In this episode, I unpack the lessons from “The Short List“, by David Ackert.
You can watch the episode here:
Here is a PDF with my full notes if you want to reference anything that I shared in the video.
Full Transcript:
So I heard about the shortlist from a recent meetup we had, our meetup here in Atlanta. We had a gentleman come speak and he did a fantastic job about building your business and finding new business. He talked about “The Short List” quite a lot, the shortlist by David Ackert. And that’s what we’ll talk about here today. The book really talks about how maintaining lots of relationships is a good thing. You have your 130 people that Dunbar’s numbers says we all have our 130 friends. It’s good to keep in touch with them and your few thousand probably on social media. But really you should have a shortlist as well, a shortlist of nine to 35 people, kind of a weird number. He doesn’t really get too specific.
why that is. We will break down what’s in the short list, but you have the short list that you really focus on much more heavily than the other groups. And we’ll talk about why and how you do some of that. And really your short list should be based on your goals. You should have smart goals. You probably are familiar with the idea of smart goals, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. There’s different definitions of that, but goals that are specific, not just vague goals. You know, you don’t make goals of, want to lose weight. You make goals of, want to lose 20 pounds by December 30th or whatever, know, things like that. So for your short list, you have goals as well. want your goals of how you
want
build your short list to the goals for your business. I want to grow the business by this much, by this percent, in this kind of way. You build those goals then build the short list of people you want to stay in touch with to do that. And so really this is quality over quantity. Again, the quantity is okay and he gives some thoughts on how you should stay in touch with as many people as you can with social media and stuff. That’s not a bad thing. But really focus on this short list. So we’ll kind of get into what that talks about.
First he talks about the intrinsic motivators we have for building our shortlist like what matters to us and it’s interesting He has four intrinsic motivators that are four of the five love languages in the famous book the five love languages So he talks about we’re driven by monetary compensation and bonuses, know You might call this physical gifts in the love languages Positive feedback from clients and partners acknowledge your good work. So words of affirmation a support system that anticipates needs adds efficiency and distributes workloads so acts of service having a good support system around you and then attention from senior partners
and mentorship and inclusion important projects and stuff so quality time so again a lot of those five love languages kind of apply to work in a lot of ways touch not as much that would be weird one in here but again those apply lot and how that matters to you will kind of sort of reach into how you build your short list
So your shortlist candidates really fall into three buckets. Everyone on your shortlist should be in one of three buckets. They should be existing clients. want your best, most enthusiastic clients in there. Prospective clients, those you want to maybe reach eventually. And then referral sources, those connectors, those people that are always great to keep around because they may introduce you to other folks along the way.
So digging into those a little bit, with clients he kind of breaks it into three categories. You have your high value clients, medium value and low value. And the high value clients are really the ones to focus on. The ones that generate a sizable amount of work for your firm or have the potential to, they appreciate your work and they’d be likely to recommend you to a friend or colleague that has an appropriate need. And the medium value and low are just a little bit lesser there. High value clients are who we think about there. Prospects would be, I’ll read what he said here. says, prospects are in a position to engage your services or work at companies that can hire you but haven’t yet. You’d like to work with them but you still
need to persuade them to do so. They represent the opportunity to expand the scope of your existing business. So who are those prospects out there? You could add them to your short list, some of them. And then connectors. And again, from the book I’ll read here, he says 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. And so this is a group I’ve done pretty well with over the years and who a lot of us at Green Mellon at least focus on is those connectors. You who are the connectors that can bring us more business? It’s a great thing to do, but how do we maybe focus on that?
more specifically and this will kind of this book will unpack a bit more how to do that.
So what’s interesting, he talks about the characteristics of people on your short list. He wants you to set an influencer score for each person from a scale of one to five. But it’s interesting, it’s not just a generic one to five. We may give all different numbers to different people because you make yourself a three and judge people relative to you based on you being a three. And so you only wanna work with and have people on your short list that are threes or higher, people that you actually look up to that you think would be helpful to you. From the book he says, quote, your short list should include only the people to whom you assign an influence score of three or higher.
you surround yourself with people whose influence scores are equal or two or higher than yours, the more exposed you will be to the kinds of deals, projects, and opportunities that drive your upward progress. And so yeah, you want to find people that are better than you. I mean, in a lot of ways, because that’s who you want to connect with. And they always say you’re the average of the five people you surround yourself with. So surround yourself with great people and it’ll be a great thing. And your score may change over time, you know, and therefore other people’s scores may change. And we’ll talk about that a bit too, where your shortlist is never static. It’s not here’s the list set forever. It should always be changing. We take some people off.
