Podcasts about bunnell idea group

Send us a textAbout This EpisodeWhat if the biggest roadblocks to your success are the lies you tell yourself? Tune into this transformative discussion with Mo Bunnell, a visionary in business development, author of Give to Grow, and founder of Bunnell Idea Group. His insights urge us to recognize and challenge the false beliefs that constrain us, including the fears and uncertainties that can hold us back. He shares practical strategies for prioritizing long-term goals and embracing strategic generosity in business. Mo also offers guidance on how to offer value without underselling yourself, sharing advice to navigate the balance between giving and maintaining self-worth. He describes how a thoughtful approach to generosity can foster genuine connections and propel professional relationships forward. Listen in to uncover how cultivating a bold mindset, fueled by generosity and persistence, can lead to remarkable outcomes both personally and professionally. About Mo BunnellMo Bunnell helps complex organizations grow by scaling business development skills across their organizations and creating a growth-oriented culture. He's the author of Give to Grow, The Snowball System, the host of the podcast Real Relationships Real Revenue and the founder of Bunnell Idea Group (BIG), who has trained tens of thousands of professionals. BIG's clients have used Mo and his team's GrowBIG® training to give their experts a system for growth that creates deep relationships, gives a comprehensive business development framework and dare we say, is fun to use. Mo started out his career as an expert himself, passing all the actuarial exams to earn their highest designation: Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Today, Mo enjoys working with hundreds of clients including some the largest, most prestigous service-based organizations. Mo and his wife of over 30 years, Becky, enjoy spending time with their friends and two adult daughters. Outside of work he enjoys working out, backpacking, and playing ultimate frisbee at the national and world levels. Becky and Mo live in Atlanta, Georgia with their four horses, two cats, dog, bird and miniature donkey, Louie Hamilton. Additional ResourcesWebsite: bunnellideagroup.comLinkedIn: @MoBunnellSupport the show-------- Stay Connected www.leighburgess.com Watch the episodes on YouTube Follow Leigh on Instagram: @theleighaburgess Follow Leigh on LinkedIn: @LeighBurgess Sign up for Leigh's bold newsletter

Join us for a conversation about overcoming psychological barriers as a leader. Mo Bunnell is the author Give to Grow and CEO of Bunnell Idea Group. One of my favorite parts of the interview was how we tell ourselves lies to avoid doing the hard project. You can get the Magnetic Systems Guide (and other business system guides) to find issues before they become expensive problems. Here's a five-part summary highlighting the best ideas from the podcast interview: 1. The Power of Systems in Leadership and Relationship Building Mo and Karl emphasized the importance of identifying and leveraging systems in both leadership and relationship development.  Using a "10x mindset": Focus on providing value 10 times to build trust, expecting only one success out of ten efforts. Balancing tasks: Leaders must manage the duality of "winning the work" (persuasive relationship-building) and "doing the work" (execution with precision). The actionable insight: Approach relationships with intentionality, structure, and clear processes to maximize effectiveness and impact. 2. Overcoming Psychological Barriers and the Five Lies Mo shared the "Five Lies" that hinder relationship building. Leaders can use these insights to identify personal roadblocks and take actionable steps toward growth. 3. Leading Through Emotional Awareness Mo's example of organizing a large-scale event revealed how labeling emotions (e.g., stress, worry) can foster team collaboration. By sharing his concerns openly with his team, he transformed stress into actionable solutions, leading to a successful event. System Insight: Recognize emotions as indicators, articulate them to trusted collaborators, and use collective brainstorming to navigate challenges effectively. 4. Strategic Giving and Its Boundaries The distinction between "successful givers" and "unsuccessful givers" lies in setting boundaries: Successful givers say no to unnecessary demands and scale the size of their contributions relative to the expected impact. Examples: Offering small, manageable assistance to lower-priority requests while reserving deeper engagement for high-impact relationships. The core idea: Giving should be generous but sustainable, ensuring that it does not drain the giver's energy or resources. 5. Leadership Bottlenecks and Business Growth Mo introduced a four-box model to diagnose and address bottlenecks in business growth: Solution: Ensure differentiation and ease of purchase. Learn more about Mo Bunnell over at Bunnell Idea Group. You can also check out his book Give to Grow (Amazong Link). Connect with him on LinkedIn.  As always, if you have any questions or want to submit an amazing guest for the podcast, just reach out to me on the Systematic Leader website, and I'll do my best to get them on. If you enjoy the interview, please take 30 seconds to rate the Systematic Leader podcast on your favorite platform. Thanks!

Cultivating and nurturing relationships, the power of reciprocity, and the role relationships play in growing your business. ----- Welcome to episode 490 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mo Bunnell from Bunnell Idea Group about his new book, Give to Grow. Give to Grow with Mo Bunnell In this week's episode, we're excited to share Mo's incredible journey from the world of actuaries to the vibrant realm of entrepreneurship. Mo dives deep into how he transitioned from crunching numbers to building a thriving business, discovering that the real magic lies in forging genuine connections. He emphasizes that generosity and relationship-building are key ingredients for success, and you'll definitely want to hear his insights! Mo also explores the power of reciprocity in fostering meaningful relationships. He shares practical tips on making clear, trustworthy offers that can open doors to high-value connections, even if you're starting from scratch. Whether you have a long list of contacts or are just beginning, Mo's advice on tracking opportunities and nurturing relationships will inspire you to take proactive steps toward collaboration and growth. Don't miss this chance to learn how to elevate your networking game! Three episode takeaways: From Actuary to Entrepreneur: Mo shares his journey from crunching numbers as an actuary to diving headfirst into entrepreneurship. Along the way, he discovered the magic of relationship-building, emphasizing how generosity and genuine connections can lead to success. The Power of Reciprocity: You'll learn how Mo taps into the science of reciprocity to foster meaningful relationships. He stresses the importance of making clear, trustworthy offers to brands and prioritizing high-value connections that can drive your business forward. Cultivating Relationships: Discover Mo's practical tips for nurturing connections and generating leads—even if you start with no contacts! He encourages listeners to keep track of opportunities and relationships, showing that proactive engagement can exponentially grow trust and collaboration over time. Resources: Bunnell Idea Group Give to Grow (Mo's newest book!) James Clear's paper clip strategy Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsor! This episode is sponsored by Yoast.  Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Thought leaders may believe that great ideas are what attracts clients. But business development expert Mo Bunnell says that isn't enough. The founder and CEO of Bunnell Idea Group believes thought leaders must build a relationship ecosystem of clients and business clients. Mo's new book, “Give to Grow,” covers how to build highly productive, life-long business relationships. The accomplished thought leader speaks with Bob Buday about why thought leaders and thought leadership professionals who want ideas to travel farther should focus as much on developing relationships with key people as they do on developing key concepts. “Blueprint” by Jahzzar is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Music set to voice-over. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/Ashes_1206/blueprint/ https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

This week, I talk with my friend Mo Bunnell, founder of GrowBIG and the Bunnell Idea Group, which offers one of the most in-depth, relationship-driven trainings on sales and business development. Mo is the author of Give to Grow, a book I recommend to anyone interested in learning business development with a values-centered approach. We start by diving into Mo's personal life, his deep commitment to family, and the strength of his marriage. In the second half, Mo shares his unique business development framework, applying it to my business in ways that make it practical and actionable. Mo's insights reveal how success, when rooted in genuine connection, transforms careers and lives. I hope you enjoy this conversation with one of the kindest, most relationship-driven people I know. Let's get to it! In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (03:32) - How Mo ended up tied to a donkey in the Colorado mountains (09:22) - Reflecting on 32 years of marriage (12:41) - The power of writing down goals (16:13) - Case study: Pursuing a dream home (24:45) - Parenting and the importance of family rituals (34:59) - Celebrating achievements and friendships (37:21) - The role of community and friendship (39:26) - Building a sense of belonging (40:00) - The Breckenridge and Mashup experience (41:01) - Creating and hosting events (49:28) - Writing, publishing, and becoming an author (01:03:35) - Applying the Give to Grow framework (01:11:52) - The five lies we tell ourselves (01:14:31) - Overcoming the lies and setting goals (01:19:35) - Designing a buy-in process (01:22:14) - Identifying and engaging with clients (01:24:49) - The power of specialization (01:30:37) - Creating scalable systems (01:38:37) - Mo's beautiful future (01:40:23) - Who Mo is becoming Get full show notes and links at https://GoodWorkShow.com. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@barrettabrooks.

Mo Bunnell and his colleagues at Bunnell Idea Group have trained more than 50,000 high-end professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs on the remarkable effectiveness of gifting their expertise to create and maximize client relationships. Mo's new book, Give to Grow: Invest in Relationships to Build Your Business and Your Career, from elite business book publisher Bard Press, is the bible of strategic giving. “The real magic to this approach: It's always your move, and there's always a way to be helpful,” Mo writes. “When you focus on giving, you will remove your own mental roadblocks. You'll be centered on solving the client's problems and investing in their success. And you can build a system to consistently integrate the right moves into your busy work life.” Walking his talk, Mo is offering — for free and with zero obligation — a suite of Give to Grow resources, including videos, a team launch guide, top lead generation methods worksheet, and 50-plus go-to questions to fast-track your meeting preparation. As Mo says, “A great deal might make your year, but a great relationship can make your entire career.” Monday Morning Radio is hosted by the father-son duo of Dean and Maxwell Rotbart. Photo: Mo Bunnell, Bunnell Idea GroupPosted: October 21, 2024 Monday Morning Run Time: 55:43 Episode: 13.19 RELATED EPISODES: Insights for Authors, Would-Be Authors, and Readers from Bard Press's Todd Sattersten It Is Our Struggles, More Than Our Successes, That Forge Great Leaders and Entrepreneurs Ray Bard's New Book is Intended to Help Salespeople; But Don't Be Fooled

On this week's episode of Get Hired, LinkedIn Editor at Large Andrew Seaman speaks with Mo Bunnell, founder and CEO of Bunnell Idea Group. They discuss Mo's new book Give to Grow and how the concept of “strategic giving” can be applied to the job-search process. Mo also shares advice for overcoming the biggest barrier to achieving career success: self-doubt. Follow Andrew on LinkedIn to join the Get Hired community by clicking here. Follow Mo Bunnell on LinkedIn by clicking here.

