Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
Profitable Connections, the podcast where we
turn handshakes into opportunities and conversations
into conversions. Today's guest is someone who
knows how to turn strategy into results, and
not just on paper. He's the best -selling author
of Peak Your Profits and Bullseye, Hitting Your
Targets at Home and at Work. His insights have
helped entrepreneurs, leaders, and professionals
across the country and aim with precision and
connect with intention. If you've ever wondered
how to build a network that actually drives profits
without wasting time and energy and sanity, this
episode is your bullseye. We're diving deep.
We're diving into the power of purposeful connection,
which it means to align relationships with results
and how you can level up your networking game
and starting today. Jeff, I hope I didn't butcher
that too much, but I'd like to welcome Jeff Blackman
to my podcast. Jeff, it's so great to have you.
Can you give us a little bit about your background?
Thanks, Michael. Really appreciate being with
you and your many listeners and viewers. I will
give you the unequivocal abridged version. So
I'm actually trained as a lawyer. I have been
a lawyer since 1982. The good news is I have
never practiced law. I wanted to be a litigator,
but you quickly determine and understand that
in law school litigators, they don't litigate.
They want to avoid going to court because it's
so time consuming, exhaustive, and it costs clients
a lot of money. I go, wait a minute. The thing
that I want to do. i'm not going to do much of
so i really gravitated my first loves which were
related to communications, and broadcasting.
We also got a broadcasting background. So here
in Chicago, and I'm talking to you from a northern
suburb of Chicago right now, Glenview, it's what
we call the North Shore. So from downtown Chicago,
we are 23 miles to the north, and then a wee
bit to the west. So from 82 through 89, I, along
with two other partners, and then by myself,
had a radio talk show. So just the way you and
I are doing what we are doing today, years ago,
it wasn't called a podcast but this is really
radio or for that matter television and guests
could have been literally Bruce Jenner Bruce
not Caitlyn I knew Bruce back in the 80s a terrific
guest Ted Koppel the broadcaster Oprah Winfrey
in addition Walter Cronkite and we interviewed
entertainers entrepreneurs so if somebody was
interesting I would talk to them. Jim Lovell,
the Apollo 13 astronaut. So I had the great pleasure
to sit down with many folks like that, but it
was always a compliment, my broadcasting, radio
and TV, to what I decided to do, and that was
speak. 1982, I really didn't know what that meant,
but over time, clients began to define me as
being their business growth specialist, because
I helped them quickly. and ethically and dramatically
grow their businesses so my clients have really
evolved over the years but primarily now it's
the c -suite so i'm dealing with the president
the owner the chairman, the chairwoman, whoever
else might be in that C -suite, VP of sales and
marketing, chief revenue officer. So I work with
them, and I work with their team, and we do it
in a variety of ways. It could be speaking, training,
consulting, ongoing learning system, and then
we've got lots of business growth tools, but
fortunate to have had six best -selling books,
and then we've got audios, videos, etc., but
all designed for one purpose, and that's to help
people really meet and their goals and again
quickly ethically and dramatically and the good
news is it works because everything we do michael
is with an unequivocal no risk assurance folks
can go to our website and read about it i explained
in the video if you think we're not going to
have to generate dollars equal to or far greater
than whatever dollars you've given us we'll give
you all your money back And it's a bet, thankfully,
that we've never lost because this stuff works.
Not my opinion, but thankfully, the experiences
of lots and lots of clients who have generated
really remarkable results, literally generating
hundreds of millions of dollars in new business.
Sounds wonderful. It really does. I've been to
your website. I've seen that the video. And I
have nothing but to assume that everything you're
telling us is correct. And we're going to get
into that a little bit later on. But let's delve
into the questions that I've come up with. Your
book, Peak Your Profits, dives deep into strategic
growth. How does networking play in that profitability
formula, especially for solopreneurs and small
business owners? Well, what's interesting about
networking or one's network, and you have heard,
like I have heard really now for decades, is
that one's network is really all about their
net worth. And it's true of any business. It's
not just a solopreneur. It's not just a small
business. Any individual, even if they're working
for a large corporation, even Fortune 500, Who
they know is absolutely crucial, but then there's
a subtlety. When you and I first chatted several
weeks ago, one of the things that we discussed
is that I've returned, thankfully, to my alma
mater. That's the University of Illinois, and
that's in Champaign -Urbana, approximately 150
miles south of Chicago. And our youngest daughter,
Amanda, graduated from Illinois. My wife is also
a graduate from Illinois, but from the medical
center. She had a phenomenal career as an occupational
therapist. But I always loved going back to campus
until Amanda graduated in 2017. And then I didn't
have a connection, but it turned out I did. I
became very friendly with Amanda's professor,
Tom Costello, who unfortunately has now passed
away. But TC was a terrific guy. I went back
for a couple of years and spoke to his College
of Communication students, which I was a College
of Communication student back in the 70s. And
then I went back after that, once Tom had passed
away, and I spoke to the kids at Geese College,
which is the business college at the University
of Illinois. And the kids would often say to
me, hey, isn't it important what you know? And
I'd say, yes and they go isn't it important who
you know and i would say yes but those two things
are not the most important they go what what
do you mean i go what's really important is who
knows you and that's what really effective networking
is all about is who knows you yet at the same
time what do you know about an individual so
you can connect individuals And I do it all the
time. One of my great joys, as my clients know,
my juice, is when I can connect people. They
could have totally disparate interests, but then
something happens where they want to be able
to chat. My brother -in -law, Alan, who's married
to my younger sister, Tammy, who I love dearly,
he is the president of a company called Liebermuth.