Add people on do things like that But as you’re thinking about building the short list He gives four characteristics of the kind of relationships you want on the short list the people should have chemistry character Capability and collaboration so chemistry says they don’t have to be your best friend But it should be someone you get along with have a good rapport Character they make sure they fit your standards of character. Whatever that might be We all have different standards of character, but the ones on your short list should match up with yours Capability this was interesting shared the brown M &M story from Van Halen if you’re not familiar with that story, it’s
fascinating. I’ll summarize it quickly here but the band Van Halen back in the 80s deep in the rider if you had a contract then was you pages and pages and pages and pages long deep in there they had a stipulation that in their dressing room would be a bowl of &Ms with all the brown &Ms removed and that would be in their dressing room they’d look for that when they got there and if it wasn’t there that was a big problem. People thought my gosh they’re so vain who does silly things like this but it was actually brilliant because Van Halen at the time had the biggest show I believe the biggest concert traveling concert ever I mean truckloads and truckloads and truckloads of stuff with lights and
the power needs and the amount of weight that we put on stages. was immense crazy stuff. And they want to make sure these venues were totally prepared for this. They read through that rider and got, you know, checked every box very carefully. So if there were no bowls of &Ms missing the Brown &Ms, that means they probably just kind of skimmed through it. Yeah, we’ve done concerts. We got this thing. And Van Halen was like, no, no, no, we need to go through this line by line. Make sure you know your stuff because clearly you were kind of glazing over it. So with your relationships back to this book here, David Ackert, you want people to have the capability to work with you and the kind of work you like to do and then collaboration, you know,
he says here, ideally you’ll focus on people who understand the importance of reciprocity and demonstrating willingness to contribute value to you. And of course you want to contribute value back to them. So it goes both ways, but you don’t want people that are all just givers, but you don’t want to be just a taker yourself either. So it’s having a good collaboration both ways, the kinds of people you want on your short list.
He also talks a little bit about reconnecting with dormant ties for a burst of value, which can be helpful. I won’t get into that too much. We talked about, you know, old college roommates and stuff that have now grown up in big companies, you know, always reconnect with those dormant ties, reach out to folks that kind of got a little off track in the book. It was kind of an interesting piece. He did that a few times. The focus of the book was fantastic, but he kind of drifted into a few adjacent areas that were kind of weird. And again, reconnecting with dormant ties, great thing to do, but not really part of the shortlist necessarily.
So attracting people to your short list, he talks about making sure you know your niche. So find your niche, what are your interests and strengths and what do the market look for, what do the clients demand, and then owning your niche with your credibility, competition, network, and messaging. again, it won’t get in niche stuff too much, it doesn’t really apply to the short list specifically, but knowing what you stand for is important.
A big piece of this is the memorable content. He talks about demonstrating thought leadership in a lot of different ways. This book’s a few years old, but a lot of this still applies. He talks about writing good LinkedIn posts and blogs and podcasts, videos, in-person presentations, webinars, articles, white papers, all that kind of stuff just to make sure that people are seeing your stuff out there, whether they’re on your short list or not. And a lot of this does apply to the short list. Those people should be connected to you on LinkedIn, should see that thought leadership out there, but everyone else will too. It’s a win-win. A lot of the stuff goes both ways there.
