Real Relationships Real Revenue - Video Edition | Invest in Relationships to Build Your Business and Your Career

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: Tell me a business development story that you are really proud of. At Second Front, Tyler is working to solve some ridiculously complicated problems and building something that has never existed before. Tyler has been in several different industries, all of which involve emerging technology and security. In most of those industries, compliance burdens were always an issue and Second Front is working on solving that. They have figured out a solution that solves a pressing national security problem and has opened new doors of opportunity that could be saving lives. The Second Front team is the best team he’s been a part of since leaving the military, and he loves the fact that he’s proving people wrong. When somebody tells him that something can’t be done, that motivates Tyler to go and prove them wrong. It’s a lot easier to maintain things than it is to create things. At its core, business development is always new and always different, which is something that Tyler appreciates. Know what your why is, and it’s okay if that changes over time. For Tyler, being able to set examples for his sons and have teachable moments is the core of why he does what he does in his season of life.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/tylersweatt secondfront.com

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: What is your favorite science, step, or story from the GrowBIG Training or Snowball System? Too many people focus on just having a meeting and following the script they have in their mind. Dynamic Meeting Prep is one of Tyler’s favorite strategies that solves that problem. Using the process, you can solidly prepare for a meeting in under 10 minutes which is a great way to bring many of the other Snowball System strategies. Have a goal in mind, but be flexible on how you get there. The value is not in the plan, it’s in the planning. You are creating a plan to operate fluidly depending on the situation. You can completely separate yourself from your competition in the way that you approach meetings. Tyler’s second favorite strategy is Asking For The Advance. Moving along opportunities ties into the Dynamic Meeting Prep and makes the buying process much easier. You are 34x more likely to get a yes in person than you are over email. This is why it’s so important to get the next step or next meeting nailed down during your current meeting. There are four main reasons you might not win. It’s usually either not a strategic fit, a technical fit, a timing fit, or not a relational fit. You should try to eliminate those potential obstacles during the qualifying process. Think about who stands to benefit from the purchase, how to make the purchase as easy as possible, or how you can get the prospect to build the solution with you. Seek early victories.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/tylersweatt secondfront.com

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: What is your personal definition of business development? Simply put, it’s all about value creation. The entire spectrum of taking a prospect from completely cold to raving fan is the process of growth. Content creation is part of the effort, similar to an at-scale give-to-get. When someone hits the pipeline, Tyler focuses on qualifying them immediately and moving quickly on closing the deal. For marketing and lead generation, you need to figure out the three most important metrics you need to cover and orient on those. That will make everything else easier. Referrals are a big indicator of both effectiveness and product-market fit. Try to avoid measuring too many metrics at the same time. You need to think about business development from the customer’s buying process and how you can remove as much friction from their buying process as possible. Make it as easy to buy from you as possible. Focus on a positive buying experience and make it easy for the customer. Being customer-centered will be extremely valuable in everything you work on.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/tylersweatt secondfront.com

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: When did you realize that business development was great? When Tyler transitioned out of the military, he wasn’t sure which direction to take his career. He cut his teeth at Deloitte where he learned the two basic functions of a business: value creation and value protection. You have to figure out which one you need to focus on from a career standpoint. Tyler started thinking about how to build relationships and establish trust since that was the fastest way to grow. Tyler found a few partners within the organization that helped him learn the ropes of value creation, and in the process, he got in touch with Toffler Associates. That was where he learned a new approach to consulting that opened up a huge number of opportunities for him. Those experiences became unique information that Tyler could share simply by being exposed to it. There is no better time than now to invest in yourself and your education. Focusing on your technical expertise, getting exposed to how other businesses work, and growth skills. When you’re learning, you should always have the last part be a practical implementation. Test your knowledge and put it into practice. Value creation and growth skills are highly transferable.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/tylersweatt secondfront.com

