Mickey Mellen

“Your Short List should include only the people to whom you assign an influence score of three or higher. That’s because the more you surround yourself with people whose influence scores are equal to or higher than yours, the more exposed you will be to the kinds of deals, projects, and opportunities that drive your upward progress.”
― David Ackert, The Short List: How to Drive Business Development by Focusing on the People Who Matter Most

“Unfortunately, most business development occurs in our imagination. We have a meeting with a prospect. We feel the meeting went well. We imagine they are going to engage. But they often don’t. We have a great conversation with a client. The client implies they will call us when they are ready to engage additional work. We imagine they are just waiting for the right time, only to learn a year later that they hired a competitor.”
― David Ackert, The Short List: How to Drive Business Development by Focusing on the People Who Matter Most

“Connectors bring you new ideas, referrals, resources, clients, or other business opportunities. They may be partners at your firm or external referral sources providing adjacent services to your industry.”
― David Ackert, The Short List: How to Drive Business Development by Focusing on the People Who Matter Most

“Another way to activate connectors is through an advisory roundtable. This mastermind forum allows you and your connectors to deepen your relationships, exchange valuable information, and boost referral activity.”
― David Ackert, The Short List: How to Drive Business Development by Focusing on the People Who Matter Most