It's a family. business that's been passed on
through the generations they're based really
in the south bend indiana area so alan shot me
a text and then we spoke he said hey jb you mentioned
something about somebody who you recently met
in a speaking engagement he says i'd love to
talk to that guy and i said that's easy i'll
shoot him an email which i did and so help me
within three minutes michael brendan responded
and said i'd be more than happy to chat with
him And they're scheduled to talk today. So within
three minutes, he responded. And now they're
planning to chat today. So I love being able
to connect people. Doesn't have to involve me.
Go play in the sandbox. You figure out how you
can make things happen. And I do it. all the
time. A client in Wisconsin, they happen to be
lawyers. One of their attorneys, Nathan, has
a wonderful line. He said, I want to be the go
-to person for my clients, not just for things
that are related to the law, but any aspect of
their business. If I can either help them, a
loved one, a friend, a family member, I want
them to see me. as their go -to. And I tell the
same thing to clients. It doesn't have to involve
me. Use me as a resource. My business began with
my first client when I decided not to practice
law in the early 1980s was based upon an advertising
fellow student that I had at the University of
Illinois. So Robbins Ad Agency, they became a
client of mine. And then through that contact,
the American Medical Association became another
client of mine. So if I take a look at my career,
whatever success that I've had, it's really been
based upon people who became aware of me through
others, as well as me having the ability to introduce
others that would benefit them. Didn't have to
have anything to do with me, because that's just
a quid pro quo. And that's not really being in
a servant. so to speak, by giving of your heart
and your mind. What can I do to help you? And
really being serious about it. Because you and
I both know a lot of people will use those words.
They really don't mean it. They want to get something
in return. Those ain't my kind of folks. Those
ain't your kind of folks. You're absolutely right.
And listen, having a servant's heart is, it's
so precious to me. to be able to give and not
to receive. I too am what's called, my clients
and everybody else calls me a super connector
because I, every week I say, all right, there's
two people that I have to put together. And it's
just that, that I put X in front of Y and I say,
look, go ahead, do what you have to do. I back
away and I forget about it. They both. acknowledge
it and they talk to one another they always include
me on an email chain which they don't have to
do but if I do that every week I feel good because
that's really my purpose so when I go to do my
workshops in the companies and everything else
it's I look to do that and it's much more fulfilling
for me than actually going there and doing the
breakout session, the workshops and everything
else. That's how we met. We met through Larry
Kaufman. Larry's been a guest on your show. Larry's
become a dear friend over the past couple of
years. And I met Larry through somebody else
in business. And Larry and I didn't know each
other. And then ironically, we discovered pretty
quickly that years ago, he actually worked for
my dad's accounting firm. So he was part of Blackman.
Black and Calic has now been gobbled up by Plant
Moran, but Larry and I didn't have that connection.
He and I just had lunch together recently, and
we're always looking for ways that, what can
I do to be able to help you? And I asked Larry,
what's going on with the kids? And I immediately
thought of, wait a minute, here are some folks
that I can introduce to your children that might
help them in terms of future employment opportunities.
And then Larry said, I've got a guy who I think
you ought to talk to. And I'm actually talking
to that individual later today. So I've introduced
Larry to opportunity. He's introduced me to Larry
to opportunity. Larry's introduced me to opportunity.
And that's how you and I met. We met through
Larry. And he's got a terrific book, NCG, which
is Network Connect. And people think grow. And
I go, no, it's give. And I often tell people,
Michael, I go, hey, don't focus on capitalism.
Focus on altruism. And don't focus on being selfish.
Focus on being selfless and not what can you
get, but what can you give? And that will really
be far more successful for you in the short as
well as the long term. You and I know folks go,
I don't buy it. OK, then again, they're not our
kind of folks. Absolutely not. And really, I
wish I had you in my jacket pocket when I'm out
talking. I'm not that small. You say the same
things that I align with, that I believe in with
my heart, and I go out and I do on a daily basis.
So what you're saying I align with so well and
so perfectly. But let me get to the next question.
In Bullseye, you talk about hitting your targets
at home and work. How can people use networking
to align their personal and professional goals
more intentionally? That's really an interesting
question because the last two bestsellers, Bullseye
was bestseller number six, and it's really more
of an inspirational, motivational book instead
of a real how -to book. But still, there's an
important business lesson that comes out of it.
The bestseller before that, the fifth edition
of Peak Your Profits, is a real how -to in terms
of business growth skills related to sales, marketing,
negotiations, customer service. But what really
both of them do deal with is to be able to hit
a target, to be able to focus on a... bullseye
whether it's in a recreational activity or a
business pursuit I'll often say to folks it's
related to the world's fastest strategic plan
and people go but what are you talking about
I go if you went to any major airport whether
it's Hartsfield in Atlanta in your neck of the
woods or oh here by me which is only 13 miles
and 17 minutes to the south what do they ask
you Where are you going? And imagine if you said,
yeah, I don't know. Why don't you pick the city?
What? So I'll often say to leaders, let's engage
in the world's fastest strategic plan. Where
are you? Where would you like to be? And how
do you want to get there? And as you start to
focus on those things, which is also related
to being on target with networking, and one of
the things that I say to folks is you've got
to embrace overall what I call the three Ps.
They go, what do you mean? I go, for any activity
that you're engaged in, whether it's internal
in terms of you perhaps as a leader or with members
of your team or external, whether that's at a
networking event or actually with a prospect,
a customer. A client, know your purpose. That's
the first P, Michael. Know your purpose. What
do you want to accomplish? Not only for you,
but for that decision maker or decision influencer.