Mo Bunnell is an author, podcast host, and founder of the Bunnell Idea Group, which has trained 25,000 people at over 500 companies for scaling the right way. Today, he shares the story of what he calls, “the dumbest thing I ever did that almost destroyed my family” – and the story of recovery. 1:46 – Meet Mo4:42 – How Mo started his business8:44 – Mo's challenge19:21 – Why we don't take the clear next right step23:07 – The power of improving one thing24:36 – Give to grow28:27 – Looking to the future*****Learn more from our guest: Take the free Give To Grow course: https://bunnellideagroup.com/givetogrowmaterials/ Read his book, Give To Grow: https://www.amazon.com/Give-Grow-Invest-Relationships-Business-ebook/dp/B0CTTJ5FYY  ***** Learn more about the podcast or access resources: https://reclaimandadvance.com/ Connect with Terry on socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-rice/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TerryRice Instagram: @itsterryrice Twitter: @itsterryrice

In this episode of Daily Creative, we dive into the concept of generosity and how it can transform our professional and personal lives. Our guest, Mo Bunnell, author of the new book Give to Grow and founder of Bunnell Idea Group, joins us to discuss the distinction between doing the work and winning the work. Mo shares his insights on how being strategically generous can create raving fans and forge lasting professional relationships. We also explore practical strategies for infusing generosity into our everyday interactions and leadership, ensuring our efforts resonate deeply and generate meaningful connections.Key Learnings:1. Relationship Over Transaction: True professional success involves not just performing exceptional work, but also building lasting relationships by understanding the client's unique needs and priorities.2. Impact of Generosity: Small acts of generosity, like Billy Dean's 20 minutes at an airport, can humanize industries and leave a lasting impact on people, translating into long-term benefits.3. Strategic Giving: Being a strategic giver means giving without expecting anything in return but sizing the give relative to potential payoffs, thus maximizing positive outcomes without depleting resources.4. Effective Client Engagement: Using open-ended questions to engage clients in discussions about their dreams and needs helps in creating tailored solutions that resonate, rather than imposing pre-conceived ideas.5. Practical Phrasing: Simple phrases like, "Would it be helpful if..." can facilitate collaboration and make it easier for clients to say yes, ensuring more seamless and effective engagements.Get full interviews and daily content in the Daily Creative app at DailyCreative.app.

In today's episode, we explore the crucial mindset shift from doing the work to winning the work with Mo Bunnell, a renowned business growth expert and founder of the Bunnell Idea Group. With decades of experience helping organizations scale and thrive, Mo has dedicated his career to teaching professionals how to elevate their approach to relationship-building and business development. As the author of "The Snowball System: How to Win More Business and Turn Clients into Raving Fans" and host of the "Real Relationships, Real Revenue" podcast, Mo brings a wealth of knowledge on how small, consistent actions can lead to exponential growth in your career and business.  Join us for an engaging conversation with Mo Bunnell, where he reveals the secrets to shifting from simply doing the work to winning the work in your career. How can you overcome the internal obstacles that hold you back from building meaningful relationships and growing your business? What are the small, consistent habits that can lead to exponential success over time? Mo shares his expert strategies on developing a winning mindset, the art of giving to grow, and the critical shifts in communication that can help you move from being a good performer to a top performer. Discover actionable insights to elevate your career, deepen your professional relationships, and unlock new opportunities in both your business and personal life. What to Listen For Introduction – 00:00:00 What inspired Mo Bunnell to focus on the mindset shift from doing the work to winning the work? How has Mo's extensive experience in business growth shaped his approach to relationship building and business development? What key principles from "Give to Grow" can help you elevate your career and business relationships? The Mindset Shift: Doing the Work vs. Winning the Work – 00:02:16 What is the crucial difference between doing the work and winning the work, and why is it essential for career growth? How can you start thinking 10x, not 1x, to overcome internal fears and embrace opportunities? What are the key habits that successful professionals use to transition from a delivery-focused mindset to a growth-oriented one? Overcoming the Lies That Hold You Back – 00:13:47 What are the five common lies we tell ourselves that hinder our success in relationship building? How can you identify and counteract these lies to maintain momentum in your career? Why is it important to act through discomfort and rejection to achieve long-term success? Integrating Relationship Development with Daily Work – 00:19:47 How can you seamlessly integrate relationship building into your daily tasks without feeling overwhelmed? What are practical examples of small, consistent actions that can lead to significant career growth? How can face-to-face interactions dramatically increase your chances of success in building relationships? The Power of Giving to Grow – 00:31:39 What does it mean to “give to grow,” and how can this mindset transform your professional relationships? How can you provide value even when you feel you have nothing to give? What are the four types of gifts you can offer to deepen relationships and create opportunities? Strategic Giving and Setting Boundaries – 00:43:38 How can you be a strategic giver without getting taken advantage of? What are the boundaries you need to set to ensure that your giving leads to mutual growth? How can asking for small commitments from others help you identify who's worth investing in? Building Habits for Long-Term Success – 00:51:47 How can you create routines and habits that naturally lead to winning the work? What is the importance of maintaining a list of key opportunities and relationships, and how can this practice drive your success? How can focusing on three most important things (MITs) each week create unstoppable momentum in your career? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Bart welcomes Mo Bunnell, founder of The Bunnell Idea Group, back to The Inspire Podcast to discuss his new book, Give to Growth. Mo highlights a fundamental truth: relationships are the foundation of long-term business success. But he also dives into the often overlooked aspect—how to effectively build these relationships. If you've ever felt too busy, hesitant, or worried about being a bother when it comes to building relationships, then Mo has the secret to overcoming these barriers. He outlines how to be intentional about who you want to connect with, how to get out of your own way and stop telling lies that hold you back, how to give in a way that removes mental roadblocks, helps others, and creates lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Mo's insights are valuable for anyone in business and in life who want to achieve success through meaningful partnerships. Get a copy of Mo's book here: https://bunnellideagroup.com/givetogrow/ 0:37 Show Intro 1:12 Welcoming Mo 2:48 Focus on high-end experts 3:16 Relationship skills 3:40 How to effectively teach sales to experts 3:55 People hate to be sold to, but they love to buy 4:07 Have people think of a time when the rep did a horrible job of selling 4:36 Describe a good sales experience 6:09 Is your new book an evolution of your ideas? 6:35 Who is Give to Grow (the book) for? 7:14 Is the desire for impact new? 9:00 The lies we tell ourselves 10:54 Lie #1 -- "I can't" 11:40 Lie #2 - "I don't know what to do" 12:05 Lie #3 - "I might do it wrong" 12:21 Lie #4 - "I'm too busy" 12:41 Lie #5 - "I'm afraid I'll look bad" 13:09 How to tell when it's a lie and when it's accurate? 17:08 All complex skills are learned and earned 17:32 The "yet" hack  20:02 What kind of relationship success should we be trying to create? 20:31 Build relationship equity 20:58 Focus on the key 15 relationships in your life  21:47 Isn't that too calculating? 22:47 Beginning of a relationship - need to solidify it 27:31 Give them a taste of working with you 28:16 Give to get at Humphrey Group 29:37 The Inspire Podcast is a give-to-get 30:37 How to approach it for non-transactional relationships 31:14 Fall in love with their problem 32:23 "Would it be helpful if I did ______ for you?" 34:10 Free training course - Give to Grow 35:38 Impact - 3 ways to have it 36:08 Proactivity and persistence are key  36:35 3 different timeframes to think about 36:55 It's always your move and always a chance to be helpful 37:13 Weekly sprints 39:08 The Long Term Strategies 40:50 Where can people go to find out more?

What's the single most important part of an Advisor's website and how can you maximize its impact? Why does it matter if we can see your pupils? For answers to these questions and many more actionable tips to improve your website and LinkedIn profile, catch this episode of The Active Advisor. Host Bryan Moore chats with Matt Kress who is actively building innovative growth strategies using AI for mid-market enterprises. Bryan and Matt discuss the importance of optimizing an advisor's online presence, specifically focusing on their website and LinkedIn profile. They highlight the need for advisors to differentiate themselves through uncommon commonalities and how to provide valuable content to prospects.

