TRP 198: Game Theory and Business Development with Scott Love

[00:00:01] You're listening to The Rainmaking Podcast hosted by high stakes headhunter, author and

[00:00:19] professional speaker, Scott Love.

[00:00:24] You're listening to The Rainmaking Podcast and my name is Scott Love, your host.

[00:00:27] And thank you for joining me on our show.

[00:00:30] If you're not familiar with The Rainmaking Podcast, this is a show that's going to

[00:00:33] give you tremendous value if your goal is to grow closer to your clients.

[00:00:37] If you're in professional services in a client development role, whether you're an attorney

[00:00:42] or your recruiter in the accounting industry, professional services, even investment banking,

[00:00:47] you have to earn trust from your prospects.

[00:00:49] And that's what I try to carry through on the theme of this particular podcast.

[00:00:54] We're almost at 200 episodes and I can't believe it.

[00:00:56] And I'm grateful for you to make that possible.

[00:01:00] Now in today's episode, I'm going to talk about client development strategy.

[00:01:04] This is something I'm going to share things that I've learned.

[00:01:06] Before I do that, I want to offer some thanks.

[00:01:08] I want to thank those people that have hired me to speak to their group.

[00:01:12] Companies like Patrice & Associates, Pride Staff, GA Rogers, Top Echelon.

[00:01:17] I spoke at their conference a few weeks ago and even got to meet with Titan Placement,

[00:01:21] a small up-and-coming recruiting firm where they've got some very successful rookies

[00:01:26] that are smart enough to really follow systems of success.

[00:01:29] If one person can do something, so can somebody else.

[00:01:32] Now, why do I speak to groups on client development?

[00:01:36] Honestly, I really make my money in placements.

[00:01:39] I recruit attorneys for global law firms and I'm kind of

[00:01:41] niching in the private equity space.

[00:01:44] That's my business.

[00:01:46] But what I love is helping somebody shorten that learning curve.

[00:01:50] I've been recruiting since 1995.

[00:01:52] And the thing about the executive search and recruiting industry

[00:01:55] is that I think it's a purist form of sales.

[00:01:58] You have to sell your services to an organization.

[00:02:01] Then you have to go out there and find prospective candidates

[00:02:03] and sell the opportunity to them.

[00:02:05] And at its core is earning trust.

[00:02:08] And that's something that I absolutely love.

[00:02:10] I've thought about quitting recruiting and just speaking full time.

[00:02:12] But then again, I like being home and I really like the work of doing deals.

[00:02:18] There's nothing more exciting to me than earning trust from a sophisticated prospect

[00:02:24] that's at a critical time in their life where they're feeling tremendous stress

[00:02:28] and they're guarded and they're risking a lot to even talk with a headhunter like me.

[00:02:34] And they put their trust in me to help them find an opportunity that works best for them.

[00:02:38] I love doing that.

[00:02:40] That's what motivates me.

[00:02:41] But when I speak to groups, whether they're in other professional services

[00:02:45] or recruiting groups or staffing teams, I like helping them shorten the learning curve.

[00:02:50] And that's one of the things I want to do with you today is give you some strategic

[00:02:54] words of wisdom that I think can solve most of your frustrations in client development.

[00:03:00] Now, let me tell you a little bit about the background of how I came to understand

[00:03:04] client development.

[00:03:06] About 20 years ago, I started speaking at conferences and I'd go to Las Vegas

[00:03:10] to speak at sales meetings and I'd get there a day early and I'd see all these games.

[00:03:14] And, you know, I don't want to gamble.

[00:03:17] I don't want to put money on a table unless I know that I've got a high likelihood

[00:03:21] of a favorable outcome.

[00:03:23] But when you're playing games like craps and roulette, it's a gamble.

[00:03:27] So what's the point in that? Some people it's entertainment.

[00:03:30] But I heard that there was one game that had a memory that you can predict what the

[00:03:35] future is going to be based on the trends and the patterns.

[00:03:38] And it's a game of blackjack.

[00:03:39] And I read books on this and I got really good at counting cards.

[00:03:43] I mean, I got really good.

[00:03:45] I didn't drink whenever I played.

[00:03:46] I was very disciplined about that.

[00:03:48] I always tracked my metrics and my numbers and I was very smart about where I

[00:03:51] played, what time I played, if I was upset about something I wouldn't play.

[00:03:55] And it was a side business for me.

[00:03:57] I didn't make a lot of money, but I made some.

[00:03:59] And then I wanted to take it to a whole new level.

[00:04:02] And I reached out to two alumni of the legendary MIT blackjack team.