They go, okay, purpose, I get that. What's the
second P? And I go, know your power probes. They
go, what's a power probe? And I'll soon make
available a power probe opportunity specifically
for your listeners. But we'll delay that by a
couple of minutes. A power probe is an open -ended
need development question. It begins with a who,
a what, a when, a where, a why, a which, a how,
or here's the TED principle, T, tell me more
about, E, explain to me how, and D, describe
for me. You need to ask open -ended questions
to truly understand the logic of why somebody
wants to do something, as well as the heart and
the tummy, that's the emotion. Because those
are the two things that really influence decisions.
So you've got purpose. You've got power probes.
Here's the third P. And someone said, isn't that
really four Ps? And I go, if you want, you can
call it four Ps. And it's parade of progress.
And the parade of progress is what are you doing
to keep things moving forward? So if you were
a prospect, we were engaged in a conversation,
it would end by, Michael. Let's review my deliverables
to you. Honor before blank, I will do blank.
So the blank is a behavior or an action, and
the second blank is a date. So what's the behavior,
what's the action, and what's the date of realization?
Pretty simple success formula. I will do X by
Y. I will do this thing by this date. But you
will also do this. to send to me by this. So
now we're working in a collaborative way. And
that's really what also networking is all about.
It's about collaboration. It's about, in essence,
partnering, networking. And do I trust this person?
Because some people, they're takers. And not
the kind of folks who I want to work with. But
when you find someone that you can trust, and
I always stress this to folks, when trust is
high, what's low? Fear. When trust is high, what's
low? And that's fear. So I stress to folks, closed
-ended questions are okay, but that's really
only related to, one, do these people qualify
as a prospect? A little bit different than a
networking opportunity. And the other is, if
you're now pursuing an opportunity for biz dev
or rainmaking, it's decision time. Thumbs up.
Yay. P .O. ACH, wire, whatever it might be. And
if I can share with you an opportunity for your
listeners and viewers that most people go, wait
a minute, I can use these immediately. And the
answer is yes. So if it's cool with you, can
I share that opportunity for your listeners and
viewers? Absolutely. Go right ahead. So most
folks, when I ask them, how many of you have
got a dynamic dozen? They go, what? What are
you talking about? You're talking about bagels,
muffins, croissants, donuts. What's a dynamic
dozen? And I go, no. A dynamic dozen is at least
12 open -ended need development questions. And
they begin with a who, what, when, where, why,
which, how, tell me more about, explain to me
how, and describe for me. And these are questions
you would ask of a prospect. or perhaps even
a current customer or current client to dig even
deeper in the relationships. Most folks don't
have a dynamic dozen. And I stress to people,
once you've created your dynamic dozen, then
put it on this little computer that is literally
in the palm of your hand. on my smartphone and
now i encourage clients to do the same i go put
them in print form so you can look at them and
then also put it in an audio form so you can
hit play and hear you reciting your dynamic dozen
that's how you get really good at that skill.
And it's a skill. It is not a parlor trick. So
we've had people who might hear me in the morning
in a three -hour result session, and they'll
send me an email and go, Jeff, that afternoon
I used these questions that I had never used
before, and I've got the opportunity to now help
a new client. I can't believe it worked that
fast. And I go, it worked that fast because you
heard it, but then you used it. And I always
stress to people, Michael, don't tell me what
you know. Tell me what you're doing with what
you know. So here's the opportunity. If anyone
listening or watching would like to get what
we call the Sweet 16, we will send you 16 potential
power probes that you can use in your business,
no matter what your business is. If you're selling
a product, a service, whatever it might be, you
can apply these questions immediately. All you
need to do, send an email. to Cheryl, S -H -E
-R -Y -L, one more time, Cheryl, S -H -E -R -Y
-L, at JeffBlackman .com, J -E -F -F -B -L -A
-C -K -M -A -N .com. One more time, Cheryl at
JeffBlackman .com. In the subject, this way we'll
know exactly where you heard about the opportunity.
Simply put, Foreman Rocks. So simply put, F -O
-R -M -A -N Rocks, Suite 16. We will know exactly
what that means. Cheryl will then send you your
Suite 16. And folks, when I've been on other
interviews, have said, I've been able to now
use these questions immediately and generate
results. So I want your audience to be able to
benefit from them as well. And the good news...
It works. It does. Okay. That was way more than
I even expected. So that was fantastic, Jeff.
Okay. So you've mastered profitable connections.
It's one powerful shift someone can make today
to start attracting high value relationships
instead of chasing them. So this is going to
sound counterintuitive. And that is you do not
make it about. You. You always make it out. That's
not counterintuitive. You always make it about
somebody else. It's interesting. You talk about
network unleashed, and I know you don't mean
it, but unleashed implies wild, running amok.
It's gone awry. One of my new favorite words
is cattywampus. So cattywampus is things have
gone crazy, but networking is just the opposite.
It's actually specific. It's precise. It's targeted.
It's designed. So get really comfortable asking
the question, hey, Michael, help me out. When
I'm out and about in the community, who is your
ideal prospect or client? So I can keep my eyes
and ears open for you. That's all about you.
Got nothing to do with me. So that enables me
to be in the best position to go. I met this
foreman guy about. six weeks ago, and now I'm
going to all about you. And when you go out of
your way to connect other individuals and ask
for nothing in return, it becomes incredibly
valuable because now they realized, oh, this
person's really serious about that. They really
do go out of their way to be in a position to
help me. Again, no quid pro quo. It's not a barter.
It's not an exchange system. They gave before
they even intimated they might want to take.
And that's one of the really simple things that
most people do not do. And also, people think
that networking is about how many people can
I meet in the shortest amount of time when I'm
at a networking event. And I go, whoa, slow down.
Concentrate on meeting fewer people and dig deeper.