He also talks about having memorable conversations. I’m gonna read a longer quote here. thought that was really interesting. Good way to frame conversations. So he says, quote, every day on numerous occasions, you are asked some version of the question, how are you? How are things going? How’s business? What are you up to these days? A generic response such as nothing much or crazy busy or same old, old squanders the opportunity to bolster your reputation within your network. Instead, answer with a update about a current project or an interesting client engagement. It’s a much more authentic response to say, thanks for asking. I’m working on an interesting new project for a client
energy sector and it’s going really well. Even if the other person doesn’t inquire about the details, you’ve promoted your expertise, your work ethic, your enthusiasm for what you do, and your willingness to engage in real conversation. So take those little how’s business, that’s great, crazy busy, like that’s fine, but if you can say hey it’s super busy because I this great client that does this thing and we’ve helped them do that and it’s been fantastic, that will help them understand what you do and that show that you love what you do. It’s a great thing to have that.
He also talks about when you’re trying to have those memorable conversations, have a good elevator pitch. We won’t get too much into that here. There’s lots of places to help hone your elevator pitch, but just make sure in your elevator pitch you can say what you do, who you help, how you help, and what you do in your free time. It’s nice to add a little piece of your hobbies on the side there just to help get conversation going. As the book goes on, he talks about growing and nurturing your short list.
So it’s interesting, he some cool cool pieces on here like for conference strategies. He says, you know, if you go to a conference, that’s great. Conferences are fantastic, but don’t just go to the conference. You know, you should really have three pieces, the pregame, the onsite strategy, and the postgame. So pregame, you know, figure out your goals for the event, have smart goals for the event. I want to meet at least five people and make this kind of connection. Target attendees, figure out who’s going to be there, who you want to meet. While you’re there, you know, actually meet people, leverage the sessions, you know, network the receptions, go to other places, and then postgame follow up. You know, I think that postgame
where a lot of people fall down. They meet some folks, they collect cards, and they kind of just let it slide. But make sure you actually follow up. Send notes to people, make sure you connect with them, send messages, like really follow up with the people you met and help build your network that way.
Social events count as well. He talks similar kind of thing, who’s going to be there and how you want to attack that. A few things he talks about there is in joining groups of three or more. If there’s two people talking, they might be deep in conversation, but if it’s three or more, you can probably slide in okay. Seek out lines. If there’s a line for food or drinks, that’s a great place just to talk to folks in line with you and seek out wallflowers and find that poor person kind of standing nervously alone. And like you’re the hero when you come talk to them and help them out. Podcast guests, the other one he gets into, you know, have a good, if you have a podcast that you bring guests on,
you can highlight that, bring your shortlist on and spotlight people there and it can do lot of good things for you.
Then he talks about maintaining existing relationships. I guess some good tips in here. One thing I really like is he says reminding people that they matter and how you remind people they matter. A couple things he says, he says one avoid complimenting their physical appearance. You know, it’s not always a bad thing to do, but it’s not great. Instead he says use the act method and focus your compliments on those. So act, accomplishments, competencies and traits. You know, talk about things they’ve done like don’t say, hey, you’re looking great. You know, again, people like hearing that, but he said, hey, you did a fantastic job. I saw your article you posted. I saw you won the award. Like if you have something specific that’s
to them that they’ve done that you’ve appreciated in their behavior, in their accomplishments, competencies, or traits, that’s even better.
I’m trying to target new companies. He gets into that a little bit, just kind of figuring out the client profile, where they are, what they do, the service offerings, he kind of goes through the service needs, what offerings do they currently get, do you look for, level of expertise they need, the frequency, how often they might need you, the circumstances where they might need you, that’s an interesting one. He talks about if you’re a certain kind of lawyer, a letter from the IRS is the trigger people need to reach out to you, so make sure you’re known for that. I actually met someone not long ago, said, if you get a letter from the IRS, I’m the guy that can help with that. I’m like, good to know, now I know the guy.
gets a letter they can’t handle, he focuses just on that. And then decision maker, who is the decision maker of these companies? Kind of figure that out as you’re going for it.