Olivia Fuller: Hi and welcome to Book Club, a Sales Enablement PRO podcast. I'm Olivia Fuller. Sales enablement is a constantly evolving space and we're here to help professionals stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices so they can be more effective in their jobs. Sales can be a tough job and it’s not one that everyone is naturally inclined to do. With uncertain economic conditions like we’re experiencing today, this job can be even more difficult. The Snowball System is designed to help people sell effectively in a way that they’re comfortable with without feeling like a sleazy salesperson. I’m so excited to have the author of “The Snowball System”, Mo Bunnell, here to tell us a little bit more about this concept and his book. With that, Mo, I'd love it if you could tell our audience a little bit about yourself, your background, and your book. Mo Bunnell: Yes, let me say this out of the gate. All of you listeners and watchers out there, I am so much a fan of sales enablement professionals and Olivia and her team at Sales Enablement PRO have great resources on the website, certifications, classes, courses, assets, and resources. It’s better than I’ve ever seen anywhere, so when Olivia reached out and thought we should do this podcast, I was excited because the work you do matters, and the things that we’re doing to evolve the profession are important. So, Olivia, I just had to say that out of the gate then I can talk about me. OF: I love that. Thank you so much. MB: It’s such an emerging profession and it’s going to continue to grow in importance over time, so you’re all in the right place. A little bit about me, I think a lot of times entrepreneurs start a business without trying to start business. I've been at it for about 20 years, and my moment of starting Bunnell Idea Group was a moment of complete panic, almost an anxiety attack. I had gone from a deep technical expert. I had taken all the exams to become an actuary, which if you don’t know what an actuary is, are long-term financial forecaster. We make the accountants look like party animals. I had taken all these years to pass these exams to be an actuary and in one weekend I turned into a salesperson. Now, we didn’t call it that, I was at a high-end professional consulting firm, so we called it a managing consultant. The fact is in one weekend I went from being rewarded on service delivery, billable hours, client satisfaction, and things like that to retention and growth activities. The moment of panic occurred when I went to my new boss that Monday morning with all of the new floors, business card titles, and all that stuff and I asked him for the manual on business development, sales retention, and growth. I wasn’t expecting him to respond by laughing at me, but he did and it was probably a chuckle, but I heard it like the villain in Scooby Doo. It was not a good thing. That was the beginning. I thought I would get a playbook, but I didn’t get a playbook and I had to build the playbook I can tell you much more about the story if you want, but after years later it turned into an experience, a training class, and now we’ve trained 30,000 people at over 500 organizations all around the globe. OF: I love that. I have a friend who’s becoming an actuary right now and I have a lot of respect for that journey. It is definitely a tough one. As you mentioned, sales is a very tough job and it’s not one that everyone can be naturally inclined to do, especially with the turbulent economy that we’re all experiencing right now, it can be even harder. You talked about how The Snowball System is really designed to help people sell effectively, but the part that I loved is that it’s in a way that they’re comfortable with. I’d love it if you could tell us just a little bit more about that approach and how it can really help sellers be more comfortable, and confident, and ultimately how that translates into effectiveness. MB: This is such an interesting topic. When we first started Bunnell Idea Group or BIG for short, I really tried to redefine what sales meant in people’s minds and I thought for some reason I could do that with the billions of people on the planet. You can’t. Unfortunately, sales have a bad name to a lot of people and we’ve got to reframe that. One of the things that we talked about a lot in our workshops, you see it in the book, is people hate to be sold to, but they love to buy. In our live workshops, we actually list it out, we have people ask buyers they were purchasing something and it did not go well and you’ll hear the buyer say things like the person was pushy, they talk too much, they didn’t listen to my needs, they suggested something that didn’t make sense, they didn’t want to talk about the pricing or the money of the investment easy, they didn’t make it easy to buy and things like that. Then, we say, hey, tell us the time when you purchased something and it went great. They say it was easy, it was frictionless, I liked the person, I was learning, they gave me options, they suggested something less expensive that was better for me, they built trust, and it was fun. The whole mantra of, we hate to be sold to, but we’ll have to buy, if we can start with the frame of salespeople saying I’m not going to fall in love with my solution, I’m going to fall in love with their problem and build trust and have fun with this over time if we can just have a campaign of helpfulness to the other person that changes the whole frame from selling to helping and that’s where we see if people have that right mindset, they are off to the races. OF: I love that approach. The system that you cover in the book really walks through a series of steps. I want to cover each of those just to dig a little bit deeper and the first one that you talk about is targeting your ideal clients. I’d love to hear, from your perspective, what are some of the common challenges that can arise from effectively targeting prospective clients, and then how do you recommend overcoming those challenges? MB: Oh, I could go on for hours, we don’t have enough time. Let’s dive in. I was just training some high-end consultants in Malaysia last night. I’m in Atlanta, Georgia in the US, so it went to like midnight my time and we had a really big unlock. I mean these are some of the smartest business people in the world, tier-one consultants. One of the things that we did that’s different is we broke through a mental heuristic called status quo bias. Now, the audience may not know what that means, but if you can google it if you just go to Wikipedia, it’s not the end all and be off research, but it can give you a good head start. Just google status quo bias and you will get this litany of research that basically says, we tend to do the same things over and over again. When it comes to little things like what app you open on your screen when you open up your phone in the morning, we tend to do the same things over and over. That’s easy. We understand that, but it’s particularly dangerous. I’m being provocative here with the word dangerous. It is particularly dangerous in sales because what status quo bias will make us do if we don’t get out of the trap is keep hanging out and reaching out to the people we already know and like. The reason for that is that we tend to do what we’ve already done, status quo bias, but our egos are at stake to reach out to somebody that we don’t know. We fear rejection, we fear they won’t reach back, and we fear we only have one shot so we have to be perfect with this first outreach. We will make the bar so high that we won’t act and will delay and that’s harmful to the sales rep. What you can do to get over this, and what we did with the group in Malaysia last night, as we said, hey, let’s start with the people we want to work with and the things that we think we could be most helpful to them. What are the game-changing programs that we can take to the people that should purchase from us? By flipping things in their minds from here’s who we usually stay in contact with. They had a contact list of 100 people in a small team. We flipped that from, put that aside for a second, let’s focus on who should buy what from us and where we can have the biggest meaningful impact. We started with that, and then we said, who are the decision makers for those things? It was a completely different list and they left that session so energized to go out and build relationships with those people. It was awesome. We finished the session at midnight, Olivia, I don’t think I went to bed until 3 AM because I was so excited for their future success. I couldn’t sleep. OF: Oh my gosh, I love that story. That goes to show just how when you flip the way that you think about something, you can completely change your approach and ultimately increase the value that you bring. You mentioned that thinking starts with where we could have the biggest impact, and that goes into the next step in the book, which is around positioning your unique value. I’d love to hear some of your best practices around how sellers can actually identify what makes them unique and what that unique value is. MB: I love this and to speak to all the sales enablement people out there, this is frequently done incorrectly, so I want to give you the right way. A lot of times it’s frequently done to come up with some kind of value story or positioning elements like it goes on the website and we definitely need to do that. That’s a universal version of positioning that may or may not be true for one individual or for a certain client prospect to the customer. We definitely have to do that, keep doing that sales enablement folks to get that message tight, get it short, get it sharp. Do all the stuff that you’re used to doing. At the same time, I want you to work with your sales reps, your account managers, and your account execs to also be able to tweak that and shape it for a specific pursuit. We talk about a value pyramid that you saw in the book, Olivia, which is the lowest level or the least that your clients or prospects care about is your universal positioning for your organization. They are a little bit more about the specific offering in the middle of the pyramid. The apex of the pyramid is ‘I am thinking of hiring somebody for X, how are you positioned for me exactly for that?' That makes it real. We need to blend the universal positioning, the kind of stuff that goes on the website that anybody could log into, we need that, but we need to also focus deal by deal, especially for the important ones. That’s thing one. Thing two is, there’s a bunch of research by Dr. Suzanne Shu, and she tested value props from saying you’re good at one thing to 2 to 3 to 4, all the way to 10. And you saw this in the book, Dr. Shu found that people that say they’re good at three things are magical. It’s the most believable. It’s a thing saying you’re good at three things is more believable than 1,2,4,5, or 6, all the way to the 10. There’s a peak and a curve that says that two is better than 1, 3 is better than 2, 4 is worse than 3, 5 is worse than 4, and so on. What we see a lot of sales reps do is because they have fear of being focused, they sort of have this David Letterman top 10 list. These are the top 10 reasons you should hire us for this deal. What happens in Dr. Shu's research is that having more than three creates so much cognitive load for somebody trying to figure out what are you really for. You've got these 10 things here, is there a theme? I don’t know, I can’t understand this. It becomes negative and they give up and having 10 reasons to hire you is basically worse than zero. We want to get really crisp on a specific opportunity. What are the three reasons that we are totally unique to serve this organization? Make it really short, really sharp, and communicate that over and over in our RFP response in the formal finalist meeting and everything else, and that’s what can win the day, Olivia. OF: Absolutely and something that we haven’t talked about a ton quite yet, but I think it’s really important to understand from the book and how the approach is all laid out is that it’s really rooted in science. You mentioned some of those research pieces that fueled how you’re approaching each of these steps. Another one that really resonated with me that I liked in the book was around the step of building connection and the concept was around the science behind likability. I'd love to learn from you, what are some of the ways that sellers can really build impactful connections with their prospects and turn those into long-term client relationships really by being rooted in that science of likability? MB: Thank you for bringing this up because there’s a mantra that some people are sharing in the marketplace that relationships don’t matter, they’re dead. That’s completely untrue. All the research shows that we say yes to people we like, we spend more time with those that we like, doctors spend more time with patients they like, and have better outcomes with those that they like. Likability matters in so many aspects of human nature. You can’t even count the studies that back this up. I will give the audience 3 levers of likability. One I really like is Dr. Jerry Burgers out of Santa Clara University. He was the first person to scientifically prove that we hire people we like more often than those we don’t. In a follow-up study was like, hey what correlates the likability, and the number one level he found is commonality. It's up to us as sales reps, account managers, and account executives to find ways that we have things in common with other people. In general, uncommon commonalities are more powerful than common commonalities. Olivia, when we were chatting right before we started recording, we were talking about how we both have dogs, they love snow, and they do silly things. You and I were bonding on that, so it’s up to us as salespeople to find out what we have in common. The science shows it can be things like we both like Dan Pink's business books. It can be that we both have dogs that are rescue dogs that are huskies or shepherds. It can be that we both like ultimate frisbee or the Kansas City Chiefs or Big Red Bordeaux’s. It can be things in business and in non-business, but we’ve got to find those things that we have in common and then reinforce them over time. That’s lever one. Lever two that we love to talk about is the mere exposure effect. It’s all about frequency. It was first studied in Germany in 1876. Science has seen three centuries and what it says irrefutably the more often we see a person or a thing, the higher the chance it is that we like them. As reps, we’ve got to have a system for reaching out, being helpful, and staying top of mind. It’s why the flip of the mere exposure effect is why we say ‘out of sight out of mind.' We’ve got to have a mechanism to add value routinely. Then, the last one we talked a lot about is mutual benefit. This is our third big lever. Those deepest relationships are not one-sided. They’re not, ‘I serve you because I’m a sales rep or an account manager,' it’s that we are working together to build a better future. Science shows not only do we help people we like, but emerging science is saying we like people who help. Simple things like having a relationship with somebody and saying, hey, we’re doing work in this part of the organization, we think we can have an impact in this other business unit that is in your organization, what would you do if you were me. Making a statement of something that would be helpful and saying ‘what would you do if you’re me’ is a wonderful way to ask for help and what people find is the enrollment they get from the other side gives them greater ideas, the person co-creates the next step, they enroll in their success and likability follows. There’s more in the book, but those three big things, finding and reinforcing commonality, having the mere exposure effect, frequency and staying top of mind, and having a mutually beneficial enjoyable relationship. Those are three big ones. OF: Fantastic. Thank you so much for walking us through that. It is very interesting. To take that a step further, the final step in the process that you talk about is really nurturing to turn your clients into what you call ‘raving fans.' I love that phrase, and especially in the economic climate that we’re in, this is really becoming more and more essential for businesses to focus on so that they’re maintaining and ultimately setting themselves up to grow their business. Given this current economic environment, I’d love to hear from you. What are some of the key considerations that sellers should really be keeping in mind to nurture those long-term relationships with their clients? MB: I’ll actually share some things that aren’t in the book. The core research says that soft skills do turn into hard results. That’s some of that science of likability and things that we talked about. One thing that’s not in the book that I think is really compelling is McGraw Hill, the publishing arm also has a research arm. They did some research in the 1980s, and there was this big economic collapse and economic headwinds in the early 1980s. What they found is that B2B companies that advertised in the economic downturn that happened in the early 1980s not only outperformed during that recession but outperformed to a huge extent for three years afterward. What we can learn from that is that when we think about human relationships, I think that’s even more important than even B2B advertising. With human relationships, we’re advertising when we’re out there talking to clients, talking to prospects, and adding value. That is sort of an advertisement for us humans and the nut of all is that when there’s an economic downturn, we shouldn’t judge ourselves on what we did the year before. That’s an unfair metric because we’ve got economic headwinds against us. What we should judge ourselves on is whether are we beating the competition because they’re on the same playing field we are. What the McGraw Hill research shows is that if you’re out there adding value, being helpful even before it’s time for somebody to buy from you, deepening those relationships with likability as we talked about before, economic downturns are when you go out and win market share because you’re out there doing it more in your competition, hopefully, is dying it in and not working as hard because they’re like, oh, I can’t do as good as I did last year, so I’m not gonna work as hard. No, I want you to double down when there are economic headwinds and help people before they can even hire you and they will remember that forever. OF: Absolutely. Those are fantastic insights, so critical to the environment that we have right now, and very relevant to our audience of enablement practitioners and I want to dig into that a little bit more. You mentioned this right at the start of the conversation. Enablement leaders today are not only responsible for equipping their sellers with the tools and the resources that they need to be successful, but they also have a job to do today that’s really about gaining buy-in and support for their initiatives. Working with executive leaders and cross-functional partners to get that support can be a hard job to do, especially in these times we’re in. I’d really love to hear from you. How can the principles of The Snowball System be applied to that concept of selling internally to your stakeholders the value of the programs that you have, especially for sales enablement practitioners? MB: Olivia, it’s such a great question. We have helped so many functional leaders help them grow their influence within the organization. CHROs, CIOs, CTOs, CFOs, and sales enablement leaders and I’ll give you our steps to gain approval. This is all in The Snowball System, so I highly recommend folks to read the book and then apply it to their influence because if you’re a sales enablement leader, the regional head of sales, the global head of sales, whoever you’re helping, they don’t pay you in money necessarily, but they’re paying you in their budgets. They’re paying you with their time. They’re paying you with their attention. Really you’re just a consultant inside the company, so here are the four steps. One of the fastest ways to get a yes is to slow down to speed up. A lot of times people will go in sort of machine gun nelly and suggest what they want the decision maker to approve. That’s almost like skipping straight to step four. Here’s a faster way: when you do that, you’re using your words, and your priorities and it can come across this jargon to the other side, especially in a deeply technical world, like sales enablement. Instead of jumping to the end, here’s another way to do it. Step one, listen and learn. Schedule a call with the people you support and just say, hey, I just want to make sure we’re lined up for our work this year together. I’d love to hear from you, what do you think are the top priorities this year as we think about enabling the Salesforce and account management teams? You want to go to that with some ideas for sure and you want to help shape the agenda, but you’re also listening to their priorities and their words. Research shows it’s easier to get a yes when you use somebody’s own words with them than if you use your words, so we want to listen and learn first. Step two is to create curiosity. It turns out that their curiosity is an intrinsic motivator. We love experiencing curiosity. It’s why we hear a cliffhanger at the end of a Ted Lasso episode, and we can’t wait to watch the next one. Cliffhangers are a curiosity that gets us to do the next step. What you can do to create curiosity is say, ‘hey Mr or Ms sales leader, would it be helpful if I shared some stories about how I’ve heard other organizations have tackled that problem? I can help you with that.' In this step, we’re conceptually getting buy-in to how we might be able to help them solve the issues that they shared in step one, so listen and learn when we hear their issues. In step two, we are conceptually talking about storytelling, mostly about how we can solve those. Step three is mind blowing-ly effective. We call this, build everything together. The science here is called the IKEA effect named after the Swedish retailer. Dr. Michael Lord at Harvard's All-Star Team of researchers proved this. They found two things. Once we buy into what we helped create, and two, we view our own work product as on par with worldwide experts, even if we’re not an expert. We love our stuff and we think our stuff is awesome. The best way to get approval is if you’ve already heard their priorities and their words. They felt some curiosity about how you might be able to solve the issues that they’ve got on their agenda. So, step three: come up with a 60% rough draft that you can float in from in front of them and you say these exact words, ‘hey sales leader, I’ve thought a lot about what we talked about and I’ve got some solutions that I think we could deploy.' Here’s what you say. ‘I really think it’s only about 60% right because you see some things I don’t see, I see some things you don’t see given our roles, so I need your help to make it great.' The reason you say 60% instead of a lot of it’s mostly right is you want them to see what the gap is. You want them to think that at 40% they can roll up their sleeves and help this out as they co-created from that point. That’s when the IKEA effect kicks in and you get buy-in. If they change something great, that’s buy-in. If they like it great, that’s buy-in. As you move closer to 100%, you’ll see them get so excited about their ideas because they become their ideas. The fourth step is to gain approval. If you’ve done the first 3, the 4th is usually easy peasy because they already love it before they get all the formalities of it. Listen and learn, create curiosity, build everything together, and gain approval. Steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 work like a charm. OF: I love that approach and you’re so right, so often we skip just to that last step and then wonder why we haven’t gotten the support that we think we have. I love that approach, that’s fantastic. Well, Mo you’ve shared some really awesome insights with our audience today, and again, to our audience, we absolutely recommend that you pick up The Snowball System and read through that book. Mo, you have some other resources that I want to make sure that our listeners know about. Can you tell us a little bit about some of those where our listeners can go to learn more about some of what we’ve discussed today? MB: I would love to. Probably the number one thing I’d recommend that takes 30 seconds is I spent about three hours a week writing an article on a very specific topic, much like we talked about today, but we just scratched the surface. We did five things out of 1000. I write these articles that take several hours and my goal is that somebody can read them in three minutes. It’s sort of sad that it takes three hours to write something that someone can read in three minutes, but it’s hard to write short and that’s what we try to do. We try to pick a very specific topic that’s really sharp so that somebody can read that in a couple of minutes and think this is amazing and the reader wants to forward this to a ton of people because they got so much value out of it. If people want that little weekly newsletter that just drops in their inbox every week, they can go to growbigplaybook.com, and they can sign up right there. It has tons of value. This Saturday's newsletter is about how to have really great pipeline meetings. That’s something for whatever reason a lot of people are struggling with. We’ve had other articles on likeability, and others on how you scale specific learning across the team. It keeps the learning alive and there’s no charge to it. So growbigplaybook.com is where people get that. OF: Awesome, thank you so much. To our listeners, we will include a link to that in the transcript and episode description. Thanks again Mo for sharing all of your insights with our audience. I certainly learned a ton from this conversation and I can’t wait for our listeners to hear what we talked about. MB: It’s been a blast. I just can’t say it enough, what you are doing is so powerful and so important. We are in the early days. It is going to grow in importance over time. Folks, keep going back to the Sales Enablement PRO's website, keep getting more learning certifications, and do everything you can to build your skills because I’m convinced this is one of the areas that is going to just 10x over the next couple of years. If you’re at the forefront of learning and leading you’re going to be in a really great spot. Thanks, Olivia. OF: To our audience, thanks for listening. For more insights, tips, and expertise from sales enablement leaders visit salesenablement.pro, and if there's something you'd like to share or a topic that you'd like to learn more about, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you.

