What Business Development REALLY Means, According to Cannon Carr, Debby Moorman, and Brian Caffarelli

<p>Mo asks Cannon Carr: What is your personal definition of business development?</p> <ul> <li>If you have a craft that you know and love and want to grow, you are naturally going to step into business development so you might as well do it right.</li> <li>For Cannon, business development is about connecting people and ideas. He thinks of it as purposeful engagement that connects those two things.</li> <li>Connecting people with ideas often becomes deeply personal. During the pandemic, Cannon noticed a number of clients struggling with aging parents so they put a lot of effort into coming up with and connecting clients with ideas to help manage the issue.</li> <li>Taxes and the rapidly changing legislative landscape has been another area where Cannon and his team have been working with clients to stay ahead of the curve.</li> <li>The foundation is always being helpful rather than looking directly for business. It’s not about the revenue, it’s about enriching lives.</li> <li>Sometimes the solution falls outside of the firm’s specialty and that’s okay as long as the end result is helping a person out.</li> <li>You have to think of your relationships as a portfolio with investements in people all the time. Being proactive and helpful will eventually pay off.</li> <li>Not everything will connect. You have to look for additional opportunities to be helpful and keep reaching out.</li> <li>Think about business development as solving problems through connecting people and ideas together. If you are doing a good job, you will naturally get your share of the business. Proactive engagement is vital for service businesses.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Mo asks Debby Moorman: What is your personal definition of business development?</p> <ul> <li>Business development is identifying high-value relationships, investing in them, and finding ways to bring value to those relationships.</li> <li>It’s about matching what you have to offer with the needs of your market and customizing it for each person.</li> <li>Figuring what the client nee