The biggest thing I think I got out of this, had a long chapter. Chapter 12 was success, engagement, strategy. He talked about great ways to engage this list. And this could be the list, could be your bigger list, but mostly it’s that short list. And it’s something I struggle with from time to time. I’m like, I know it’s time to reach out to Brian again, but I’m not sure what to say. I don’t really have anything. I try to find an article that might be helpful. I don’t want to just reach out and just say, hi, I want to have something of value to bring. And he gives lots of ideas in here. He talks about when you’re engaging with someone new, there’s kind of seven stages of engaging with someone. Acknowledge, follow, respond, meet.
pitch, engage, and expand. so those are acknowledged, just share relevant content so that people might acknowledge it and see that you exist. Follow, when they start to follow you, that’s a good sign. Respond, now that they’ve responded to your content, that’s even better. That kind of gives you a chance for a one-on-one conversation so you meet next and come with questions so you can understand what’s going on with them. And then when appropriate, you can pitch them, hopefully engage, work with them, and then expand into bigger work over time. It’s kind of the rough idea there as it goes through. And then he gets into 40-
actions that advance context through those seven stages. It’s kind of in order. I’m going to go through all 40 quickly here just because it’s some neat ideas you may pick up some tips. Again, if you’re like it’s time to reach out to someone I’m not sure what to do, here are some ideas. So his first one is research the background and current situation. Just make sure you’re aware of what’s going on that may drive some ideas there. Connect on social media if you’re not connected already. Look up their latest posts on LinkedIn and comment on them. That’s an easy one. You should always be commenting on people’s content if you want to be seen by them. It’s an easy thing to do and can go a long way. People love getting comments and if you’re the one
that does it, it’s a great way to stay top of mind. Consume their thought leadership, their writings, their podcast interviews, and send a complimentary note with your reaction. Number five is point out commonalities, hobbies and interests, things you have in common. Number six is send them insights from industry thought leaders, articles or studies or books or whatever. Next was send personalized invitations to your webinars and seminars. If you’re hosting webinars, send them personalized invites. Don’t just blast it to your list. You could sort of do that, I guess, but it’s even better to reach out specifically to folks and invite them to it. Number eight, post professional content,
respond to comments. So same kind of thing you post on LinkedIn when people comment. Thank them for it by responding back to the comment with insightful thoughts back.
He also says, so that was share professional content. He also says share appropriate personal interests on LinkedIn, respond to comments. That can work from time to time if done carefully. Number 10, create and send helpful business resources. You can send them checklists or industry studies, things like that. Interview them as contributors to your written thoughts or your blogs, your articles. can interview them and showcase them there. Invite them to local, firm-hosted social events. Number 13, invite them to be a panelist or co-presenter to webinar or live program. Number 14, them a note or card on special occasions like birthdays and holidays.
And this is an interesting one if done right because social media is kind of ruined birthdays a little bit where everyone just hits like, yes, tell him happy birthday and they get a thousand just generic happy birthdays. But if you actually make a phone call or a text or send a card or a gift, you can really stand out as someone that cares a bit more and social media helps you know when to do that. So it’s kind of a win-win there. Next, ask for their perspective on something. Number 16, related, offer a second opinion. 17, provide an exploratory strategy session. And again, we’re getting deeper into the relationship here.
- Pay them genuine compliment. Again, focusing on achievements, competencies, and traits. Recommend a good restaurant, hotel, or activity in their area. Introduce them to a relevant connector. As you get to know more connectors, that can be very valuable to both parties if they get introduced. You sort of become a connector yourself. 21. Monitor job posting and facilitate new hires. So if they’re posting open jobs, you can be one to help point good candidates in their direction. 22. Invite them to join you at an industry conference or seminar. 23. Whenever local, arrange FaceTime over a drink or meal.
invite them to a unique experience, a sporting event or concert or something. Again, getting deeper in the relationship here.
