When I was a young cub in my first job at Dow Chemical, the sales leadership had a phrase they repeated constantly: hurry up and wait. Show up early. Be ready before anyone asks you to be. And then wait. Wait until the client is ready. Wait until the timing is right. Wait without fidgeting.
It sounded contradictory at first. Why rush if you're just going to wait? But over the years, I've come to understand it as one of the most important lessons in business development.
When you're pursuing a partnership or a deal, multiple factors have to align. You need the right value proposition. Both organizations need to have the bandwidth and resources available. The internal champions on both sides need to be in the right positions. And timing — that invisible, uncontrollable force — needs to cooperate.
Staying engaged without applying excessive pressure can sometimes allow opportunities that aren't ready to be plucked from the tree to fully ripen.
The "hurry up" part is about preparation and positioning. Do the work. Build the relationships. Understand the landscape. Be ready with a clear, compelling case for why a partnership makes sense. Don't wait to be asked — show up with ideas.
The "wait" part is about patience and respect. Not every deal is ready to close on your timeline. The worst thing you can do is push a deal through before both sides are genuinely ready. You might get a signature, but you won't get a real partnership.
I've seen too many BD professionals lose deals by being impatient. They had the right idea, the right partner, even the right value proposition — but they forced the timing. They applied pressure when they should have stayed warm and present.
The best deals I've ever done shared one thing in common: I was ready before the moment arrived, and I was patient enough to let the moment come to me.
Originally published November 2018