Olivia Fuller: Hi and welcome to Book Club, a Sales Enablement PRO podcast. I'm Olivia Fuller. Sales enablement is a constantly evolving space and we're here to help professionals stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices so they can be more effective in their jobs. Sales can be a tough job and it’s not one that everyone is naturally inclined to do. With uncertain economic conditions like we’re experiencing today, this job can be even more difficult. The Snowball System is designed to help people sell effectively in a way that they’re comfortable with without feeling like a sleazy salesperson. I’m so excited to have the author of “The Snowball System”, Mo Bunnell, here to tell us a little bit more about this concept and his book. With that, Mo, I'd love it if you could tell our audience a little bit about yourself, your background, and your book. Mo Bunnell: Yes, let me say this out of the gate. All of you listeners and watchers out there, I am so much a fan of sales enablement professionals and Olivia and her team at Sales Enablement PRO have great resources on the website, certifications, classes, courses, assets, and resources. It’s better than I’ve ever seen anywhere, so when Olivia reached out and thought we should do this podcast, I was excited because the work you do matters, and the things that we’re doing to evolve the profession are important. So, Olivia, I just had to say that out of the gate then I can talk about me. OF: I love that. Thank you so much. MB: It’s such an emerging profession and it’s going to continue to grow in importance over time, so you’re all in the right place. A little bit about me, I think a lot of times entrepreneurs start a business without trying to start business. I've been at it for about 20 years, and my moment of starting Bunnell Idea Group was a moment of complete panic, almost an anxiety attack. I had gone from a deep technical expert. I had taken all the exams to become an actuary, which if you don’t know what an actuary is, are long-term financial forecaster. We make the accountants look like party animals. I had taken all these years to pass these exams to be an actuary and in one weekend I turned into a salesperson. Now, we didn’t call it that, I was at a high-end professional consulting firm, so we called it a managing consultant. The fact is in one weekend I went from being rewarded on service delivery, billable hours, client satisfaction, and things like that to retention and growth activities. The moment of panic occurred when I went to my new boss that Monday morning with all of the new floors, business card titles, and all that stuff and I asked him for the manual on business development, sales retention, and growth. I wasn’t expecting him to respond by laughing at me, but he did and it was probably a chuckle, but I heard it like the villain in Scooby Doo. It was not a good thing. That was the beginning. I thought I would get a playbook, but I didn’t get a playbook and I had to build the playbook I can tell you much more about the story if you want, but after years later it turned into an experience, a training class, and now we’ve trained 30,000 people at over 500 organizations all around the globe. OF: I love that. I have a friend who’s becoming an actuary right now and I have a lot of respect for that journey. It is definitely a tough one. As you mentioned, sales is a very tough job and it’s not one that everyone can be naturally inclined to do, especially with the turbulent economy that we’re all experiencing right now, it can be even harder. You talked about how The Snowball System is really designed to help people sell effectively, but the part that I loved is that it’s in a way that they’re comfortable with. I’d love it if you could tell us just a little bit more about that approach and how it can really help sellers be more comfortable, and confident, and ultimately how that translates into effectiveness. MB: This is such an interesting topic. When we first started Bunnell Idea Group or BIG for short, I really tried to redefine what sales meant in people’s minds and I thought for some reason I could do that with the billions of people on the planet. You can’t. Unfortunately, sales have a bad name to a lot of people and we’ve got to reframe that. One of the things that we talked about a lot in our workshops, you see it in the book, is people hate to be sold to, but they love to buy. In our live workshops, we actually list it out, we have people ask buyers they were purchasing something and it did not go well and you’ll hear the buyer say things like the person was pushy, they talk too much, they didn’t listen to my needs, they suggested something that didn’t make sense, they didn’t want to talk about the pricing or the money of the investment easy, they didn’t make it easy to buy and things like that. Then, we say, hey, tell us the time when you purchased something and it went great. They say it was easy, it was frictionless, I liked the person, I was learning, they gave me options, they suggested something less expensive that was better for me, they built trust, and it was fun. The whole mantra of, we hate to be sold to, but we’ll have to buy, if we can start with the frame of salespeople saying I’m not going to fall in love with my solution, I’m going to fall in love with their problem and build trust and have fun with this over time if we can just have a campaign of helpfulness to the other person that changes the whole frame from selling to helping and that’s where we see if people have that right mindset, they are off to the races. OF: I love that approach. The system that you cover in the book really walks through a series of steps. I want to cover each of those just to dig a little bit deeper and the first one that you talk about is targeting your ideal clients. I’d love to hear, from your perspective, what are some of the common challenges that can arise from effectively targeting prospective clients, and then how do you recommend overcoming those challenges? MB: Oh, I could go on for hours, we don’t have enough time. Let’s dive in. I was just training some high-end consultants in Malaysia last night. I’m in Atlanta, Georgia in the US, so it went to like midnight my time and we had a really big unlock. I mean these are some of the smartest business people in the world, tier-one consultants. One of the things that we did that’s different is we broke through a mental heuristic called status quo bias. Now, the audience may not know what that means, but if you can google it if you just go to Wikipedia, it’s not the end all and be off research, but it can give you a good head start. Just google status quo bias and you will get this litany of research that basically says, we tend to do the same things over and over again. When it comes to little things like what app you open on your screen when you open up your phone in the morning, we tend to do the same things over and over. That’s easy. We understand that, but it’s particularly dangerous. I’m being provocative here with the word dangerous. It is particularly dangerous in sales because what status quo bias will make us do if we don’t get out of the trap is keep hanging out and reaching out to the people we already know and like. The reason for that is that we tend to do what we’ve already done, status quo bias, but our egos are at stake to reach out to somebody that we don’t know. We fear rejection, we fear they won’t reach back, and we fear we only have one shot so we have to be perfect with this first outreach. We will make the bar so high that we won’t act and will delay and that’s harmful to the sales rep. What you can do to get over this, and what we did with the group in Malaysia last night, as we said, hey, let’s start with the people we want to work with and the things that we think we could be most helpful to them. What are the game-changing programs that we can take to the people that should purchase from us? By flipping things in their minds from here’s who we usually stay in contact with. They had a contact list of 100 people in a small team. We flipped that from, put that aside for a second, let’s focus on who should buy what from us and where we can have the biggest meaningful impact. We started with that, and then we said, who are the decision makers for those things? It was a completely different list and they left that session so energized to go out and build relationships with those people. It was awesome. We finished the session at midnight, Olivia, I don’t think I went to bed until 3 AM because I was so excited for their future success. I couldn’t sleep. OF: Oh my gosh, I love that story. That goes to show just how when you flip the way that you think about something, you can completely change your approach and ultimately increase the value that you bring. You mentioned that thinking starts with where we could have the biggest impact, and that goes into the next step in the book, which is around positioning your unique value. I’d love to hear some of your best practices around how sellers can actually identify what makes them unique and what that unique value is. MB: I love this and to speak to all the sales enablement people out there, this is frequently done incorrectly, so I want to give you the right way. A lot of times it’s frequently done to come up with some kind of value story or positioning elements like it goes on the website and we definitely need to do that. That’s a universal version of positioning that may or may not be true for one individual or for a certain client prospect to the customer. We definitely have to do that, keep doing that sales enablement folks to get that message tight, get it short, get it sharp. Do all the stuff that you’re used to doing. At the same time, I want you to work with your sales reps, your account managers, and your account execs to also be able to tweak that and shape it for a specific pursuit. We talk about a value pyramid that you saw in the book, Olivia, which is the lowest level or the least that your clients or prospects care about is your universal positioning for your organization. They are a little bit more about the specific offering in the middle of the pyramid. The apex of the pyramid is ‘I am thinking of hiring somebody for X, how are you positioned for me exactly for that?' That makes it real. We need to blend the universal positioning, the kind of stuff that goes on the website that anybody could log into, we need that, but we need to also focus deal by deal, especially for the important ones. That’s thing one. Thing two is, there’s a bunch of research by Dr. Suzanne Shu, and she tested value props from saying you’re good at one thing to 2 to 3 to 4, all the way to 10. And you saw this in the book, Dr. Shu found that people that say they’re good at three things are magical. It’s the most believable. It’s a thing saying you’re good at three things is more believable than 1,2,4,5, or 6, all the way to the 10. There’s a peak and a curve that says that two is better than 1, 3 is better than 2, 4 is worse than 3, 5 is worse than 4, and so on. What we see a lot of sales reps do is because they have fear of being focused, they sort of have this David Letterman top 10 list. These are the top 10 reasons you should hire us for this deal. What happens in Dr. Shu's research is that having more than three creates so much cognitive load for somebody trying to figure out what are you really for. You've got these 10 things here, is there a theme? I don’t know, I can’t understand this. It becomes negative and they give up and having 10 reasons to hire you is basically worse than zero. We want to get really crisp on a specific opportunity. What are the three reasons that we are totally unique to serve this organization? Make it really short, really sharp, and communicate that over and over in our RFP response in the formal finalist meeting and everything else, and that’s what can win the day, Olivia. OF: Absolutely and something that we haven’t talked about a ton quite yet, but I think it’s really important to understand from the book and how the approach is all laid out is that it’s really rooted in science. You mentioned some of those research pieces that fueled how you’re approaching each of these steps. Another one that really resonated with me that I liked in the book was around the step of building connection and the concept was around the science behind likability. I'd love to learn from you, what are some of the ways that sellers can really build impactful connections with their prospects and turn those into long-term client relationships really by being rooted in that science of likability? MB: Thank you for bringing this up because there’s a mantra that some people are sharing in the marketplace that relationships don’t matter, they’re dead. That’s completely untrue. All the research shows that we say yes to people we like, we spend more time with those that we like, doctors spend more time with patients they like, and have better outcomes with those that they like. Likability matters in so many aspects of human nature. You can’t even count the studies that back this up. I will give the audience 3 levers of likability. One I really like is Dr. Jerry Burgers out of Santa Clara University. He was the first person to scientifically prove that we hire people we like more often than those we don’t. In a follow-up study was like, hey what correlates the likability, and the number one level he found is commonality. It's up to us as sales reps, account managers, and