Kevin Clem shares his charm and personality while discussing the biggest business development lessons he’s learned over the years. Learn about the three ways to build and develop a new relationship, how to impress a prospect by doing your homework, and why it’s okay to make the ask.   Mo asks Kevin Clem: When was the moment you realized growth is great and you wanted to focus on business development? Kevin has been doing business development for 20 years, but he didn’t always call it that. Kevin realized that he had a knack for business development after a repeat client said to him that they keep coming back to work with him, but they never felt sold. Eventually, the CEO offered to make that a formal role. Sales became a natural progression of Kevin’s career. Business development is an extension of helping clients solve their problems, and making connections with people allowed Kevin to transition into a more client-focused role. Finding ways to form the connection with a client is crucial. Connections are how relationships grow, and when relationships grow, revenue follows. Some of the connection effort is organic, but there is a lot of research involved. Kevin will always look for a point of connection that goes beyond the business transactional relationship. There is a goldmine of information on LinkedIn that you can bring up when it makes sense. The foundation of all good relationships is connection where you have alignment with someone or can build on their relationship with other people. Peppering in the details as your talking about what they are working on is the key to not coming in too strongly. It’s not about manipulating, it’s about organically connecting on some shared experience. Business development is like interviewing. It shouldn’t feel weird that you are doing a little homework on the other person. Thoughtful follow up questions on the other person’s written content is great.   Mo asks Kevin Clem: What is your personal definition of business development? Simply put, making connections and solving problems. It’s always about how you can solve a problem, whether or not there is a direct transaction involved. When you solve someone’s problem, either directly or through your network, they will probably come to you first to solve a similar problem in the future. Kevin is always listening for an issue that his organization may be able to help with, but he’s also looking for third party connections and resources that may help as well. There is always some aspect of a prospect’s experience that you can use as a hook to follow up. One of the best pieces of advice that Kevin received was to either make an introduction, bring an insight, or give an invitation to something else. Don’t assume that a conversation that doesn’t result in a closed deal is a loss. Business development is about playing the game, and if you can help a person solve their problem, they will probably come to you in the future. A successful meeting is when you add value, and a really successful meeting is when you book another meeting.   Mo asks Kevin Clem: What’s your favorite science, step, or story from the GrowBIG Training or the Snowball System? Kevin discovered the Snowball System from the podcast after being referred to it by the CEO of HBR Consulting. The Most Important Things is one of the key principles that Kevin has embraced. He and his team have made the idea of the top three things as a guiding framework for how they operate. Raving fans and assessing the level of the relationship with each client is another big strategy. There is power in language. Just by entering the GrowBIG world and embracing the terminology, Kevin and his team have changed the way they think about business development and growth. Take a page out of your creative marketing playbook and come out with a theme for your internal program to get your team to buy in. Kevin’s team has tried a number of different incentives to get the team excited. They found that recognition and reward among high achievers is a good base to start with, combined with accountability. Create and celebrate short-term wins to spotlight things that are going well and to build momentum. Celebrating the small wins is an important piece of creating progress. Doing what you can do today is what leads to the championship.   Mo asks Kevin Clem: Tell us a business development story that you are really proud of. Kevin tells the story of a completely cold lead that turned into a full-fledged prospect after five years of near silence. By helping the prospect without asking for anything in return at the beginning, Kevin kicked off a relationship where when the timing was right, the client asked for him to sell him on working with him. Of the four parts of the relationship building process, the listen and learn stage is one of the most important. Kevin brought his prospect into a round table conversation that showed how HBR has worked with other clients in the past, and that created the curiosity that led to the sale. When you build enough curiosity and do the process the right way, the client is pulling you towards taking the next step instead of you pushing them. The best result you can get in professional services is a warm referral. If your client is willing to do that, that shows a huge amount of trust.   Mo asks Kevin Clem: If you could record a business development focused video and send it back to your past self, what would it be? One of the biggest lessons that Kevin has learned in his career is that people want to connect and it’s okay to make the big ask. If you’ve built the relationship, it’s okay to ask about working together. In many cases, your clients are looking for people that can help solve their problems. They might say no, and that’s okay, but if they say yes, you have an opportunity to work with someone sooner than you would otherwise. How you ask matters. Make it clear that working together is a way for the other person to win. Selling is an act of service. Some of the greatest leaders in the history of humanity were servant leaders. Know your prospect’s goals, and make your ask by referencing what they are trying to achieve.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/kevinclem kclem@hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com/events “Most Wackiest Kind of a Year” video – tinyurl.com/ClemWacky