[00:04:08] If you've ever seen the movie 21, that is the MIT blackjack team that the

[00:04:12] whole movie in the book that the movie was based on came from.

[00:04:16] Two of them had a business.

[00:04:17] I reached out to them and I said, listen, I'll consult to you on client

[00:04:21] development.

[00:04:22] I won't charge you.

[00:04:23] You helped me with my game and you don't charge me.

[00:04:25] And so for a year and a half, they actually mentored me with my game.

[00:04:31] I was getting really good.

[00:04:32] I remember the first time I was ever kicked out of a casino.

[00:04:35] It was at a casino called the Barbary Coast.

[00:04:37] It doesn't exist anymore.

[00:04:39] I was counting cards with two ladies from Dallas, Texas that were

[00:04:41] visiting and we were winning.

[00:04:42] And I got a tap on the shoulder from the pit boss.

[00:04:45] And he looked at me and said, sir, you need to refrain from playing

[00:04:48] blackjack for the rest of the evening.

[00:04:50] And I looked up to him and I said, why would I do that?

[00:04:52] Why would I quit playing something?

[00:04:54] And he said, well help yourself to craps roulette.

[00:04:55] And I said, well, that would be like gambling.

[00:04:57] Why would I do that?

[00:04:58] OK, smarty pants, out you go.

[00:05:01] And so after a year and a half, I didn't like playing the game.

[00:05:05] It was eight hours of doing math equations in smoky environments.

[00:05:10] Then I quit.

[00:05:11] I just didn't like it.

[00:05:12] But what did I learn from that experience?

[00:05:16] I learned that we look at variables.

[00:05:19] And when we see that variables align to where we have a higher likelihood

[00:05:23] of a favorable outcome, then we bet a proportionate amount of our value

[00:05:29] according on what the probabilities are.

[00:05:32] And for example, in the game of blackjack, you would pay attention

[00:05:35] to what's called the count, which tells you how many more high value

[00:05:40] cards are left over compared to low value cards, because in that game,

[00:05:44] the high value cards favor the player.

[00:05:46] The low value cards favor the house or the casino.

[00:05:49] And when they're in a shoe, that's a finite number of cards left.

[00:05:54] And when we see how many decks are left in that shoe,

[00:05:58] we're able to bet in somewhat of a proportion

[00:06:01] to what the likelihood is of us winning.

[00:06:04] So when the count would go high, you would bet more.

[00:06:07] And you would bet in proportion to what your advantage is based

[00:06:10] on what the count is.

[00:06:11] If the count went to zero or below that,

[00:06:14] you would sit out of your hand and you would only put money

[00:06:17] on the felt when you knew that you had a favorable likelihood of winning.

[00:06:22] We can apply those same concepts to client development.

[00:06:25] And when I speak at conferences, I speak at a lot of conferences

[00:06:28] in Las Vegas because the theme of my topic,

[00:06:31] it fits in with most of the themes of all the sales meetings

[00:06:34] in Las Vegas.

[00:06:35] But I'm able to tell that story because it's kind of different.

[00:06:37] You just don't hear that every day.

[00:06:39] You don't find a lot of Eagle Scouts that became professional gamblers.

[00:06:42] Now, like I said, I didn't make a lot of money.

[00:06:44] I made some, not a lot.

[00:06:46] But the whole experience taught me that we need to make decisions

[00:06:49] based on game theory.

[00:06:51] And when we take our client development strategy

[00:06:54] and we focus it in areas that have a high likelihood

[00:06:58] of a favorable outcome, and if we know that if we spend time

[00:07:01] in areas that have better odds, even if we don't achieve

[00:07:05] our ultimate goal, we still want to have something to show for our time.

[00:07:09] What does this mean in terms of where we go forward

[00:07:12] and getting more business?

[00:07:14] So I'm going to share with you five paths of getting business.

[00:07:18] And this is at the epicenter of my whole strategy

[00:07:21] that I teach people in terms of client development.

[00:07:24] Think of it like this.

[00:07:26] At the top of the list are those areas

[00:07:28] that have the highest likelihood of bearing fruit,

[00:07:31] of getting us a business.

[00:07:33] And at the bottom of the list are those areas

[00:07:35] that have the least likelihood of getting us business.

[00:07:39] So I want you to do this.

[00:07:40] If you're driving, don't do this.

[00:07:42] If you're in your car, please don't write this down.

[00:07:45] Come back and listen to it again and do it.

[00:07:47] But at the top of the list,

[00:07:49] I want you to write this down.

[00:07:51] It's called existing clients.