account executives to find ways that we have things in common with other people. In general, uncommon commonalities are more powerful than common commonalities. Olivia, when we were chatting right before we started recording, we were talking about how we both have dogs, they love snow, and they do silly things. You and I were bonding on that, so it’s up to us as salespeople to find out what we have in common. The science shows it can be things like we both like Dan Pink's business books. It can be that we both have dogs that are rescue dogs that are huskies or shepherds. It can be that we both like ultimate frisbee or the Kansas City Chiefs or Big Red Bordeaux’s. It can be things in business and in non-business, but we’ve got to find those things that we have in common and then reinforce them over time. That’s lever one. Lever two that we love to talk about is the mere exposure effect. It’s all about frequency. It was first studied in Germany in 1876. Science has seen three centuries and what it says irrefutably the more often we see a person or a thing, the higher the chance it is that we like them. As reps, we’ve got to have a system for reaching out, being helpful, and staying top of mind. It’s why the flip of the mere exposure effect is why we say ‘out of sight out of mind.' We’ve got to have a mechanism to add value routinely. Then, the last one we talked a lot about is mutual benefit. This is our third big lever. Those deepest relationships are not one-sided. They’re not, ‘I serve you because I’m a sales rep or an account manager,' it’s that we are working together to build a better future. Science shows not only do we help people we like, but emerging science is saying we like people who help. Simple things like having a relationship with somebody and saying, hey, we’re doing work in this part of the organization, we think we can have an impact in this other business unit that is in your organization, what would you do if you were me. Making a statement of something that would be helpful and saying ‘what would you do if you’re me’ is a wonderful way to ask for help and what people find is the enrollment they get from the other side gives them greater ideas, the person co-creates the next step, they enroll in their success and likability follows. There’s more in the book, but those three big things, finding and reinforcing commonality, having the mere exposure effect, frequency and staying top of mind, and having a mutually beneficial enjoyable relationship. Those are three big ones. OF: Fantastic. Thank you so much for walking us through that. It is very interesting. To take that a step further, the final step in the process that you talk about is really nurturing to turn your clients into what you call ‘raving fans.' I love that phrase, and especially in the economic climate that we’re in, this is really becoming more and more essential for businesses to focus on so that they’re maintaining and ultimately setting themselves up to grow their business. Given this current economic environment, I’d love to hear from you. What are some of the key considerations that sellers should really be keeping in mind to nurture those long-term relationships with their clients? MB: I’ll actually share some things that aren’t in the book. The core research says that soft skills do turn into hard results. That’s some of that science of likability and things that we talked about. One thing that’s not in the book that I think is really compelling is McGraw Hill, the publishing arm also has a research arm. They did some research in the 1980s, and there was this big economic collapse and economic headwinds in the early 1980s. What they found is that B2B companies that advertised in the economic downturn that happened in the early 1980s not only outperformed during that recession but outperformed to a huge extent for three years afterward. What we can learn from that is that when we think about human relationships, I think that’s even more important than even B2B advertising. With human relationships, we’re advertising when we’re out there talking to clients, talking to prospects, and adding value. That is sort of an advertisement for us humans and the nut of all is that when there’s an economic downturn, we shouldn’t judge ourselves on what we did the year before. That’s an unfair metric because we’ve got economic headwinds against us. What we should judge ourselves on is whether are we beating the competition because they’re on the same playing field we are. What the McGraw Hill research shows is that if you’re out there adding value, being helpful even before it’s time for somebody to buy from you, deepening those relationships with likability as we talked about before, economic downturns are when you go out and win market share because you’re out there doing it more in your competition, hopefully, is dying it in and not working as hard because they’re like, oh, I can’t do as good as I did last year, so I’m not gonna work as hard. No, I want you to double down when there are economic headwinds and help people before they can even hire you and they will remember that forever. OF: Absolutely. Those are fantastic insights, so critical to the environment that we have right now, and very relevant to our audience of enablement practitioners and I want to dig into that a little bit more. You mentioned this right at the start of the conversation. Enablement leaders today are not only responsible for equipping their sellers with the tools and the resources that they need to be successful, but they also have a job to do today that’s really about gaining buy-in and support for their initiatives. Working with executive leaders and cross-functional partners to get that support can be a hard job to do, especially in these times we’re in. I’d really love to hear from you. How can the principles of The Snowball System be applied to that concept of selling internally to your stakeholders the value of the programs that you have, especially for sales enablement practitioners? MB: Olivia, it’s such a great question. We have helped so many functional leaders help them grow their influence within the organization. CHROs, CIOs, CTOs, CFOs, and sales enablement leaders and I’ll give you our steps to gain approval. This is all in The Snowball System, so I highly recommend folks to read the book and then apply it to their influence because if you’re a sales enablement leader, the regional head of sales, the global head of sales, whoever you’re helping, they don’t pay you in money necessarily, but they’re paying you in their budgets. They’re paying you with their time. They’re paying you with their attention. Really you’re just a consultant inside the company, so here are the four steps. One of the fastest ways to get a yes is to slow down to speed up. A lot of times people will go in sort of machine gun nelly and suggest what they want the decision maker to approve. That’s almost like skipping straight to step four. Here’s a faster way: when you do that, you’re using your words, and your priorities and it can come across this jargon to the other side, especially in a deeply technical world, like sales enablement. Instead of jumping to the end, here’s another way to do it. Step one, listen and learn. Schedule a call with the people you support and just say, hey, I just want to make sure we’re lined up for our work this year together. I’d love to hear from you, what do you think are the top priorities this year as we think about enabling the Salesforce and account management teams? You want to go to that with some ideas for sure and you want to help shape the agenda, but you’re also listening to their priorities and their words. Research shows it’s easier to get a yes when you use somebody’s own words with them than if you use your words, so we want to listen and learn first. Step two is to create curiosity. It turns out that their curiosity is an intrinsic motivator. We love experiencing curiosity. It’s why we hear a cliffhanger at the end of a Ted Lasso episode, and we can’t wait to watch the next one. Cliffhangers are a curiosity that gets us to do the next step. What you can do to create curiosity is say, ‘hey Mr or Ms sales leader, would it be helpful if I shared some stories about how I’ve heard other organizations have tackled that problem? I can help you with that.' In this step, we’re conceptually getting buy-in to how we might be able to help them solve the issues that they shared in step one, so listen and learn when we hear their issues. In step two, we are conceptually talking about storytelling, mostly about how we can solve those. Step three is mind blowing-ly effective. We call this, build everything together. The science here is called the IKEA effect named after the Swedish retailer. Dr. Michael Lord at Harvard's All-Star Team of researchers proved this. They found two things. Once we buy into what we helped create, and two, we view our own work product as on par with worldwide experts, even if we’re not an expert. We love our stuff and we think our stuff is awesome. The best way to get approval is if you’ve already heard their priorities and their words. They felt some curiosity about how you might be able to solve the issues that they’ve got on their agenda. So, step three: come up with a 60% rough draft that you can float in from in front of them and you say these exact words, ‘hey sales leader, I’ve thought a lot about what we talked about and I’ve got some solutions that I think we could deploy.' Here’s what you say. ‘I really think it’s only about 60% right because you see some things I don’t see, I see some things you don’t see given our roles, so I need your help to make it great.' The reason you say 60% instead of a lot of it’s mostly right is you want them to see what the gap is. You want them to think that at 40% they can roll up their sleeves and help this out as they co-created from that point. That’s when the IKEA effect kicks in and you get buy-in. If they change something great, that’s buy-in. If they like it great, that’s buy-in. As you move closer to 100%, you’ll see them get so excited about their ideas because they become their ideas. The fourth step is to gain approval. If you’ve done the first 3, the 4th is usually easy peasy because they already love it before they get all the formalities of it. Listen and learn, create curiosity, build everything together, and gain approval. Steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 work like a charm. OF: I love that approach and you’re so right, so often we skip just to that last step and then wonder why we haven’t gotten the support that we think we have. I love that approach, that’s fantastic. Well, Mo you’ve shared some really awesome insights with our audience today, and again, to our audience, we absolutely recommend that you pick up The Snowball System and read through that book. Mo, you have some other resources that I want to make sure that our listeners know about. Can you tell us a little bit about some of those where our listeners can go to learn more about some of what we’ve discussed today? MB: I would love to. Probably the number one thing I’d recommend that takes 30 seconds is I spent about three hours a week writing an article on a very specific topic, much like we talked about today, but we just scratched the surface. We did five things out of 1000. I write these articles that take several hours and my goal is that somebody can read them in three minutes. It’s sort of sad that it takes three hours to write something that someone can read in three minutes, but it’s hard to write short and that’s what we try to do. We try to pick a very specific topic that’s really sharp so that somebody can read that in a couple of minutes and think this is amazing and the reader wants to forward this to a ton of people because they got so much value out of it. If people want that little weekly newsletter that just drops in their inbox every week, they can go to growbigplaybook.com, and they can sign up right there. It has tons of value. This Saturday's newsletter is about how to have really great pipeline meetings. That’s something for whatever reason a lot of people are struggling with. We’ve had other articles on likeability, and others on how you scale specific learning across the team. It keeps the learning alive and there’s no charge to it. So growbigplaybook.com is where people get that. OF: Awesome, thank you so much. To our listeners, we will include a link to that in the transcript and episode description. Thanks again Mo for sharing all of your insights with our audience. I certainly learned a ton from this conversation and I can’t wait for our listeners to hear what we talked about. MB: It’s been a blast. I just can’t say it enough, what you are doing is so powerful and so important. We are in the early days. It is going to grow in importance over time. Folks, keep going back to the Sales Enablement PRO's website, keep getting more learning certifications, and do everything you can to build your skills because I’m convinced this is one of the areas that is going to just 10x over the next couple of years. If you’re at the forefront of learning and leading you’re going to be in a really great spot. Thanks, Olivia. OF: To our audience, thanks for listening. For more insights, tips, and expertise from sales enablement leaders visit salesenablement.pro, and if there's something you'd like to share or a topic that you'd like to learn more about, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you.