Mo asks Kevin Clem: If you could record a business development focused video and send it back to your past self, what would it be? One of the biggest lessons that Kevin has learned in his career is that people want to connect and it’s okay to make the big ask. If you’ve built the relationship, it’s okay to ask about working together. In many cases, your clients are looking for people that can help solve their problems. They might say no, and that’s okay, but if they say yes, you have an opportunity to work with someone sooner than you would otherwise. How you ask matters. Make it clear that working together is a way for the other person to win. Selling is an act of service. Some of the greatest leaders in the history of humanity were servant leaders. Know your prospect’s goals, and make your ask by referencing what they are trying to achieve.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/kevinclem kclem@hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com/events “Most Wackiest Kind of a Year” video – tinyurl.com/ClemWacky

Mo asks Kevin Clem: Tell us a business development story that you are really proud of. Kevin tells the story of a completely cold lead that turned into a full-fledged prospect after five years of near silence. By helping the prospect without asking for anything in return at the beginning, Kevin kicked off a relationship where when the timing was right, the client asked for him to sell him on working with him. Of the four parts of the relationship building process, the listen and learn stage is one of the most important. Kevin brought his prospect into a round table conversation that showed how HBR has worked with other clients in the past, and that created the curiosity that led to the sale. When you build enough curiosity and do the process the right way, the client is pulling you towards taking the next step instead of you pushing them. The best result you can get in professional services is a warm referral. If your client is willing to do that, that shows a huge amount of trust.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/kevinclem kclem@hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com/events

Mo asks Kevin Clem: What’s your favorite science, step, or story from the GrowBIG Training or the Snowball System? Kevin discovered the Snowball System from the podcast after being referred to it by the CEO of HBR Consulting. The Most Important Things is one of the key principles that Kevin has embraced. He and his team have made the idea of the top three things as a guiding framework for how they operate. Raving fans and assessing the level of the relationship with each client is another big strategy. There is power in language. Just by entering the GrowBIG world and embracing the terminology, Kevin and his team have changed the way they think about business development and growth. Take a page out of your creative marketing playbook and come out with a theme for your internal program to get your team to buy in. Kevin’s team has tried a number of different incentives to get the team excited. They found that recognition and reward among high achievers is a good base to start with, combined with accountability. Create and celebrate short-term wins to spotlight things that are going well and to build momentum. Celebrating the small wins is an important piece of creating progress. Doing what you can do today is what leads to the championship.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/kevinclem kclem@hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com

Mo asks Kevin Clem: What is your personal definition of business development? Simply put, making connections and solving problems. It’s always about how you can solve a problem, whether or not there is a direct transaction involved. When you solve someone’s problem, either directly or through your network, they will probably come to you first to solve a similar problem in the future. Kevin is always listening for an issue that his organization may be able to help with, but he’s also looking for third party connections and resources that may help as well. There is always some aspect of a prospect’s experience that you can use as a hook to follow up. One of the best pieces of advice that Kevin received was to either make an introduction, bring an insight, or give an invitation to something else. Don’t assume that a conversation that doesn’t result in a closed deal is a loss. Business development is about playing the game, and if you can help a person solve their problem, they will probably come to you in the future. A successful meeting is when you add value, and a really successful meeting is when you book another meeting.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/kevinclem kclem@hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com

Mo asks Kevin Clem: When was the moment you realized growth is great and you wanted to focus on business development? Kevin has been doing business development for 20 years, but he didn’t always call it that. Kevin realized that he had a knack for business development after a repeat client said to him that they keep coming back to work with him, but they never felt sold. Eventually, the CEO offered to make that a formal role. Sales became a natural progression of Kevin’s career. Business development is an extension of helping clients solve their problems, and making connections with people allowed Kevin to transition into a more client-focused role. Finding ways to form the connection with a client is crucial. Connections are how relationships grow, and when relationships grow, revenue follows. Some of the connection effort is organic, but there is a lot of research involved. Kevin will always look for a point of connection that goes beyond the business transactional relationship. There is a goldmine of information on LinkedIn that you can bring up when it makes sense. The foundation of all good relationships is connection where you have alignment with someone or can build on their relationship with other people. Peppering in the details as your talking about what they are working on is the key to not coming in too strongly. It’s not about manipulating, it’s about organically connecting on some shared experience. Business development is like interviewing. It shouldn’t feel weird that you are doing a little homework on the other person. Thoughtful follow up questions on the other person’s written content is great.     Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/kevinclem kclem@hbrconsulting.com hbrconsulting.com