumped right in and figured it out as I went along and haven’t looked back.
Diving into growing relationships and solving client problems made business development and consultative selling a passion. I’ve always been eager to prospect into new industries, which led me to the healthcare space and eventually brought me to my exciting and incredible role with Jack Health.
