Business Development Process

Business Development Process: 

Every Business Development (BD) opportunity needs to be entered into Ignyte by the Project Manager and/or their Partner/VP, no matter their level of probability. It is important to keep your BD opportunities updated as the information is used to forecast revenue pipeline, recruiting and research efforts/workloads, as well as accounting. 

Step 1: Basic Information – Add a new BD opportunity by clicking “New BD” at the top of the Home page, which will open as a blank template. The following fields will need to be completed per the image below, as follows 

(* indicates a mandatory field): 
 

Company*

The Company must first exist in Ignyte. It will then auto-populate when you start to type the name. 

Job Title*

This field is freeform.  Enter the title of the specific BD Opportunity (i.e., Vice President, Chief Executive Officer, etc.)  If it is not for a specific opportunity, and is being used as general BD, we recommend naming it ‘Introduction to Kingsley Gate’, or a more defined description, i.e., ‘Board Role’, ‘Potential General Manager role’, or ‘Confidential’. *Remember to fully spell out the title; do not use abbreviations.

Framework Type*

This will default to Ignyte Basic, and it can be left as that type. 

Projected Start Date*

If you are not certain of a projected start date, then enter a date to the best of your knowledge. Remember to update the date as it gets closer or if the probability % changes. This is very helpful for forecasting purposes. 

Location*

Add in the Country where the Search is likely to be run from. You can also include more specific location details, like city and/or state. If necessary, this can be amended by Billing Desk to the correct location once the Search opens.

Service Offering*

Enter the search type from the dropdown. You will most likely be using “Executive” as your offering.

Probability %*

Probability is based on the likelihood of winning the search. You will select your % in tandem with status of the BD opportunity, using the recommended table below as a guide. 

Remember to update the % and the Status as the opportunity changes, including updating to 100% when receiving a signed LOE. *Also, upload the LOE to the Documents section of the search once it is sent to the client.

Geography*

Choose the geographical area where the search will be performed. Example: You/your client may be in Singapore (which would be the Location) but they are running a search to find an executive in India. Choosing India as the correct Geography will determine the required minimum fee for that location. This selection will also notify the KG region leader if the estimated revenue/fee is below the region minimum.

Industry

This field is not required but you can reference the Company’s industry to enter the appropriate information.  

Client Contacts 

If the Contact exists in Ignyte and is listed as currently working at the Client company, they will then auto-populate when you start to type their name. If the Individual does not exist in Ignyte, you can add them by clicking on “Add Contact”.

Job Function

This field is not required but you can reference the Job Function Guide to enter the appropriate information. 

BD Status

You can update the status of your BD opportunity by clicking on the dropdown to the right of the BD number (see image below). 

Additional Information and Timeline Sections

All fields in this section are not required but can be entered if known. 

Step 2: Team Info

Consultant Information

Add the Partner/Consultants name(s). If there is only one working on the search, you can enter the Origination (30%), Selling (20%), and Execution (50%) credits. If there is more than one Partner/Consultant on the search, you can find out the credit splits once the search is won. *There must be at least one Consultant added.

Admin Information

Reminder to ALWAYS add yourself to this section if you are the PM creating the BD opportunity and enter the Execution credit to 100%. If there is more than one PM involved, split the credit appropriately.

Step 3: Billing Details – You may not have all the billing details when creating a BD opportunity. The highlighted items below are important to complete/keep updated and the other items can be input when the information is confirmed. 

Currency* 

Enter the currency that we will bill our Client with.

Fee Cap

This button can be slid over if we are billing a certain amount and not going to charge over that fee amount. Once the button is slid over, a line appears on the right side where you can enter the exact fee cap amount.  

Term Type

This dropdown gives you the option to select when the retainers will be sent to the client, the options being when specific Milestones are accomplished or Time based (upon signature of the LOE, 30 days, 60 days, etc.). 

Intervals

Based on your Term Type, you can select the specific Milestones or Time. This information is typically found in the Fees section of your LOE. 

Billing Region*

Choose the region that the Client will be billed. 

Fee Type

The Fee Type is defaulted to “Standard – 1/3”. This can be updated once an LOE is created if the Fee Type is a different amount. 

Fee Percentage

If the Fee Type is not the Standard – 1/3, you can enter the exact percentage being used. 

Base Fee – Estimated

When you create your BD opp, use the table below to input the Value, which will calculate the minimum fee amount for your region. Enter this regardless of the Probability %. The amount can/will be updated when necessary, or if you have the actual compensation amount, please input that.

For example, North American searches have a minimum search fee of $75k. Within the Base Fee section, under Fee Items, select “Total Compensation” from the dropdown and under Value, enter $230,000. 

Indirect Fee

Once an LOE is created, you can add the amount of the Indirect Fee, which is typically found in the Expenses section of your LOE.

Lastly, don’t forget to SAVE your BD! 

EDIT/UPDATE your BD Opportunity

To locate your/your Consultants BD opportunities, click on the Searches tab on the left-hand side. Once in the Searches tab, click on Business Development at the top and select All BD from the dropdown. Here you can select the Team Member(s) and their BD opportunities will generate. 

Click on the Search number next to the title of the BD opportunity, which will take you into the search record, where you can update the Projected Start Date and Probability %, along with any additional information obtained. 

If the opportunity is no longer Active, please update the Result and End Date, which can be found below the Overview section. The Result can be found under Additional Information and End Date under Timeline (image provided below). 

Result – From the dropdown, make sure to select one of the following options to better reflect the outcome of the BD opportunity: 

• Lost – if the potential Client hires another firm and/or does not hire KG, update the Result to “Lost”. 
• No Decision – if nothing has come of a BD opportunity within 3 months, update the Result to “No Decision”. This will read as the opportunity is ‘paused’/’on hold’, ’gone quiet’, or ’nothing happening’ scenario.  

*Please do not select any other options on the dropdown, as they are used by Search Desk. 

• End Date – When updating your BD opportunity to Lost or No Decision, add the current date to the “End Date” located under Additional Info.