Find out things that are important to them so
you can follow up with, hey, thought you might
be interested in this website. Found this story,
thought you might find it interesting. Google
Alerts, and I'm sure you've used Google Alerts.
So I've got Google Alerts on things that I don't
have an interest in, but I've got clients who
do have an interest in, whatever it might be.
So as a result of that, I literally might get
something related to shoes. because i've got
a client who's a woman who's really fun and she
loves shoes so if i've been anywhere in the country
and i remember gosh it's gonna be about 10 years
ago i happened to pass a really cool women's
shoe store in raleigh north carolina i took pictures
of the shoes that were in the window and sent
it to her i went some thought of you those are
just little simple things that people know hey
i've got top of mind awareness of something that's
important to you. Got nothing to do with me,
but I know that this matters to you. And that's
one of the really important things when it comes
to networking is what can you do that's in somebody
else's best interest? And it really does absolutely
nothing to do with you. Absolutely. I went to
the school of hard knocks, right? I did everything
wrong before I learned how to do it correctly.
And I was in a mortgage industry. And I would
go to a networking event. I'd come home with
a shoebox filled with business cards. Look how
good I did. Look how well I achieved my success.
I was fantastic. I was horrible. I did it. I
got the wrong way. So now when I teach networking,
when I go out and teach for about a three or
four hour event, I say, come back with about
15 or 20 business cards. Because then you can
follow up, and a follow -up is so much more important
than actually meeting the person, but you can
follow up properly. And everything that goes
along with that. I don't want to take time out
from that, but I want to tell you that I made
that transition from just networking, networking
at least, wildly networking, to a strategic networking
module. That's how I did it. it crucial and also
is you can actually be proactive before the event
it depends upon what the event is but with many
events for example okay these folks will already
be in attendance that list is often published
and you go i don't know him or her but i would
like to know him or her because they've got an
expertise in something that i'm really interested
in you can contact that individual in advance
email or telephone call and say hey i've actually
been very familiar with your work for years i
noticed that you will be at the upcoming yada
can i buy you breakfast or lunch my treat Would
love to chat with you. Now, most people are willing
to give. Most successful people don't hold it
close to the chest. No, I'm successful because
of what I know. Ain't going to share it. Actually,
just the opposite. So this weekend, if I was
going to the National Speakers Association annual
conference. I'm not. Why? Because our twin grandchildren,
who are almost three, will be with us, so I get
to play Poppy while my wife plays Nani. So I
won't be at the convention, but if I was going,
I would have gone, okay, who are some key folks
who I would like to spend some time with, one
-to -one, not in a fleeting in -between session
moment. And I'll treat them to breakfast or lunch
and just chat. Now, I will also do that with
folks that I've known for years just to catch
up to find out, what are you doing? What's happening
in your business? And I just did that with a
friend who I first met at an NSA convention in
1985. So another wonderful speaker, brilliant
guy, has become a dear friend by the name of
Chuck Reeves. Chuck and I have now known each
other for over 40 years. And he used to actually
live in Atlanta. He lived in Snellville. Now
he's in Arizona. But Chuck and I will get together
probably two times a year and just visit. Two
old buddies. And I think we spent 60, 90 minutes
recently on a Zoom call just catching up. Because
I might be doing something he's not. He might
be doing something I'm not. Who do you know?
Who can I introduce you to? And do that with
friends on a regular basis. And that's really
part of the fun. Because over time, you really
know who you can trust. I consider that enjoyable
and fun as well. Because for me, that's not work.
I'm putting two people together and it's just,
it's what I like to do. Okay. What's a networking
myth or outdated belief that you think is actually
holding people back from real success? Interesting
question. And I think it really goes to self
-belief. Many people have got this self. doubting
reality that they've created about how difficult
something is, or how challenging something is,
or I'm not going to be very good at that. That's
what we call, based upon work that I did with
a client years ago, a CVS. And a CVS is the current
view of the situation. What's the BVS? The BVS
is a better view of the situation. So the current
view of the situation is, boy, I can't stand
events like that. I'm not very good at networking.
Courage view. What's a better view of the situation?
I am really excited about to meet other people
who I might be in a position to help. Totally
different mindset. So how are you looking at
that either as an opportunity or with negativity?
So mindset is absolutely... We are always going
to face challenges in our lives, guaranteed.
So the key question then becomes, how am I going
to perceive that opportunity? One of the quotes,
I'm a great big fan of quotes. My first book
was the opportunity selling sales quotation book.
So it took the opportunity selling business developed
system that I created literally on the back of
a napkin in 1985 that in the pages of peak your
profits is explained in a real how to format.
But in the opportunity selling quote book, which
was a little guy with just quotes that reinforce.
each step of the six -step business development
system. What happened is I reinforced those quotes.
I always look for other quotes. And John Wooden,
the great basketball coach at UCLA, so he coached
the men's basketball team to 10 national championships
in 12 years. Seven of the 10, Michael, they were
consecutive. And if I've got a challenge, and
I've always had challenges, people have sometimes
said, you've had a charmed life. And they've
got no clue as to all the challenges that I've
had to confront as an individual, as a parent
with kids and medical issues or whatever it might
be. But John Wooden said, things turn out best
for those who make the best out of the way things
turn out. And the beauty of that quote is you
can control your mindset. You can control your
attitude. And I find it fascinating that a lot
of airports that I'm in, they've now got rocking
chairs. Have you seen these rocking chairs at
airports all over the country? No, I haven't
seen them. So multiple airports that I've been
in, they have got rocking chairs. So they're
like everywhere. And I find it interesting that
a place that's designed like an airport to get
you from point A to point B gives you an activity
to do that gets you nowhere. And that's what
a rocking chair does. It gives you something
to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere. That's
the equivalent of worrying. Worrying is an activity,
but it doesn't get you anywhere. It doesn't get
you closer to a solution. And when people say
to me, I'm so worried about it, I go, how's that
working for you? How's that helping you? And
so much, again, it has to do with your mindset.