25 send a follow-up note thanking them for time advice or anything they did that was helpful for you if they do anything helpful You know send them a thank you note and that can be well well received there 26 update them on your latest capabilities introduce them to a new team members So if you have new people on your team that can be great way just to excuse to reach out to introduce them these new team members Aspects are long-term business goals and challenges 28 you can check in informally to see how they’re doing
29 and 30 are related and were better I think when this book was written still valuable now but not as much but 29 is writing a LinkedIn recommendation for them and 30 is request a LinkedIn recommendation from them still good to do used to be awesome to do now it’s still good not a bad thing to do 31 request an introduction to a high-value prospect or connector 32 highlight them in your newsletter or on social media connect a case study or joint press release on your work together 34 give a gift or a get a get being a gesture of extraordinary thoughtfulness we’ll talk about that a bit more but it’s
More than just a quick gift to say I know they love this book Let me get an autographed copy and send it or do something very thoughtful for them there a gesture of extraordinary thoughtfulness it gets 35 conduct a client feedback interview will hit that in a moment 36 conduct a needs assessment 37 proposed propose a bespoke educational webinar seminar just for their teams I’ll go do training just for them in their team 38 related propose a client visit at their offices 39 offer complimentary training or mentoring for junior members of the team so you could offer just to help train up
some of their team, know, on what you’re doing for them. And then 40, the last one on this list here is review the charities and causes in their social media and on their website and contribute to the ones that align with your values. So if they support a cause that you also like to support, make it clear and support that, you know, sort of on their behalf, give to them. And so he breaks down how, you know, the first 12 were for this group and kind of how it works through. But I thought those were 40 fantastic things, fantastic little ideas. Well, some were fantastic, some weren’t, but they were, you know, some good ones in there for sure.
The next chapter he gets into adding value in every interaction. I thought this was a good one. He talks about personalizing interactions and then using a closing question to drive momentum. So this is a quote from the book here. says, one mistake I often see people make is to end their questions with a closing statement rather than closing questions. Closing statements don’t necessarily warrant a response. When you close your email message with a thoughtfully crafted question, you encourage more engagement. You also position yourself as a more proactive, responsive communicator.
He also says, about being responsive, he has two techniques for better small talk. So when talking with folks, making things more responsive, talk about the lately technique and the enjoy most question. So the lately technique is when they say that business is good or busy, you can say, okay, what’s been keeping you so busy? People often will say, you say, how’s business? so busy. If you come back with cool, what’s been keeping you so busy? They can talk more about their work and what’s going and get to know them better. And then the enjoy most question is, what part of your job do you enjoy most? So if they say, I’m so busy with my job, say, cool, what do you enjoy most about?
what you do and let them again talk about what they enjoy get to know them better and understand where their needs might be.
Next he talks about elevating that short list and sustaining momentum. So how to kind of activate connectors. He says here six steps to convert connectors into catalysts. So it’s one thing to know a connector and meet them, but you actually want them to do some connecting on your behalf and make that reciprocal there. So he gives six steps to convert connectors into catalysts. One is present your connector with a connection request. So he says, don’t end a conversation with keep me in mind if anything comes up, but give a smart referral. Again, the acronym, the specific and measurable, give an actual referral what you’re looking for.
Next after requesting an introduction provide an assist and so instead of saying hey, can you introduce me to that guy? I say hey Can you introduce me to that guy because I know this tax season is changing out There’s something specific coming up I could help with and here’s what may benefit them if we actually talk Number three when a connector sends you a prospect keep them in the loop So hey, I have talked to Steve a couple times haven’t closed the deal, but he’s been great to talk to you Thank you so much for that related when they send you a prospect. Thank them and make sure you specifically thank them for sending them over Number five was interesting to me. I’m bad about this and I’m rethinking how I
do things a bit, but he says if you can’t help the prospects, send them back to the connector.
Don’t refer out elsewhere. Go back to the connector first. Let them. It’s their relationship. So I’ve seen that a few times where someone will reach out to us and say, Hey Mickey, here’s this person. need help with their website and I’ll talk to him and we’re just not a good fit. I will then go out try to find someone else. They, Hey, I’ll let me connect you to someone else. Really. I think the better thing to do is send them back to the connector. same say, Hey, we’re not a great fit. So sorry, but I bet, you know, Joe has more great leads. He could send you more, more ideas to send you. Let them continue to be the hero to help them out rather than kind of taking it on your own, which it’s a tricky one. Cause I always feel like I’m being helpful when I’m the one to help connect them elsewhere.
Again, I don’t want to steal the connection from the connector, so send them back there. And then step six, of course, is reciprocate whenever you can. You want connectors to help you and be a catalyst for you, but be a catalyst for them as well. Try to make those connections on their behalf. Another idea in here was to create an advisory roundtable. Create a mastermind forum yourself.