In today's episode we're interviewing one of the foremost experts on networking and teams, Mo Bunnell. CEO of the Bunnell Idea Group, Mo has trained 25,000+ professionals. He'll share with us the top three data-driven tools and techniques to take our networking to the next level. Many of these tips can be applied right after finishing the episode, so tune in today!

On this episode, we have Mo Bunnell on the podcast, CEO & Founder of the Bunnell Idea Group. He is also the author of 'The Snowball System - How to Win More Business and Turn Clients into Raving Fans', and wow… Sarah loves this interview. On top of being super innovative, smart, and kind, Mo teaches people and companies about BD (Business Development). Mo can show you how to make your business run like no other but also teach you the same about your own life outside of business. Tactics like understanding the kind of person you are interacting with using a few hacks on identifying how exactly they communicate. Sarah and Mo also touch on the M.I.T process and unwrap the “elephant” metaphor about habits. Seriously, we truly enjoyed filming this interview and anyone that listens will certainly learn a lot… even more if you read his book ;). Enjoy! Website: https://www.bunnellideagroup.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bunnellideagroup/

In this episode of On Record PR, Gina Rubel goes on record with Mo Bunnell, CEO of Bunnell Idea Group, to discuss how professionals can develop their business development skills. Learn how complex skills and learned and earned, why people hate to be sold to, but they love to buy, and how to develop a system to bring in the work you want, deepen the relationships you want the most, and create systems that fit within your demanding schedule.

In this Client Conversations episode, Craig Budner interviews Mo Bunnell, CEO, and founder of the Bunnell Idea Group. They discuss how incremental progress with constant refinement should be applied to your business development process. Mo provides concrete scientific ways to implement into your day-to-day business strategies and create additional raving fans. 

Embracing business development as a speaker might not be your favorite aspect of speaking, but it is one of the most critical. And our guest, Mo Bunnell, is an expert on the topic. Mo is a speaker, author, and trainer. On today's show, Mo tells us how he went from being an actuary to a business development (BD) expert generating over $70 million in client revenue to running his own BD organization. Join us to hear Mo's insights and expertise when you tune in to episode 345 of The Speaker Lab.   THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW: What did he get wrong in the beginning and how did he rectify it? If you want to climb do you have to cut? What has given his company stickiness and scale in a big way? Why you don't need to be all things to all people. How long is the half-life of speaking? What's the thing most people miss? How does the "give to get model" work? What does he suggest if you don't enjoy the business development side of speaking? And so much more!   EPISODE RESOURCES Mo Bunnell's web site BD Habits video training Bunnell Idea Group's web site The Snowball System by Mo Bunnell Mo Bunnell on Twitter Booked and Paid To Speak program The Successful Speaker Speaker Fee Calculator Got questions? Send them in here! Subscribe on iTunes, and leave us a rating or review

Mo Bunnell , author of the Snowball System https://www.amazon.com/Snowball-System-Business-Clients-Raving-ebook/dp/B078W5ZFR6, has trained 15 thousand people on how to use his system to do business development. Host - Carl GrantProducer - Seth Grant