This happened probably about a month ago. So
a client said, I am really uncomfortable with
change. People ask me to help them, either their
organizations, their teams, or one -to -one coaching.
So I had a client who said, Jeff, I am really
uncomfortable with change. I said, how do you
feel about improvement? Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm
fine with that. How do you feel about enhancement?
Oh, that's okay, too. How do you feel about upgrade?
no issue what if we no longer talk about you
changing but we talk about you making improvements
enhancements and upgrades i'm good okay so he
just shifted his mindset and are now using a
different word or words because change he immediately
we've always done it that way and that's the
cvs yeah And there are three words that I always
suggest to people that can be transformative.
If you think something's not possible, simply
have three words to your vocabulary and mindset.
And that's up till now. Huh? It's not how we
do things here. Up till now. We don't have any
budget for that. Up till now. Our folks just
are not well -trained. Up till now. And people
say, but hang on. Why does it work? It's not
magic. And I go, no, but it is about belief.
And I tell people that belief is about confidence.
Confidence comes from two Latin words, con fete,
which means with faith. And if you don't have
faith with you, how is anyone else going to have
faith with you? Very good. Very good. I'm going
to have to replay this podcast because otherwise
I'd be writing notes down. feverishly and just
trying to take all the notes down. So I'll list
this afterwards. How do you differentiate between
noise and opportunity when you're networking,
especially in crowded spaces like LinkedIn or
large conferences? So large conferences can be
overwhelming, and that's not my word choice.
Instead, it's what others say. And I never understand
the word overwhelming. When people say to me,
I'm overwhelmed, my immediately thought is, and
again, I don't challenge them because I don't
want to be rude. I go, so what are you going
to do different? If you're overwhelmed, change
the game plan. Change the game the way you're
playing it. So a large conference, and how are
we defining large? Pick a number. It's 1 ,000
people. Oh, no, it's 15 ,000 people. And it's
like going to college. So the University of Illinois,
when I went to school, and from what I understand,
it's maybe a wee bit more now, approximately
35 ,000 undergrads. I didn't have daily contact
with 35 ,000 undergrads. My primary contact was
with my friends. It was with my fraternity brothers.
It was with the sorority sisters of my wife.
And it becomes really... your group your network
if you will so first you go i don't need to make
contact with 1500 people at this conference but
i'm going to focus on these 10 or whatever it
might be so again it's what are the strategic
decisions that you're making and it also does
with focus people are oh there's There's a shiny.
Oh, no, wait. Oh, look at that shiny. So people
are often easily distracted. One of the stories
that I describe in Bullseye, you remember Bill
Russell, the great basketball player. So Russell
is one of the greatest basketball players of
all time, if not the greatest Celtic of all time.
Bill Russell, years ago. decided that he also
wanted to be a speaker to share the message of
Celtic pride. So a sports entertainment agency
that was a client of mine was working with Bill
and they said, Bill, you really need help with
your message. And we've got a friend who also
is a coach to us who helps us with business growth.
He's a professional speaker as well. He can really
help you with your message. So one afternoon
at a Chicago hotel, I consulted with Bill Russell,
about how to improve his message. And one of
the stories that he told was about his ability
to grab off of the defensive board a basketball
and a rebound, and how he immediately would have
an outlet pass that would go to Koozie or some
other member of his team with just maybe one
or two bounces, if that, or one more pass. Somebody
was streaking to the offensive glass. two points
and he did it all the time and he said most people
refer to that as a blind pass he said a blind
pass is stupid because a blind pass means you've
got absolutely no idea where it's going you don't
see anything blind pass is stupid bill russell
was a really smart guy he said so jeff what i
did is with his seven foot frame is he would
extend his hands out as far as he could so he
could still see in his peripheral vision his
hands And then the next day he would extend it
just a little bit further. So every day he was
working on extending the view line of his peripheral
vision. So what appeared to be a blind pass was
not. He always knew exactly who he was passing
it to. So what he did was he had extreme focus,
removed distractions, and that's really important.
That's one of the things that I work on with
clients is, okay. If you know your purpose and
you know your power probes, now let's have singular
focus. That's one of the great things that Bruce
Jenner did when I interviewed him. I did not
interview Caitlin Marie. I interviewed William
Bruce. And people have said to me, who was one
of the best guests that you ever had? And I said,
Barden on Bruce Jenner. And they go, why? I go,
he was smart. He was friendly. He was personable.
Before and after the radio interview, he hung
around. He took care of signing autographs. But
what Bruce Jenner did is I asked him about the
gold medal that he won in 76 in Montreal in the
decathlon, Michael. And here's what he said to
me. I didn't win in 76. Bruce, don't mean to
correct you, but you won in 76 in Montreal. Remember
the flag and Olympic stadium? He says, let me
tell you what I mean. And this story is actually
in the pages of Bullseye. He said, Jeff, in 1972,
I lost. He said, didn't place. He said, so here's
what I did. I removed the faces of the gold,
the silver. and the bronze medalists. And in
the place of the face of the gold medalist in
72, I put my face. So what I did for the next
four years is I only saw one winner in 76, and
that was me. That was Bruce Jenner. So first
I trained my mind, and then I trained my body,
and then I believed. In essence, he had confite.
