Mo asks Henning Streubel: What is your personal definition of business development? Henning prefers the term relationship development, which he considers the foundation of every successful service provider. Henning learned early in his career not to take things personally. If someone doesn't respond to him, he assumes they must be busy and it's not about the other person not liking him. Many experts hesitate to reach out when they don't get a response right away. It's important to understand what matters to people and to offer them something they are interested in. Understand how their mind works on the professional side and send them information that would appeal to that, but don't be afraid to also reach out on the personal side. The biggest barrier to relationship success is us. Henning has a process for understanding where his relationships are in three categories: professional, personal, and friendship. He is always trying to think about how to develop a relationship to take it to the next level. Simply writing down the top five to ten relationships that are most important for your future self is a powerful tool. Knowing where you want a relationship to go helps you understand how you can be the most helpful. One of Henning's mentors told him early in his career to keep doing the right thing and success will come. Investing in the right relationships will eventually have a commercial benefit. You don't need to have all the answers if you can refer a prospect to someone else who can help. Role model the behavior for your team if you want that behavior to permeate. Make the time to show that you put the mindset into practice and celebrate the effort that people are putting into the work. Celebrating the little things where you went above and beyond what a normal professional relationship would be. That creates momentum and the right spirit to invest in relationships. Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com linkedin.com/in/henning-streubel-phd on.bcg.com/henning - Use the envelope icon on this page to get in touch with Henning directly