Joining one can be good. He talks about joining those groups, which is a great thing for sure, but if there’s not an appropriate one, or even if there is, create your own. Create your own mastermind group. Meet with folks monthly, and it can be a great way just to, again, build relationships and build connections and build knowledge and all the great things that come with those. He gets next into how to prospects into clients.
Talks getting into pitch meetings, how you can kind of work through pitch meetings getting more specific kind of those last few steps there Understanding their problem proposing your solution addressing their objections the objections you got into quite a bit I always like that understanding how to address objections specifically he talks really about three main objections ambiguity fees and firm and so Ambiguity if they’re not ready to discuss they’re kind of generally hesitant What does that mean and how can you address that fees? Of course? He says sometimes it’s in the prospects nature to push for a discount no matter what fee you quote, but more likely your
prospect has not anticipated or budgeted for your proposed scope. So how do you address that? And then the firm, may say, hey, we’re not quite sure you’re the right group for us yet. We’re not sure, maybe, but we’re going to keep exploring other options. So how you address that, he gets into there as well. Then he talks about different ways to close the deal. And I thought this was interesting. He talks about seven different ways to try to close in a conversation. So is the helpful close? can kind of say things like, given our discussion today, how can I be of assistance to you? The collaborative close, you can say, hey, what steps should we take to start working together?
the hypothetical close you know you can say if you decide to work with us here’s what you can expect and kind of walk through and I think that one’s fantastic because people want to see you know how you do that I believe was in the four conversations from Blair Enzey talked about a surgeon you know when you meet with a surgeon and he explains what he’s going to do in surgery you may not understand everything in there for sure but you love that he has a plan much better than a surgeon say I’m gonna get in there and poke around like if he says here’s the steps I’m gonna take and so same kind of thing if you decide to work with us here’s what you can expect and it’s gonna go this and this and this and this that goes a long way to show that you know what you’re
talking about and you have a plan, you’ve done this before, can be great. The next one he talks about is the silent close. Stop talking, give them time to think through your offering. Silence can be golden, it’s so hard to do but it can be valuable. The ask close, you just kind of say I’m looking forward to working with you, should we get started? Just kind of say it. And then the advice close, which this is really only for RFPs where in the conversation you can’t close it because they need to go back to the RFP deal and sort with that. But your best move might just be to remind them why you’re the right choice. Kind of reiterate why you’re probably the right choice as they go back to do it.
And of course, always follow up. Talks about different ways you should follow up, but always follow up with folks after that.
Then he gets the negotiations, ways to handle negotiations, knowing your bottom line before you start talking prices, know as low as you possibly could go, understand their expectations, explore counters. We’ve done this a few times where someone said, especially with nonprofits, we’ll say, hey, we can’t quite afford what you have. We can come close. We can also give you a free sponsorship and event. Like, all right, cool. So now we’re a sponsor of this cool event and we’re working with this great nonprofit and got most of the budget we needed and it can kind of work out. Don’t settle for a promise. This was interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever done this, but he said,
simply quote, you won, that’s gonna be a recipe for disaster for everyone. If you give them a deal like hey you owe me one, that’s too vague, that’s problematic. You gotta be real careful and he says do not ever do that. You know if you want to give a specific concession, do it. You know again if you want to become a free sponsored event to take off five grand from the side or whatever, cool but just saying blindly I owe you one is not good. And then of course be willing to walk away gracefully. Sometimes it just doesn’t work and it’s best not to burn any bridges there.
Getting toward the end here, talks about how to expand high value clients. Satisfaction surveys can be great, like the Net Promoter Score surveys can be good just to see what’s going on. Client service interviews, actually interview some of your clients while they’re still clients just to say, hey, what concerns do you have? How do you perceive our pricing compared to others? What competitors have you ever looked at and how does that compare to us? Just to understand where they are. Look at needs assessments with them. And there’s three good times he says to do needs assessments. One are, well the three are onboarding, informal, and formal. So onboarding would be, hey, as you’re setting things up, are your top three?
What are your top three strategic priorities for this year? Informal, of tie them into your normal quarterly meetings, of, you know, make sure you talk about their needs there. Or formal, set up a formal meeting to do a needs assessment. Hey, it’s been a couple years, we’ve been working together, let’s sit down and really make sure we’re all on the same page here. Always good to stay on top of what they need.