He was with faith. He said, so in Montreal, I
simply picked up a medal I had won in my mind
four years earlier. Unbelievable story. The only
other story I know about belief that's any better
than that is Sully Sullenberger when he landed
US Airways flight 1549, January the 15th of 2009
on the Hudson River. That was about belief. If
he didn't believe that he could land and create
the Hudson as a liquid tarmac, would have never
happened. So belief is a really important aspect
of anything that we choose to do to attain success
in our lives. It's amazing what the mind can
accomplish if you let it, if you let it. Because
there really isn't anything that we, as people,
can't do. And that's part of my can -do attitude.
But, okay, in your experience, what's the profit
leak most professionals don't realize is happening
because they haven't built the right relationships?
Folks have a tendency to sometimes hang on to
relationships that they shouldn't. So if a relationship
is not generating the right result, whether it's
related to collaboration or lack thereof, or
it's not generating the appropriate return on
the investment of working with that individual,
say goodbye. As difficult as that might be, that's
external and internal, by the way. So if external
relationships with clients or customers are really
difficult and challenging and people are hard
to work with, or you've got the wrong person
and the wrong seat in your organization, wish
them the best of luck. Say sayonara, arrivederla,
shalom, dos vadonia, move on. And in terms of,
again, avoiding distractions, we work with clients
on something, Michael, called the ICP. What's
your ideal customer or your ideal client profile?
and let's define exactly who that is demographics
psychographics infographics and we literally
make a long list and i go your customers or prospects
have got every right to vet you but you've got
every right to vet them and if you think that
they're not who you want to pursue long term
long -term, because you focus on annuitization.
If you only want to focus on a transaction, that's
fine, but that's not what I teach my clients
to do. I teach them to focus on not the transactional
vendor relationship, but instead to focus on
the long -term annuitized partner relationship.
And they go, what's the difference? And I go,
okay, listen closely. Vendors are expendable.
Partners are invaluable. Vendor expendable, partner
invaluable. Which do you choose to be? And that
is a question, by the way, that we coach our
clients to ask, which is, what would you prefer
that we be, a vendor or a partner? And if they
go, yeah, we just want a vendor, we're probably
not the right folks for you then. Wish you nothing
but the best of luck. And start to leave. Move
on. Sorry, that's not what our clients value.
That's not what we value. Two questions related
to that really help as well, which is, what will
you value most in our relationship? And how will
we measure success? And by the way, you can ask
those networking related as well. And you always
appreciate what somebody else's appreciation
is. Folks go, hang on, what do you mean? I go,
if a prospective client says, Jeff, why should
we work with you? I never answer from my perspective.
Instead, I will say, here's what other clients
say they value most in a relationship with us.
And then I share something called an RBAO strategy.
That's the results, the benefits, the advantages,
and the outcomes. Those words, Michael, are interchangeable.
So there's no distinction, but it triggers people
differently. So I stress to folks, let others
know what others are experiencing to be the results.
The benefits, the advantages, and the outcomes
of working with you, of networking with you.
And then you pause and you politely ask, how
do you think those similar outcomes will be of
value to you? So what you've done is you've told
the story based upon your experience, not your
opinion, of somebody else's success. result,
benefit, advantage, outcome. And then you ask
somebody, how do you think those types of benefits
or outcomes will help or be of value to you?
And now they tell you why they want to network
with you or why they want to work with you. So
I will never answer, Jeff, why should we work
with you from my perspective? Why? Even if I'm
dead accurate, it doesn't matter. It actually
reduces my credulity and veracity. I want to
increase it. So I speak from somebody else's
perspective, not mine, Michael. That's an avenue
which I never truly thought of, you know, because
when I teach networking, I never do that from
the other people's perspective. Up till now.
Up till now. My new phrase, by the way, up till
now. So again, I'm going to have to listen to
this and write down all my notes because... Me
too. It sounds like there's some good stuff going
on here. There's some very good stuff going on
here. We could probably do this podcast for three
hours, but I'm going to try to limit the time.
Can you walk us through one intentional networking
decision you made that paid off massively in
terms of business or personal growth? That's
a really interesting question. I'm going to take
you back because it really changed the course
of my life. So I'm going to take you back to
the year 1985. In the year 1985, my wife and
I were both 29 years old, and we went to our
first National Speakers Association convention
in Washington, D .C. At that convention, we heard
Chuck Reeves speak. Subsequent to that, I contacted
Chuck, and I said, the next time that you're
in Chicago, can I treat you to breakfast or lunch?
And I assure you, I could not afford to take
him out to either breakfast or lunch. But I have
now had a 40 -year relationship with Chuck. When
I had the good fortune to be inducted into the
National Speaker Association's Hall of Fame in
2008 in New York City, Chuck, along with another
dear friend, Frank Buccaro, they were my introducers.
Also in 1985 at that convention, I met a woman
by the name of Laura Hamilton, and she was really
neat. She was fun, she was smart, and I had no
clue who she worked for. It turned out she worked
for a guy by the name of Bill Brooks. Bill Brooks
was a founder of the Bill Brooks Group in North
Carolina. And she said, I think I'd like to introduce
you to Bill Brooks and someone else who I know
by the name of Ron Willingham. So Bill Brooks
is one of the foremost sales trainers in the
world. Ron Willingham as well. And Ron created
something called The Best Seller. Through that
meeting of Laura, she introduced me to Ron and
to Bill. And so I became part of their group
of speakers, who at that time was doing a program
called Slim Up and Live All Over the Country
for the Shackley organization. So through that
relationship, I then had a relationship with
Ron Willingham for as long as he was alive. And
eventually I started to create my stuff instead
of relying upon Ron. Bill Brooks became really
one of my very early mentors. And I remember
when I was just starting this business, my wife
Cheryl and I went to North Carolina to work with
Bill, his wife Nancy. I said, Blackman, my office
is your office. Whatever you need, ask any question,
any document, any number, I'm here to help you.
