The Most Underused Business Development Tactic: Walk and Talk Meetings

For professional services firms, most business development related conversations happen in predictable settings: boardrooms, cafés or over video calls. They’re typically structured, often rushed, and framed by time constraints that subtly shape how people interact.‍ ‍

But some of the most effective business development conversations don’t happen sitting down at all. They happen when you are out walking.

The “walk and talk” meeting is one of the most underused tools in professional services. It strips away formality, changes the dynamic of the conversation and, done well, can lead to more open, honest and commercially meaningful discussions.

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I take a look at creating the right conditions for better conversations – when you walk and talk.

Why Walking Changes the Conversation

There is something fundamentally different about walking side-by-side compared to sitting across a table. In a traditional sit-down meeting, the structure is clear:

• There is an agenda.

• There is a start and end.

• There is often an implicit expectation to “get through” topics.

This type of structure can be useful, and it certainly has its place in your business development arsenal; but it can also limit the quality of the interaction and conversations your having with clients and referrers.

When you walk with a client, referrer or prospect, the dynamic shifts. The conversation becomes less transactional and more natural. Without the pressure of eye contact across a table, people tend to speak more freely. There is less interruption, fewer formal pauses and more space for ideas to develop.

In business development, this matters.

Because the goal of business development is not just to exchange information, it’s to truly understand what is really going on behind the surface of a client’s needs. It’s about gaining the trust of the other person in the conversation. And there really is no more natural way of doing that than going for a walk with them!

Better Conversations Lead to Better Work

Most professionals assume that business development success comes from better proposals, sharper pricing or stronger credentials. The reality is those things matter far less than the quality of the conversations that happen before any proposal is written.

Walk and talk meetings create the right conditions for:

• Clients to share concerns they may not raise in formal settings.

• Early identification of risks, frustrations, or internal pressures.

• More candid discussion about budgets, expectations and constraints.

• A clearer understanding of what “success” actually looks like for the client.

• A more informal environment to talk through career moves or advancements.

These are the insights that help you win work.

By the time a formal request or proposal stage is reached, the firms that have had these deeper conversations are already ahead. They are not guessing what the client wants, they already know.

Removing the “Meeting Fatigue” Barrier

There is another, more practical reason why walk and talk meetings work. People are tired of meetings.

Calendars are full, attention is fragmented and another “catch-up” often feels like an obligation rather than an opportunity.

But suggesting a walk reframes the interaction. It feels:

• Less like a meeting

• More like a break in the day

• Easier to say “yes” to

For time-poor clients, that small shift can be the difference between a delayed conversation and one that happens this week. And in business development, timing really matters.

When to Use Walk and Talk Business Development Meetings

Not every conversation should happen on the move. But there are specific situations where walk and talk meetings are particularly effective. They work well when:

• You are building or strengthening a relationship (not pitching)

• The conversation is exploratory rather than transactional

• You want to understand broader business challenges, not just a single matter

• The client is someone you already have a level of rapport with

They are less effective when:

• You need to review detailed documents

• Multiple stakeholders are involved

• The discussion is highly technical or requires visual material

• The client prefers formal settings

Like any business development tool, it is about choosing the right approach for the objective.

How to Structure It (Without Over-Structuring It)

The mistake many professionals make is trying to turn a walk into a “mobile boardroom.” That defeats the purpose.

Instead, think of it as a lightly guided conversation. Have a direction, not an agenda. A simple structure might be:

• Start with something broad: “What’s been taking up most of your time lately?”

• Let the conversation flow naturally

• Ask follow-up questions that explore impact, not just facts

• Only introduce your perspective where it adds value

The goal is not to “cover topics.” The goal is to uncover insight.

A Different Kind of Visibility

One of the recurring challenges in professional services is what might be called the visibility gap: capable firms lose work not because they lack expertise, but because clients don’t clearly see their value early enough.‍ ‍

Walk and talk meetings are a practical way to close that gap. They create space for:‍ ‍

• Demonstrating how you think, not just what you do

• Positioning yourself as someone who understands the client’s broader context

• Building familiarity and trust outside of formal deliverables

This is the kind of visibility that matters.

Not visibility through marketing activity, but visibility through meaningful interaction.

Takeaway

‍Most lawyers and law firms are not short of business development things to do. They attend events, send updates and prepare proposals.

What they often lack are the kinds of conversations that actually shape client decisions.

Walk and talk meetings are a small shift, but one that can materially change the quality of those conversations.

Next time you are scheduling a catch-up with a client, consider a different approach. Don’t default to a meeting room. Suggest going for a walk.

Because sometimes, the most valuable business development conversations happen when you stop sitting across the table and start walking alongside your client.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Conversations, Not Presentations: Where Business Development Really Happens

Most business development efforts follow a similar tired format:

👉 A polished deck

👉 A rehearsed pitch

👉 A “let me tell you about us” monologue

Afterwards, we tell ourselves it was a “good meeting” because the client seemed engaged and we covered everything we wanted to say. But weeks later, nothing has changed. No follow-up. No new work. No deeper relationship. No momentum. Just another presentation delivered into the void.

