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

Mo asks Brent Atkins: What is your personal definition of business development? When training his team, he tells them to "build your brand." The way they go about building relationships and adding value will be different from Brent's, and they need to lean into that. When Brent worked on the carrier side of the business, his first goal when developing new business relationships was becoming a trus...

Mo asks Brent Atkins: Tell me about the time  you realized that business development was awesome. Brent learned early on the need for business development because he has done sales throughout his career. The one thing he realized from all his different work experiences was that he loved interacting with people and connecting with them. He understood that there was far more depth to sales than just...

Cannon Carr shares the insights he's learned over the years about why he's not a sales guy, but loves business development. Learn about the key mindset shift that unlocks the power of business development and makes it something fun, easy, and repeatable, and how to instill simple habits that deepen relationships by being proactively helpful every single week.   Mo asks Cannon Carr: When did you re...

Mo asks Cannon Carr: If you could record a video about business development and send it back to your younger self, what would it say? Cannon would record a few simple vignettes, mainly focused on the why of business development as well as the storytelling, patterns and habits involved. The first one would basically be a quote from Maya Angelou. "I learned that people will forget what you said, peo...

Mo asks Cannon Carr: What is the business development story you are most proud of? Cannon's business is about long-term relationships, sometimes multiple generations, so being able to separate out personal risk and business risk is very important. Cannon's favorite business development story involves helping personal friends navigate their challenges. He and his team found ways and resources to he...

Mo asks Cannon Carr: What is your favorite science, step, or tool from the Snowball System or GrowBIG training? The most interesting science for Cannon is around habits and the metaphor of the rider and the elephant for the conscious and subconscious mind. The elephant is a lot more powerful, and if you can't control it, you are not going to get where you want to go. This is where the habits and r...

Mo asks Cannon Carr: What is your personal definition of business development? If you have a craft that you know and love and want to grow, you are naturally going to step into business development so you might as well do it right. For Cannon, business development is about connecting people and ideas. He thinks of it as purposeful engagement that connects those two things. Connecting people with i...

Mo asks Cannon Carr: When did you realize that business development was great? There was not one moment, but a story stands out in particular for Cannon. When his father was retiring from the firm he was working at, he told him that he was a great analyst but not a great salesperson, and if he wanted to succeed, he would need to figure that out. When a professional services firm reaches a certain...

Katrina Johnson shares her business development insights pulled from years of experience and her background in social and neuroscience. Learn what it takes to convince a skeptic, why creating a habit around communication is the key to business development success, and a simple framework for training your mind to be less reactive and more focused on just doing the right thing instead of worrying ab...

Mo asks Katrina Johnson: If you could tape a message to your younger self about business development, what would it say? It would simply be one thing: Learn to walk the dog. When someone walks a dog, we assume that the person is in control, but that's not always the case. Our brains work in a similar way. The dogwalker is the prefrontal cortex, and the dog is the limbic system that responds and de...

Mo asks Katrina Johnson: What is a business development story that you are particularly proud of? Katrina's story occurred five years ago when she went on a trip to meet a candidate for a President role at a textile manufacturer. Katrina knew she was skeptical, but didn't realize how skeptical. After the candidate was hired, Katrina ended up working with her for the first six months and through he...

Mo asks Katrina Johnson: What is your favorite business development strategy from the Snowball System or GrowBIG training? Instead of a favorite, Katrina wants to emphasize one strategy that often goes unrecognized for how important it is, which is targeting. Targeting is critical to business development and as a student of minimalism, Katrina is always thinking about trade-offs. Minimalists under...

Mo asks Katrina Johnson: What is your personal definition of business development? Katrina likes helping people. For her, business development is about cultivating opportunities to help people. Business development doesn't always have a great reinforcement mechanism, but having a process established makes it much more consistent. Creating a habit around communication that makes it simpler, more me...

Mo asks Katrina Johnson: Tell us the moment when you realized that business development was good and worth doing? Katrina's big aha moment was when she realized that the skill of business development can be learned. She started in academia and fell into consulting almost by accident, and she enjoyed her consulting work but she felt like her hands were tied. As a subcontractor, Katrina wasn't able...

Mike Duffy shares his insights into business development and creating relationships that move the world forward. Find out how Mike transformed his career in sales with one fateful and shocking conversation with his sales manager, why Mike's philosophy on asking questions is what allows him to always add value to his relationships, and why treating your profession the same way that a doctor does th...

Mo asks Mike Duffy: If you could record a message to your younger self about how they should think about business development, what would it be? Mike's message would be to essentially to cold call for a couple months right at the beginning to get used to hearing no. He would also tell himself to feed his brain. Read books and consume information that keeps you moving. Treat your profession like a...

Mo asks Mike Duffy: Tell me about a business development story that you are particularly proud of. One of Mike's top business development efforts happened after a major company went under and all the audits they were doing went out for RFP. Instead of going into a presentation around pitching for the audit, Mike and his team just acted like they were starting the audit right then. The preparation...

Mo asks Mike Duffy: What is your favorite science, step, or story that you learned from GrowBIG Training or The Snowball System? Mike has a top 4: "Walk Around the Brain", "Build It Together", "MITs", and "Give to Gets". Mike has writing pads all over his office to help him write down questions that cover all four quadrants of the brain and to make sure he's prepared for every meeting. When he's i...

Mo asks Mike Duffy: What is your personal definition of business development? Simply put, business development is helping others, connecting dots, and developing healthy and long lasting relationships. When you understand who your client is, whoever that happens to be in the moment, and add value for them, that's how you get stuff done. Where is the value chain and how are you adding value? It doe...

Mo asks Mike Duffy: When was the moment that you decided that business development was important and you needed to get great at it?   Mike's dad started in sales so he had a front row seat on making sales from the very beginning. He started his sales career by  selling ad space in a travel magazine, and once he got out of college, Mike started selling ladies clothes in California. He took a $500,0...

Angela Meyer shares her thoughts and wisdom on business development based on years in the field as a consultant and executive for various companies. Learn why being deliberate about honing your communication skills is one of the most important things you can do to improve your business relationships, why being willing to fail is the key to long-term success, and why the Give to Get is your most va...

Mo asks Angela Meyer: If you could send a message to your prior self, what would you say? No matter what business you're in, it's important to not be afraid to try and not be afraid to fail. You need to fail before you can succeed. You're always selling yourself or your product, so you have to be willing to extend yourself and grow. Hone your communication skills and learn how to bring the energy...

Mo asks Angela Meyer: What is a business development moment that you're particularly proud of? You have to build the relationship and understand that the work may not come in the first meeting. Angela tells the story of a client that was in-house counsel for a major company that Angela's firm had done a lot of work for. He set a dinner meeting with this attorney and during the conversation discove...

Mo asks Angela Meyer: What is your favorite science, step, or story that you learned from GrowBIG Training or The Snowball System? Angela's favorite strategy is the Give to Get. Giving somebody value or knowledge they didn't have before is a great way to start off a relationship. If you continue to show interest in someone personally, and not just professionally, and provide them value that can he...

Mo asks Angela Meyer: What is your personal definition of business development? Angela doesn't use the term business development. In her previous position she was the Vice President of Client Services. She wanted to avoid the term business development because she's in the relationship business and not selling to people. Unless you're selling a commodity, no matter how smart you are, without buildi...