I talked about client gifting. I thought this was fantastic too, just some of the great ways to send gifts. And I’ll read this long quote from him as well, because I thought it was super helpful. He says, quote, most firms send the same generic gifts to everyone on their client list. The mass produced basket of holiday goodies, even to people on a diet, or the same bottle of wine, even for those who prefer a good IPA. The company card reads, season greetings, often without a personalized message. It’s a one size fits all gift. Other firms send swag with their logo printed on it. That’s not gift, that’s a promotional item. When mass gifting may be one of the only ways to scale,
such an effort to across your low and medium value client base, should put special effort in the gifts you send your shortlist, especially the high value clients you want to expand. And if circumstances prevent you from giving a gift, consider giving a get. Again, that gesture of extraordinary thoughtfulness. A get can be anything from a handwritten note expressing gratitude, recommendation, one of your favorite restaurants, a book recommendation, or any thoughtful action you might take with a friend. You something just that extraordinary thoughtfulness is challenging to do, but that’s why it’s so valuable because the challenging makes it valuable. And so that can be a great way to do, again,
If you want to send the season’s greetings and the cake at Christmas to most of your clients, that’s great, but that short list, you should pull them apart and really do something special for them if you’re able to.
And then he kind of wraps up with keeping things going. Because it’s one thing to make this short list and have this and figure it out and then just kind of, it sort of gets buried in there, which is, mean, we’ve done this with all kinds of initiatives. So how do you keep it top of mind? And so here’s kind of the five lists, the five steps he has for perfecting that short list. again, start with two or three smart goals, have the goals for why you want the list and what you want to do, compile that short list of nine to 35 people, curate the list regularly. Again, you’re a level three in it. So as you connect with better people, you may need to trim some off and find some new folks and do that.
his fourth step in here is connect the people on your shortlist monthly using that 40 actions list, his 40 actions matrix. He says, anticipate at least 14 interactions before they engage with you. So again, people you don’t know as well, could take a while to engage, and that’s why there’s so many ideas there. And then manage your shortlist with technology you will use consistently. There’s different ways you can do that technologically. I believe they actually have their own tool they sell, which looks okay, I’ve never used it. We do it mostly through Notion, I do some through Obsidian. I mean, you do it through a spreadsheet. There’s so many ways you can do it.
and keep track of who they are, when you’ve last reached out, maybe that list of the 40 actions you can take or the 23 from there that you think are super helpful. Just keep that top of mind. Just have that technology in there to remind you. And the advantage to having a tool like we do with Notion or he does with his tools, it’ll actually proactively remind you, hey, it’s time to reach out again. Because he says, reach out to these people monthly. And it’s very easy to think, man, I just reached out to him. like, oh gosh, that was 90 days ago. Holy cow. Stay top of mind with them.
And then lastly, he talks about clearing the way the three barriers to business development. So the things that can get in your way and what to do about that. So the first barrier is time, know, use delegation and you just try to be consistent and understand the value of this. Barrier two is lack of accountability, just no one on you to do it. So you need to be accountable either to your boss or to someone else, some way to make sure you stay accountable. And then he talks about the firm culture and different types of companies and sort of how they get better. You have some firms that are just hero firms that have a few rainmakers is doing all of this.
Can work but it’s not ideal reactive firm. They don’t have a good plan, but they’re open to making adjustments You have forward leading firms that have solid plans, but don’t always follow through consistently I think a lot of firms fall there where they really plan all this out and just don’t quite follow through Committed firms that are where most good firms are doing a good job with all this stuff and the collaborator firms that really are doing this top to bottom the organization They all have good lists. They follow through this do it top to bottom So yeah, there’s the short list for you having the nine to thirty five people that are a three or higher that you keep up with consistently
build
that list. I’ve been working on my list. Again, I sort of have had lists before. My lists have generally been the few hundred people I want to keep up with, which is again, still helpful to do. I still want to keep up with them, but I’m going to keep up with them softly. But I want to have this other group I focus on consistently and more deeply. And how do I do that? This book is a fantastic way to do it. So yeah, the short list from David Ackert, certainly encourage you to give it a look.
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