And Bill Brooks, when both he and Ron passed
away, that was really devastating because both
of those guys were incredible mentors to me.
So it's really remarkable what happens when you
connect with people. And that's an important
word, connect. And that's why at our website,
it doesn't say contact. It says connect. Is that
a euphemism? Yeah. But I think it's a really
good one. So that's what I stress to clients
when I work with them or people who I'm speaking
to in kind of a large differentiated group. I
go. your website, and I looked at it, or your
website, and I looked at it, you got two words,
about us. And you just told the visitor, this
has got nothing to do with you. It's only about
us. So we don't have that language about us.
Why? I think it needs to be about somebody else.
And I stress that when I speak, Michael, I go,
today's message is not about me. It's about you.
So everything that I do today is to help you
improve your business, improve your career. accelerate
how you want to do what you do and why you do
it and at the same time though i encourage everyone
to challenge others but to also challenge themselves
and i tell clients this from the beginning of
my relationships with them i'm not going to appease
and please you If you simply want someone to
appease and please, I'm not the right guy. But
I will challenge you to reconsider and re -examine
and rethink how you do what you do and why you
do it. Why? That'll help you generate the best
result. So I push back. And I push back on CEOs
of multi -billion dollar organizations. Greatest
compliment. Greatest compliment I ever got from
a client. Multi -billion dollar financial organization.
He said to me, Blackman, what I love about our
relationship is you never protect your butt.
And you never kiss mine. Supreme compliment.
So he knew I would always give it to him straight
without ever saying, let me give it to you straight.
Let me be honest, to be honest. And I hate when
anyone uses that language because at some point
they're going to fib to me. I don't know when,
but they'll fib. So if you're honest, you don't
need to identify it. Just be it. Yeah, he didn't
want a yes man. No, he didn't want somebody to
agree with him. He wanted somebody like you,
somebody you're going to stand your ground. But
if he's wrong, you're going to tell him he's
wrong. And he's probably not used to that. Yeah,
no, he's not. Yeah, but he valued it because
he couldn't get it internally. People were concerned.
I don't want to offend him. And my goal wasn't
to offend him. It was to help him. And he realized
that that's worth so much. And I can see how
that was the greatest compliment that you could
have gotten. It was. Yeah. How do you maintain
authenticity and generosity in networking without
becoming everybody's free consultant? Most people
are really honest, reasonable people, and they
do not take advantage. So one of the things that
I have discovered over the decades is many people,
they're looking for quick solutions. If there
are any, I don't know of them. So I know of no
quick solutions. And people will often say to
me, man, what a gift you have in terms of your
ability to use language and words. And wow, what
a gift you were born with. And I go, I don't
know who you're talking about, but not me. What
do you mean? Two is not only in the pages of
Peak Your Profits, but it's also in the pages
of Bullseye. When I was a little guy, I needed
speech correction lessons because I couldn't
pronounce my R's and my L's. So Ms. Northrup,
who was my first grade teacher, said, you need
speech correction lessons, Jeff. And I went home
and I said to my parents, my teacher, Ms. Northrup,
she's crazy. She claims I need speech correction
lessons. She is wrong. That little guy worked
very hard for almost three years, Michael, until
eventually he could enunciate and articulate
and communicate. And obviously I'm talking about
me. So that story is in Peak Your Profits and
in Bullseye to talk about the significance of
learning. being persistent and allowing success
to happen over time and donna northrup there's
also a separate story about donna in bullseye
because she became a dear friend i stayed in
contact with her long after first grade so i
featured her in two books and i was with her
just weeks before she passed away and i loved
her and the title of that chapter in bullseye
was called My favorite redhead, because she was
this stunning redhead. She was a stunning redhead
when I had her as a student. She was in her early
to mid -20s. And then when she passed away, obviously,
years ago, she was still a beautiful woman. And
she became a dear friend. She actually called
me once, and she said, you're a Cub fan. She
said, I'm a Cub fan. She said, remember Mrs.
Johnson? And I go, sure. She was another first
grade teacher. She's got season tickets to the
Cubs game. how'd you like to go to a Cubs game
with your first grade teacher? And we did. She
said, I'll pick you up in a limo. We'll ride
down together. We will sit behind the opposition's
dugout in the first row. When the game's over,
we'll ride home in a limo together as well. And
we did that. It was one of the most memorable
days of my life. And I love my Cubbies, which
is why Ernie Banks is over my shoulder. And spending
the afternoon with Donna Northrup at Wrigley
Field, watching my beloved Cubbies, and we got
destroyed that day. I remember Roger Clemens
was pitching for the Astros. We did not win,
but I was with Donna Northrup, my first grade
teacher. Yeah, and that's all that matters. That's
all that matters. The score of the game really
didn't matter. It's the whole feeling of everything.
That's great. It really is. That's another important
point, though. Don't keep score. What I mean
is, I helped you. Time to help me. Don't keep
score. Just help. Who cares if there's something
coming back in your direction? Absolutely. It
must help. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more.
I couldn't agree more. For someone who's introverted
or analytical, what's your advice for building
powerful connections without feeling like they
have to perform? What's so interesting about
that is I do a lot of work and have done a lot
of work over the decades with people who are
very logical. They're introverted. They're introspective.
They're not ebullient. They are not really animated,
just not who they are. So they need to embrace
a process and a system and a methodology. So
when I'm teaching them, for example, to have
business growth skills or networking skills,
I can share with them, here's a process, here's
a system, here's a methodology. That means they
will now listen. When they realize it's not that
good old network or just slapping somebody on
the back and they go, oh, so there's a sequence.