[00:07:53] That's the area where you have the highest likelihood

[00:07:56] of getting business.

[00:07:58] I remember the first time I figured this out.

[00:08:01] Living in Phoenix,

[00:08:01] my niche was commercial construction at the time.

[00:08:04] One of my clients worked for a company called Gilbane,

[00:08:06] a big construction company

[00:08:08] that had a new office in Arizona.

[00:08:09] And I got to know their managing partner in Arizona

[00:08:12] and we became friends and I was doing some work for him.

[00:08:16] And I said, let's go to lunch.

[00:08:17] And he said, sure, come by the office before we go.

[00:08:19] And I went there.

[00:08:21] And he introduced me around the office

[00:08:23] before we left for lunch

[00:08:25] to about four of his leaders on his team.

[00:08:28] One was the chief estimator.

[00:08:30] And he said, Scott, we're looking for more people.

[00:08:32] Can you help us with that?

[00:08:33] The other one was a project executive

[00:08:35] spearheading healthcare construction projects.

[00:08:38] I'm looking for project managers.

[00:08:39] Can you help me?

[00:08:40] And I met two other executive leaders

[00:08:42] and I walked out of there

[00:08:43] with about seven or eight new class A

[00:08:45] search assignments from one meeting.

[00:08:48] And that's when I realized that an existing client,

[00:08:51] somebody there that has already hired you

[00:08:53] where you've earned, you've been able to earn trust.

[00:08:56] You've been able to show them that you can produce

[00:08:58] and solve their problems.

[00:09:00] That has the highest likelihood of giving you more business.

[00:09:03] So let me kind of press pause here, so to speak

[00:09:06] and ask you to do this.

[00:09:09] Reach out to those

[00:09:10] where you've already added value over the years.

[00:09:13] Are there companies and organizations

[00:09:16] where you have done work with them

[00:09:19] no matter whatever you do,

[00:09:20] whether you're an attorney or an accountant

[00:09:21] or whatever the work is,

[00:09:23] maybe you should reach back out to them.

[00:09:25] And I wouldn't even do it this way and say,

[00:09:28] hey, I need more business.

[00:09:30] Reach out, how are you?

[00:09:31] Let's connect.

[00:09:32] I'm seeing some trends in the market

[00:09:34] and I thought it might be good

[00:09:35] for us to discuss some of those.

[00:09:37] You don't wanna just go for the close right away.

[00:09:40] Reconnect, let it happen organically.

[00:09:41] I think the overarching theme of reaching out with people

[00:09:45] and this is since post-COVID is curiosity.

[00:09:49] Having curiosity with no ultimate aim

[00:09:54] except to connect and to be curious

[00:09:56] and maybe there are opportunities where you can add value.

[00:09:59] So that's number one.

[00:10:00] I'd be willing to bet that if you spent five minutes

[00:10:03] and you made a list of five past clients

[00:10:06] and you reached out to them,

[00:10:07] you'd get something to show for it.

[00:10:09] That's number one.

[00:10:10] That's your highest likelihood of getting business.

[00:10:12] Number one, existing clients.

[00:10:14] Number two, below that are people that know you.

[00:10:18] How can you become someone that people know?

[00:10:22] I think the easiest way to do that

[00:10:24] is to attend conferences within your niche.

[00:10:27] For example, I've got a friend who's an investment banker

[00:10:29] and he knows that he can go to certain conferences

[00:10:32] and the niches where he works just to build friendships.

[00:10:35] He'll speak at conferences so that people know him.

[00:10:37] His name's Patrick Moran.

[00:10:39] He's someone that's kind of a new friend of mine.

[00:10:40] He lives here in the area

[00:10:42] and I didn't get a chance to meet him

[00:10:43] until we flew across the country to Napa

[00:10:46] and I spoke at a conference

[00:10:47] for an organization called TempNet

[00:10:49] and sure enough, his office was two miles away

[00:10:51] from my office and I saw how he does business.

[00:10:56] It's pretty soft.

[00:10:57] He's someone that has built a name

[00:11:00] and he speaks at many conferences

[00:11:01] just so people can know him.

[00:11:04] Now when you can meet a large population of people,

[00:11:09] you obviously have a greater pool of people

[00:11:11] to pull from in terms of client development

[00:11:13] and what's interesting is that

[00:11:15] then they start to come to you.

[00:11:17] So I'd recommend, put yourself out there

[00:11:19] and go to certain conferences wherever your niche is.

[00:11:23] Attend them, get involved if you can serve on a board.

[00:11:25] Serve on a board because you're gonna get

[00:11:27] to meet a lot of people that way,

[00:11:28] maybe even client prospects.