And that's because - surprise, surprise, presentations don’t build relationships - Conversations do!

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I'm going to run through a high-level overview of where business development really happens: In the conversations you have with your clients.

Presentations Feel Safe; Conversations Create Value

Presentations are a comfortable place for many professionals. They’re controlled and they let us stay in familiar territory and show how capable we are.

But they’re also one-way. A presentation broadcasts information.

Conversations are tough. For start, we have to engage with the other person and build a repour. But, conversation uncover insights that presentations never will. And that's because:

👉 clients don’t build trust in you because you have showed them 25 slides about your experience

👉 they build trust in you because they have felt heard, understood and respected. That only happens when the meeting is designed to learn, not perform.

In short: A presentation is about you; A conversation is about them.

The Real Shift: From Impressing to Understanding

As I have said several times on BD Tips Wednesday posts, real business development starts when you stop asking:

“How do I impress this client?”

…and start asking:

“How do I understand this client?”

Understanding goes far deeper than stated needs. It means being curious about:

• The internal pressure they’re under

• The risks they’re quietly managing

• The trade-offs they’re forced to make

• What “success” really looks like inside their organisation

• What internal KPIs they are being measured against

• Whether they like the person they are reporting too!

None of this shows up on a slide deck. It only comes out in conversation.

Why Conversations Change Your Positioning

Presentation-led meetings keep clients passive. They listen politely. They nod. They ask safe questions. Then they go home.

Conversation-led meetings make clients active. They think out loud. They test ideas. They reveal uncertainty. They explore risk.

That’s the moment your role shifts.

You stop being “a supplier”. You start becoming a thinking and trusted partner.

And that shift is where real business development leverage lives. Its not only where you sell, it's where you upsell and cross-sell.

Listening Is Not Soft, It’s Strategic.

The strongest business developers are rarely the loudest or most polished speakers in the room.

They are:

• Comfortable with silence

• Curious without being intrusive

• Patient enough to let the problem surface

• Confident enough not to rush to the solution

They don’t dominate the agenda. They adapt to what emerges.

That’s not passive behaviour. It’s deliberate positioning.

Listening signals confidence. It signals commercial intelligence. It signals that you’re not desperate to sell, which paradoxically makes clients more willing to engage and trust.

Conversations Create Momentum

Presentations create awareness. Conversations create movement.

When a client feels understood, they initiate next steps themselves. They follow up. They introduce colleagues. They ask for your perspective on adjacent issues.

The relationship starts moving without you pushing it.

That’s when business development stops feeling forced and starts feeling natural.

Takeaway: The Question That Actually Matters

So the real question isn’t:

“How good is your elevator pitch?”

It’s:

“How good is your listening?”

Because the best opportunities don’t come from what you present. They come from what you hear and - crucially - what you do with it.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

C.R.E.A.M

If you have been following my BD Tips Wednesday posts for any length of time, you’ll know by now that I like a good acronym and helpful toolbox. For this BD Tips Wednesday post I thought I would share with you the C.R.E.A.M acronym; which represent the five essential pillars that will help elevate your business development communications.

1. Clarity: Say it simply, or don’t say it at all

Clarity is the foundation block of effective communication. If your audience has to re-read or reinterpret your message, you’ve already lost them.

Clear communication with your client / target audience removes friction. It gets straight to the point, distils complexity and eliminates jargon.

Whether you’re drafting a tender response, building a pricing narrative, or writing a LinkedIn post, focus on the single idea that matters most and express it in a way that anyone can understand without context.

When people understand you quickly, they trust you faster.

2. Relevance: Make your message about them, not you

Relevance determines whether your audience cares. Tailor your message to their needs, challenges, pressures and priorities.

If you are writing for procurement, this means aligning your response with evaluation criteria.

If you are writing about pricing, this means demonstrating value based on their definition of value, not yours.

If it’s a marketing product you are writing, this means framing your communication around what your audience is trying to achieve.

When your message feels personalised and grounded in your client’s reality, you immediately increase engagement and reduce resistance.

3. Engagement: Invite interaction, not silence

These days great communication is not a broadcast: it’s a two-way exchange.

Engagement means crafting messages that encourage feedback, conversation and connection. Ask questions. Share insights. Offer prompts. Create opportunities for your audience to interact with you or your brand.

This approach applies equally to social media posts, sales conversations, stakeholder updates and client onboarding.

Importantly, engagement deepens relationships and signals that you value dialogue, not just distribution.

4. Actionable: Tell them exactly what to do next

Every message should have a purpose and that purpose should translate into a clear next step. Do you want them to download something? Book a call? Review a proposal? Click a link? Approve a scope? Provide feedback?

Make the action explicit.

Actionability is where communication converts into outcomes. Without a clear call to action, your message becomes passive; it informs, but it doesn’t move anyone or anything forward.

Strong communicators eliminate ambiguity and give their audience a simple, achievable next step.

5. Medium: Deliver your message where it will work best

The right message delivered through the wrong medium loses impact. Choose the communication channel that aligns with your audience’s behaviour and preferences.