There's a process that registers. And if it doesn't
register, they won't believe. But once they believe,
now they have a willingness to listen. So I make
sure they understand this is no different than
anything else that you've ever learned being
an engineer. Anything else that you've ever learned?
And so help me, you hear, this ain't rocket science.
Years ago, I literally worked with a client.
Everybody was a rocket scientist. They were all
rocket scientists. So I had to focus on the logic,
the process, the system, the methodology, the
chronology as to why this made sense. And they
went, okay, now we're in. They had to get past
that it was something. else. They had to realize,
no, this is art, but it's also science. And then
they bought it. So that really goes to learning
and application, trial, error, and a willingness
to experiment. That's really what's important.
You and I together don't have enough time to
focus on the things that we've tried that have
failed, but we at least have the willingness
to try. That's it. That's it. That's why I went
to the School of Hard Knocks. I had to do everything
wrong. You and I are both graduates. Yes. Yes.
Graduate of hard knocks. Okay. Listen, let's
bring this podcast full circle. If you had to
design a networking power hour, 60 minutes a
week to move the needle, what would you include?
What's the format for this power hour? It's.
from soup to nuts. It's networking. That's your
first thought. But if they were to go to a networking
event or meeting a prospective prospect, okay,
what could they do in an hour each day to help
them network? So here's the good news. It might
not take an hour. An hour is a long time. And
I often will say to folks, most people don't
obviously plan to fail, but they do fail to plan.
And you with 15 minutes of strategic focus can
probably accomplish a whole bunch. So an hour
maybe might not be necessary, but if you go,
okay, so what are the things that I need to do
right now in terms of people who I think I can
potentially help? How am I going to reach out?
One of the things that we teach is referrals
as an example. And most people don't rely upon
referrals or introductions. But once we show
them, again, process, system, and methodology,
which is what we did with the folks at BankOne.
Entire story is at the website. BankOne, we helped
generate. 230 million dollars in new loan business
in 23 months with zero acquisition cost they
had no referrals culture drove me nuts and the
good news was they had me on long -term retainer
took me three years until the president said
will you stop bugging me if i let you do this
referrals thing and i went oh yeah i'll stop
bugging you yeah so we did a pilot and the pilot
was so successful he said let's roll the country
which we did And we generated $230 million in
new business, all from referrals in the span
of 23 months. Then they sold at a premium the
entire portfolio to Household International.
So we taught them, here's something that you
can do. It doesn't take a lot of time during
the course of a day. And the same thing, you
probably don't need to devote an hour. You can
probably devote a really focused 15 minutes.
Okay, who would I like to meet? Who can I introduce?
What can I do that will really help somebody
else who I know? What connections can I make?
What's an industry that I like to focus on? What's
the best way to meet those people? So if you
take the time to, and most people don't because
they're too busy running off to the next opportunity.
And I tell folks, do not tell me what you know.
Tell me what you will do with what you know.
And that's what really is important. Often you
and I both know that sometimes you go, yeah,
I just can't think of anything now. Let me share
with you as we get ready to wrap up something
that John Pushik said. Who's John Pushik? So
John is a terrific guy, became a client, president
of a company called Prager Moving and Storage
here in the Chicagoland area. If you need to
move your house, they can help you. If you need
to move your office, they can help you. When
mom and dad were alive and they moved back in
2008, Prager took care of the move because they're
so good at what they do. So John is their leader,
but he's got great biz dev skills. So here's
what John says, and everybody can use this line.
It doesn't matter what your business is. If someone
says, John heard great things about Prager, but
we're not moving the office. We're actually not
moving the house. No need for your services.
He doesn't go into, let me tell you what makes
us great. So that he simply says, that's okay.
Better that you know us and not need us than
need us and not know us. How good is that, Michael?
Perfect. It is. It's perfect. And when I say
that in a program, folks go, slow down, say that
again. Better that you know us and not need us
than need us and not know us. And it's brilliant
because it's so simple. What does it do? It first
captures mind share. And you can't capture wallet
share unless you first capture mind share. Jeff,
that's great. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful
it was to have you on as a guest to my podcast.
If somebody wanted to get hold of you, either
to ask you a question, ask you about coaching
or anything else like that, what's the best way
for them to get hold of you? So that's easy.
First, let me encourage folks, take advantage
of the Foreman Rocks Sweet 16 offer. So send
that email to Cheryl, S -H -E -R -Y -L, at jeffblackman
.com, subject Foreman Rocks Sweet 16, and then
Cheryl will send you these 16 questions. If you
want to shoot me an email, you're welcome to.
Simply send an email to jb at jeffblackman .com.
So my initials, jb at jeff. blackman .com. If
you go to our website, you will also see a whole
bunch of free goodies. So there are book excerpts,
there are audio excerpts, a whole bunch of video
vignettes that you can take advantage of as well.
So shoot me an email if you've got a problem,
you've got an opportunity, you've got an issue
or a challenge. I'm here to be able to help and
it is truly my pleasure to be able to help. Just
let me know, hey, heard you with Michael and
so that way I know immediately, ah, this is how
we found each other. Great. Great. Jeff, thank
you so much for coming on the podcast, and I
look forward to talking to you soon. My pleasure.
Thank you, Michael. Well, hold on, folks. Don't
go anywhere. Let's hear from our sponsors. David
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A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such...
insights today. And of course, a big shout out
to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
and spending your time with us. If you're interested
in my digital courses, being coached or having
me come and talk to your company, just go to
Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,
networking isn't about being perfect. It's about
being present. So take what you've learned today,
get out there and make some meaningful connections.
If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't
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