If you are in an entrepreneurial journey of any stage right now, you are listening to one of the must-listen to podcasts for your growth. Because today, we are chatting with the business development expert- Mo Bunnell of the Bunnell Idea Group, who’ve helped many of the biggest companies in the world achieve the exponential growth they are aiming for. Mo is actually an actuarian, who was used to focus on client service, billable time and doing great office works. But when he was promoted to being like a business partner, his responsibility now switched to selling stuff, which he did not have any knowledge about. He thought there was a manual on how to run and develop a business the right way, with client’s happines as the end result. But there was none. He wanted to do his best in his new role, that’s why he started to research, write and test systems of how to do business development the right way. Fast forward to after a few years, he develop the system that actually brought in business, was extremely efficient and his colleagues loved. He created the systems he wished he had before he was promoted. Now, he and his team have taught 15,000 people all around the world to incorporate his business development system to help them win at work, succeed at life, by doing business development with confidence – the right way. Today, he is sharing important bits of knowledge to help us win. Be sure to have your notes ready! Here’s What You Missed What are the three big things you need to do to become successful?How to manage your opportunities?How to get the best out of the relationships you build?Why you should ask for help and how to do it?How to achieve exponential growth?Be proactive: How to do it the easiest way  Knowledge Nuggets [7:32] Three big things to be successful: 1. managing your opportunities 2. managing your relationships 3. Managing yourself and being able to not only focus on the craft of whatever you want to do.  People don't find or are struggling with success being an entrepreneur because they only focus on their core craft, not also on the craft of growth. [8:41] 4 steps of Managing you opportunities: 1. Listening and learning and asking great questions. 2. Turning the lens back on yourself, with the knowledge you have of that person, you can create some curiosity or how you can improve their life. 3. Building everything together. 4. Gaining approval. [11:59] Be more interested than interesting. [14:00] 3 researches about Managing relationships: 1. The closest connections are focused on commonality. 2. There's mutual benefit to the relationship. 3. The mere exposure effect: the mere exposure to something seems to cause us to like it more. [15:36] Write down the list of your most important relationships, and everyday think how can I help this person? Continually invest in those relationships and do it with the frequency. 17:22] We drastically over estimate the barrier to someone else wanting to help us. So when we don't ask for help, we actually, in a way can harm the person because we didn't give them that great feeling of helping us. [18:28] If you are hesistant for any reason to ask for help, ask for advice instead.  [24:30] The way you manage yourself is you carve out 15 minutes, maybe 30 minutes a week and look at your opportunity and relationship list and all you do is pick what are the three most important things you're going to hold yourself accountable to the next week. Do that every single week. And you cannot help, but succeed. [29:46] Don't fall into trap of being reactive. Break it down, maybe weekly tasks, then committing to finish it by the end of the year or your timeframe.  Important Reads and Links  Mo Bunnell BD Habits:                                        https://bdhabits.com/Mo Bunnell Website:                                          https://mobunnell.com/Mo Bunnell Facebook Group:                           https://www.facebook.com/bunnellideagroup/  Love #DreamNation? Check Us Out on Apple Podcasts!  At Dream Nation, we’re all about building dreams. We do that through podcasts that motivate, educate, and entertain our listeners with some of the best entrepreneurs from around the world to get you to the best tips to level up your game in business in life. If you enjoyed this episode and want to keep building your dream,subscribe to the DreamNation podcast using the links below. Dream Nation on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dream-nation/id1457381714 Dream Nation podcast website - https://dreamnationpodcast.com/ Dream Nation Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/dreamnationcommunity/ Catch your host on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/casanova_brooks/ If you are in DreamNation, thank you! Feel free to leave a review or share with a friend.

Mike Deimler shares three incredible business development lessons that he's learned over the course of his 30-year career at one the most successful consultancies in the world. Learn the secret to creating powerful client relationships, why empathy is one of the most important skills you can cultivate, and how you can apply the same transformation that Michael Jordan underwent to become the greatest basketball player in the world to your own career. Mike Deimler is one of the best business development consultants among over 15,000 people that the Bunnell Idea Group has trained over the years. Business strategy has been Mike's main focus for the past 30 years and he's been working, thinking, or writing about business development for pretty much his entire career. Being good at relationship development and business development is a lot like being a good father, they are learned behaviours and anyone can become better at them. Mike tells the story of his near-death experience as a child and the lesson he learned when the surgeon told him that his eye couldn't be saved. At the age of nine, Mike learned that he had a choice to make. He could be angry at what happened to him or he could make the most out of every single day of his life. Mike chose the latter and applies that lesson to all of the relationships in his life. If you've survived something difficult, you should look at it as a gift and make the conscious choice to value each day. You can pivot your strengths and learn new ways to thrive. Taking a strategic perspective comes down to taking another person's perspective by listening and understanding where they are coming from. When working with CEOs, Mike always strives to understand what their view is and what their strategic agenda should be. When you take someone else's perspective and internalize it, it forces you to think deeply about what they should be working on. For every client that Mike serves he writes down their strategic agenda on a single piece of paper. This requires him to be concise and sharp on the issues that matter most and helps establish a relative priority to the things that need work. To move someone to take action, you need to move them twice, both emotionally and intellectually. At the highest levels this takes persistence and the willingness to explore other possibilities, combined with the patience to see the process through. Some of the most important topics Mike has ever worked on took nearly two years for the change to really take place. If you're pushing a product or service, you're selling, and if you start with the client's perspective in mind you are obligated to move them and encourage them to take action. When you start with the other, selling is the consequence of doing the right thing. If you're ever uncertain in a meeting or a business development situation, just pause and listen to both the heart and the mind. You will rarely go wrong by taking a holistic approach to the other person's perspective. If you can think of the opposing pairs of facts vs. feelings and big ideas vs. tactics, you're going to make every meeting and comment better. More Judo, less Karate. Young partners often get anxious about business development and believe they need to push in order to sell. By coming at the meeting aggressively they end up defeating themselves. Sometimes the best thing to do in a meeting is to talk a lot less and listen a lot more. Talking is Karate, listening is Judo. When you're listening more than speaking, the other person is coming to you and sharing what's on their mind. Be comfortable with empty space in a conversation, not every second of the meeting needs a slide. There is always a balancing act between being proactive and waiting. Asking questions is important, but strategic perspective is about having a point of view. If you're going to be a trusted advisor to anyone, you need to do the work to have a value-added perspective. The art of knowing when to pivot from asking questions to proposing solutions is an art. There will be times where you have to take a stance and press your point of view. Asking permission is one way of opening the door and changing the other person's frame of mind. Don't be afraid of disagreement. Starting off a meeting by asking questions first allows you to understand the other person's position in their own words, which in turn allows you to propose a solution to their problem. Mike tells the story of attending the same high school as Michael Jordan and watching him develop as a basketball player, seeing what made him special first hand. During the course of Jordan's career, it wasn't until he transformed from the best offensive player in the world to the best complete basketball player in the world. He truly became the best when he learned to move without the ball. If you're building a sustained relationship with anyone, the most important thing you can do is create opportunity for the client as well as your business. Putting your client in the right position so they can win is more important than scoring on your own. Like most behaviors, when you try something new, you have to try harder but as you move forward it becomes more intuitive. Nurturing relationships outside of the usual business transactions is something that nearly all successful business development professionals have a system for. If you're just getting started learning these skills, it's best to have a more disciplined approach. Mo shares a personal lesson he learned from his father that he applies to nearly every area of his life. The most common question Mike gets from young professionals is “How is it you're so successful at building relationships with senior clients?” Think about your closest relationships and what you or the other person do to make them successful, chances are you're going to think about empathy, honesty, compassion, and asking for feedback. Relationships require frequency, both parties need to put effort into communicating. The best relationships are fun as well, where spending time with the other person makes you feel good and you do the same for them. The best relationships in your life are the ones where you are both willing to be vulnerable. In business, when a client is willing to be vulnerable with you, you have truly become a trusted advisor. If you strive to make your business relationships as good as the best relationships in the rest of your life, the business will take care of itself.   Mentioned in this episode: bdhabits.com Blasting Through Plateaus - bunnellideagroup.com/blasting-through-plateaus/

Mike Deimler shares three incredible business development lessons that he’s learned over the course of his 30-year career at one the most successful consultancies in the world. Learn the secret to creating powerful client relationships, why empathy is one of the most important skills you can cultivate, and how you can apply the same transformation that Michael Jordan underwent to become the greatest basketball player in the world to your own career. Mike Deimler is one of the best business development consultants among over 15,000 people that the Bunnell Idea Group has trained over the years. Business strategy has been Mike’s main focus for the past 30 years and he’s been working, thinking, or writing about business development for pretty much his entire career. Being good at relationship development and business development is a lot like being a good father, they are learned behaviours and anyone can become better at them. Mike tells the story of his near-death experience as a child and the lesson he learned when the surgeon told him that his eye couldn’t be saved. At the age of nine, Mike learned that he had a choice to make. He could be angry at what happened to him or he could make the most out of every single day of his life. Mike chose the latter and applies that lesson to all of the relationships in his life. If you’ve survived something difficult, you should look at it as a gift and make the conscious choice to value each day. You can pivot your strengths and learn new ways to thrive. Taking a strategic perspective comes down to taking another person’s perspective by listening and understanding where they are coming from. When working with CEOs, Mike always strives to understand what their view is and what their strategic agenda should be. When you take someone else’s perspective and internalize it, it forces you to think deeply about what they should be working on. For every client that Mike serves he writes down their strategic agenda on a single piece of paper. This requires him to be concise and sharp on the issues that matter most and helps establish a relative priority to the things that need work. To move someone to take action, you need to move them twice, both emotionally and intellectually. At the highest levels this takes persistence and the willingness to explore other possibilities, combined with the patience to see the process through. Some of the most important topics Mike has ever worked on took nearly two years for the change to really take place. If you’re pushing a product or service, you’re selling, and if you start with the client’s perspective in mind you are obligated to move them and encourage them to take action. When you start with the other, selling is the consequence of doing the right thing. If you’re ever uncertain in a meeting or a business development situation, just pause and listen to both the heart and the mind. You will rarely go wrong by taking a holistic approach to the other person’s perspective. If you can think of the opposing pairs of facts vs. feelings and big ideas vs. tactics, you’re going to make every meeting and comment better. More Judo, less Karate. Young partners often get anxious about business development and believe they need to push in order to sell. By coming at the meeting aggressively they end up defeating themselves. Sometimes the best thing to do in a meeting is to talk a lot less and listen a lot more. Talking is Karate, listening is Judo. When you’re listening more than speaking, the other person is coming to you and sharing what’s on their mind. Be comfortable with empty space in a conversation, not every second of the meeting needs a slide. There is always a balancing act between being proactive and waiting. Asking questions is important, but strategic perspective is about having a point of view. If you’re going to be a trusted advisor to anyone, you need to do the work to have a value-added perspective. The art of knowing when to pivot from asking questions to proposing solutions is an art. There will be times where you have to take a stance and press your point of view. Asking permission is one way of opening the door and changing the other person’s frame of mind. Don’t be afraid of disagreement. Starting off a meeting by asking questions first allows you to understand the other person’s position in their own words, which in turn allows you to propose a solution to their problem. Mike tells the story of attending the same high school as Michael Jordan and watching him develop as a basketball player, seeing what made him special first hand. During the course of Jordan’s career, it wasn’t until he transformed from the best offensive player in the world to the best complete basketball player in the world. He truly became the best when he learned to move without the ball. If you’re building a sustained relationship with anyone, the most important thing you can do is create opportunity for the client as well as your business. Putting your client in the right position so they can win is more important than scoring on your own. Like most behaviors, when you try something new, you have to try harder but as you move forward it becomes more intuitive. Nurturing relationships outside of the usual business transactions is something that nearly all successful business development professionals have a system for. If you’re just getting started learning these skills, it’s best to have a more disciplined approach. Mo shares a personal lesson he learned from his father that he applies to nearly every area of his life. The most common question Mike gets from young professionals is “How is it you’re so successful at building relationships with senior clients?” Think about your closest relationships and what you or the other person do to make them successful, chances are you’re going to think about empathy, honesty, compassion, and asking for feedback. Relationships require frequency, both parties need to put effort into communicating. The best relationships are fun as well, where spending time with the other person makes you feel good and you do the same for them. The best relationships in your life are the ones where you are both willing to be vulnerable. In business, when a client is willing to be vulnerable with you, you have truly become a trusted advisor. If you strive to make your business relationships as good as the best relationships in the rest of your life, the business will take care of itself.   Mentioned in this episode: bdhabits.com Blasting Through Plateaus - bunnellideagroup.com/blasting-through-plateaus/