• Social media drives awareness.

• Email drives detail.

• Video drives emotion.

• In-person drives trust.

• Tenders demand structure.

• Pricing conversations demand nuance.

Don’t just focus on what you say, be intentional about where and how you say it. The medium shapes the message.

Takeaway

Whether you’re communicating with clients, stakeholders, procurement panels, or your own internal team, the way you craft and deliver your message determines whether it lands, sticks and drives action.

Always remember, strong communication builds trust, accelerates decisions and creates momentum in business development, pricing and tendering.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Two Ears, One Mouth: To Win New Work, You Need To Be Listening

Noise is often seen as being a defining factor of business development: who can pitch best, write the slickest proposal, deliver the most polished presentation, or bombarded the client with the most up-to-date newsletter on recent legislative changes. But the truth is, the best business developers are not the best talkers; they’re the ones who listen the most.

For this BD Tips Wednesday post I’ll be looking at why Listening Wins Trust – and as we know by now, trust is everything in business development!

Listening Wins Trust

Simple really, you feel the same way: When clients feel heard, they feel understood. And when they feel understood, they trust you.

As trust is the Holy Grail of business development, listening skills are they key to unlocking that trust.

However, too many partners and firms go into meetings with an agenda: to tell their story, what they want to hear - their great credentials, their innovative process, their track record.

Here’s a secret: the client already knows. That’s why you are in the room. What they’re looking for now is whether you get them: their pressure points, their KPIs, their constraints. Above all else, they want to know they’ll like working with you; because people work with people they like working with!

Listening Turns BD into Strategy

When you listen deeply, you start seeing patterns. You hear recurring themes about what clients value, what frustrates them, and – importantly - what makes them change providers.

Those insights feed directly into your strategy:

• Product and pricing improvements

• Messaging and positioning

• Talent and culture

• Client-service processes

Listening is the cheapest and most effective market research tool you’ll ever have. Which begs the question: Why don’t more law firms have client listening programs? Go figure!

The BD Discipline of Listening

To turn listening into a competitive advantage, make it a system not an accident.

• Have a client listening program.

• Debrief after every client meeting.

• Share client insights (including news from newspapers and magazines).

• Keep a record of every client interaction and what was discussed.

• Use listening questions: “What’s driving this project?” “What would success look like for you personally?”

And if you really want to be cutting edge, introduce a client account management program!

Takeaway

Winning business isn’t about talking louder, faster, or more confidently. It’s about listening with precision, empathy and intent.

Because in business development, the person who listens best…

…wins.

Further Reading

• Conversations, not presentations: where business development really happens

• Understanding Your Client's Why

• Shared Experiences Build Stronger Client Relationships

• The Most Underused Business Development Tactic: Walk and Talk Meetings

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Stop. Look. Listen. Business Development Safety Tips for Professionals

I was teaching my 3 year old the 'Stop. Look. Listen.' road safety rules. If you're old enough, like me, these used to be called the Green Cross Code Man rules. While trying to teach the child how to cross the road safely, it occurred to me that this is actually an important business development skill.

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I thought I would take a look at the 'Stop. Look. Listen.' road safety rules of Business Development.

🟥 STOP

Pause before you pitch. Avoid BD autopilot.

In professional services it’s easy to fall into the trap of reactive selling. Any of this sound familiar:

responding to inquiries, chasing every opportunity or sending out templated credentials.

High performing business development professionals know when to stop wasting time on this.

✅ STOP and:

• Revisit the client’s current context, pain points and recent changes.

• Reflect on what value you’re actually offering: aka what’s in it for them?

• Sense check internal capacity, readiness and alignment.

• Confirm you’re solving a problem, not just one you happen to have a solution for

💬 “Busy is not the same as effective. Stop long enough to be strategic.”

🟨 LOOK

Observe before you act. There’s always more to see.

Looking isn’t just about reading an RFP or LinkedIn profile. It’s about being curious and analytical, gathering insights that help you position yourself more effectively.

✅ LOOK to:

• Understand the client's world, including external pressures and internal dynamics.

• Decode buying signals and decision processes.

• Review past engagement history or similar work.

• Map your competitors’ positioning and messaging.

💬 “If you don’t know what the client is dealing with, you’re just guessing.”

🟩 LISTEN

Real listening beats rehearsed pitching every time.

Professionals often hear, but rarely listen. Listening means being present, curious and responsive. It shows respect and builds trust.

✅ LISTEN to:

• What clients are saying, as well as what they’re avoiding.

• The tone behind the words: frustration, urgency, hope.

• Buying signals, objections and subtle cues.

💬 “Listening is the fastest way to stand out in a noisy, sales-heavy market.”

Final Thoughts

Business development isn’t about speed. It’s about impact.

• When you Stop: you avoid rushing into the wrong opportunity.

• When you Look: you see the full picture, not just the surface.

• When you Listen: you hear what your competitors miss.

In professional services, that’s how you build trust.

That’s how you win work.

That’s how you grow.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.