Mike Deimler shares three incredible business development lessons that he’s learned over the course of his 30-year career at one the most successful consultancies in the world. Learn the secret to creating powerful client relationships, why empathy is one of the most important skills you can cultivate, and how you can apply the same transformation that Michael Jordan underwent to become the greatest basketball player in the world to your own career. Mike Deimler is one of the best business development consultants among over 15,000 people that the Bunnell Idea Group has trained over the years. Business strategy has been Mike’s main focus for the past 30 years and he’s been working, thinking, or writing about business development for pretty much his entire career. Being good at relationship development and business development is a lot like being a good father, they are learned behaviours and anyone can become better at them. Mike tells the story of his near-death experience as a child and the lesson he learned when the surgeon told him that his eye couldn’t be saved. At the age of nine, Mike learned that he had a choice to make. He could be angry at what happened to him or he could make the most out of every single day of his life. Mike chose the latter and applies that lesson to all of the relationships in his life. If you’ve survived something difficult, you should look at it as a gift and make the conscious choice to value each day. You can pivot your strengths and learn new ways to thrive. Taking a strategic perspective comes down to taking another person’s perspective by listening and understanding where they are coming from. When working with CEOs, Mike always strives to understand what their view is and what their strategic agenda should be. When you take someone else’s perspective and internalize it, it forces you to think deeply about what they should be working on. For every client that Mike serves he writes down their strategic agenda on a single piece of paper. This requires him to be concise and sharp on the issues that matter most and helps establish a relative priority to the things that need work. To move someone to take action, you need to move them twice, both emotionally and intellectually. At the highest levels this takes persistence and the willingness to explore other possibilities, combined with the patience to see the process through. Some of the most important topics Mike has ever worked on took nearly two years for the change to really take place. If you’re pushing a product or service, you’re selling, and if you start with the client’s perspective in mind you are obligated to move them and encourage them to take action. When you start with the other, selling is the consequence of doing the right thing. If you’re ever uncertain in a meeting or a business development situation, just pause and listen to both the heart and the mind. You will rarely go wrong by taking a holistic approach to the other person’s perspective. If you can think of the opposing pairs of facts vs. feelings and big ideas vs. tactics, you’re going to make every meeting and comment better. More Judo, less Karate. Young partners often get anxious about business development and believe they need to push in order to sell. By coming at the meeting aggressively they end up defeating themselves. Sometimes the best thing to do in a meeting is to talk a lot less and listen a lot more. Talking is Karate, listening is Judo. When you’re listening more than speaking, the other person is coming to you and sharing what’s on their mind. Be comfortable with empty space in a conversation, not every second of the meeting needs a slide. There is always a balancing act between being proactive and waiting. Asking questions is important, but strategic perspective is about having a point of view. If you’re going to be a trusted advisor to anyone, you need to do the work to have a value-added perspective. The art of knowing when to pivot from asking questions to proposing solutions is an art. There will be times where you have to take a stance and press your point of view. Asking permission is one way of opening the door and changing the other person’s frame of mind. Don’t be afraid of disagreement. Starting off a meeting by asking questions first allows you to understand the other person’s position in their own words, which in turn allows you to propose a solution to their problem. Mike tells the story of attending the same high school as Michael Jordan and watching him develop as a basketball player, seeing what made him special first hand. During the course of Jordan’s career, it wasn’t until he transformed from the best offensive player in the world to the best complete basketball player in the world. He truly became the best when he learned to move without the ball. If you’re building a sustained relationship with anyone, the most important thing you can do is create opportunity for the client as well as your business. Putting your client in the right position so they can win is more important than scoring on your own. Like most behaviors, when you try something new, you have to try harder but as you move forward it becomes more intuitive. Nurturing relationships outside of the usual business transactions is something that nearly all successful business development professionals have a system for. If you’re just getting started learning these skills, it’s best to have a more disciplined approach. Mo shares a personal lesson he learned from his father that he applies to nearly every area of his life. The most common question Mike gets from young professionals is “How is it you’re so successful at building relationships with senior clients?” Think about your closest relationships and what you or the other person do to make them successful, chances are you’re going to think about empathy, honesty, compassion, and asking for feedback. Relationships require frequency, both parties need to put effort into communicating. The best relationships are fun as well, where spending time with the other person makes you feel good and you do the same for them. The best relationships in your life are the ones where you are both willing to be vulnerable. In business, when a client is willing to be vulnerable with you, you have truly become a trusted advisor. If you strive to make your business relationships as good as the best relationships in the rest of your life, the business will take care of itself.   Mentioned in this episode: bdhabits.com Blasting Through Plateaus - bunnellideagroup.com/blasting-through-plateaus/

Mo Bunnell, CEO and Founder of Bunnell Idea Group, breaks down the immense benefits that thinking profiles and psychology can have on your sales process.

In this episode, Craig Budner has a conversation with Mo Bunnell of the Bunnell Idea Group.  The Bunnell Idea Group (BIG) teaches professionals a practical methodology for being great at business development.   We focus our conversation on how the Coronavirus pandemic provides the unique opportunity to support, help guide and respond to our clients positively in a crisis. 

On this week's episode, Bart Egnal speaks with Mo Bunnell. Mo Bunnell is the Founder and CEO of Bunnell Idea Group, who has taught business development and influence skills to over 12,000 people. You can learn Mo's methods for growing your influence in his new book, THE SNOWBALL SYSTEM: How to Win More Business and Turn Clients into Raving Fans, at snowballsystem.com and get a gratis, 8-part video training on creating demand at createdemandcourse.com. Here are some moments from their conversation: - What the Snowball System is about. (3:13) - Everyone has a role in selling ideas. (4:22) ​- ​Why people are uncomfortable with the idea of selling. (4:33) - Learning leadership. (5:37) - Success depends on the ability to influence. (8:28) - The science of how people think. (9:55) - What will your audience respond too? (13:07) - 3 Ways to make sure your message fits with your audience. (16:33) - 5 Ways to persuade and be likable. (18:44) - Follow-up questions the highly correlate with likability. (24:49) - People aren't bad at closing - they're bad at creating demand. (32:21) - 4 Steps to build up to the close. (33:26) - Why proposals fail. (36:19) Listen Now to hear more! -- ​Learn more about Mo Bunnell here: ​https://mobunnell.com/book/ https://www.bunnellideagroup.com/ Listen on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Soundcloud and Google Podcasts.

This week, Mo Bunnell (CEO of Bunnell Idea Group and author of The Snowball System) joins us to explain how sales teams can increase revenue using thinking profiles!

With an uptick in competition in the legal market, it’s time to find new ways to engage with prospects and clients — and that means focusing on the big “s” word: sales. This episode of the Strategies LIVE podcast series builds on the Sept/Oct issue of Strategies magazine by diving into law firm sales. Listen as Jennifer O’Leary Cathell, director of marketing and business development at Partridge Snow & Hahn, and Mo Bunnell, founder and CEO of Bunnell Idea Group, discuss how Mo’s tried-and-true business development techniques can help you make a measurable impact in your firm. More from the magazine: https://www.legalmarketing.org/strategies Other resources: https://mobunnell.lpages.co/createdemandcourse/ https://mobunnell.com/book/

For some entrepreneurs the idea of selling a product or service can feel like selling OUT or selling your soul. But our guest today has a technique for selling with integrity and winning every time. I’m welcoming Mo Bunnell to the show. Mo leads the Bunnell Idea Group whose trademarked GrowBIG® Integrated System helps companies grow their business faster, in the right way and helps professionals get focused and efficient in business development.  He has a new book out later in September 11 called The Snowball System: How to Win More Business and Turn Clients into Raving Fans. We’ll talk about his Give to Get technique, some shorthand for calculating what your time is worth, as well as Mo’s So Money accomplishment...finally purchasing a horse farm near the heart of Atlanta, which was on his family bucket list for years.  You can learn more about Mo Bunnell by visiting www.MoBunnell.com. Follow him on Twitter @MoBunnell and pre-order his book on Amazon.  For more, also check out www.Snowballsystem.com and www.Createdemandcourse.com

Want to grow big – grow through the strength of powerful relationships and partnerships? Then you need to know Mo. What started as a simple personal development idea has grown into a global company that is a leader in the business development competency space. Mo Bunnell joins Justin to discuss the art of business development.

Learning Insights Radio provides case studies, lessons learned, and leading-edge business practices from learning leaders and TrainingPros Relationship Managers across the country. Mo Bunnell / Bunnell Idea Group Mo Bunnell runs a global business development consulting firm called Bunnell Idea Group (BIG). Their trademarked GrowBIG® Integrated System is helping companies grow their business faster, in the right way. Bunnell Idea […] The post Mo Bunnell with Bunnell Idea Group appeared first on Business RadioX ®.