[00:11:30] So that's the second highest likelihood

[00:11:33] of getting business, people that know you.

[00:11:35] I'd recommend that you do this.

[00:11:37] Make a list of five non-clients,

[00:11:40] people that you know,

[00:11:42] people that you've met at conferences,

[00:11:44] maybe you've made pitches to to sell work

[00:11:46] and you didn't get it

[00:11:48] and make it a point to reconnect with them with no agenda.

[00:11:51] I'm seeing some trends in the market,

[00:11:53] I thought it might be good to talk about those

[00:11:54] and either way it would be great to connect.

[00:11:57] That's number two, that's your second highest likelihood

[00:11:59] of getting business.

[00:12:00] Number three, this is a good one, referrals.

[00:12:04] One of my friends, Bill Cates,

[00:12:07] that's B-I-L-L-C-A-T-E-S.com,

[00:12:10] that's his website address

[00:12:12] and I'm even gonna put that on the show notes.

[00:12:14] He's written books on getting referrals.

[00:12:17] Did you know that you can actually set up systems

[00:12:20] of how to get referrals?

[00:12:23] What if you actually made a priority

[00:12:26] of building in systems and structure to your business

[00:12:30] that you can allow referrals to take place?

[00:12:32] If something is worth doing, it's worth studying.

[00:12:35] Think of how much time and money you spent

[00:12:37] going to college and paying for your degree

[00:12:39] and all the time you spent learning things

[00:12:42] that you're not using.

[00:12:43] Well, what if you spent a fraction of that

[00:12:45] and invested it in areas that will give you a return?

[00:12:49] I'd recommend becoming an expert

[00:12:51] on how to get referrals within your own niche.

[00:12:54] Check out Bill's website.

[00:12:55] He's got a lot of resources out there.

[00:12:58] I've seen him speak before.

[00:12:59] He's actually been a guest on our show a couple of times.

[00:13:03] So make sure you check that out.

[00:13:04] Learn how to become an expert

[00:13:06] at getting referrals from your niche.

[00:13:08] That's your third highest likelihood of getting business.

[00:13:11] Number four, people that have heard of you.

[00:13:15] So if you go to these conferences

[00:13:17] where you're meeting people

[00:13:18] that you might be able to do business with,

[00:13:20] and let's just say you sit on a panel of discussion

[00:13:23] talking about best practices

[00:13:26] of whatever it is that you do in your niche.

[00:13:28] What if you were able to sit on a panel

[00:13:30] and meet the leaders of an association?

[00:13:33] What if you were able even to give a presentation

[00:13:35] on best practices of whatever it is that you do

[00:13:39] and you give away your best ideas?

[00:13:41] What if you could find strategic alliance partners,

[00:13:43] people that are vendors that serve your niche?

[00:13:46] What's the best place to find that?

[00:13:48] Well, remember I talked about those trade associations.

[00:13:50] Go to their websites and look at their platinum sponsors,

[00:13:53] their gold sponsors, their silver sponsors.

[00:13:55] Those are people that have invested money

[00:13:57] in getting to know people in your niche.

[00:13:59] What if you reached out to them?

[00:14:00] I'd be willing to bet

[00:14:02] that no matter what you do,

[00:14:03] if you're a wealth manager, if you're an attorney,

[00:14:05] if you're an accountant,

[00:14:07] I'd be willing to bet

[00:14:07] that if you reached out to them and said,

[00:14:09] I'd like to do a free 30 minute webinar

[00:14:12] for your constituents,

[00:14:14] they might be able to market you

[00:14:16] and put you in front of all the people

[00:14:18] that they're trying to get attention from.

[00:14:20] And your content becomes that shiny lure

[00:14:23] that can help those people connect with you

[00:14:25] and that strategic alliance partner.

[00:14:28] That's something I've done over the years

[00:14:30] with great success.

[00:14:31] And I'm always surprised

[00:14:32] why a lot of people don't pursue that.

[00:14:34] It takes some time and it takes some effort,

[00:14:36] but what you're doing, you're building a base.

[00:14:39] You're becoming micro famous within a certain niche.

[00:14:42] And when you are introduced to people

[00:14:46] and they can say, I've heard of you before,

[00:14:49] now you're getting somewhere.

[00:14:51] Just this week, I reached out to the head

[00:14:54] of a significant firm in a significant role

[00:14:57] to try to recruit him.

[00:14:59] And he called me and he said, I don't wanna leave,

[00:15:00] but I want you to work for us.

[00:15:02] And I said, I'm honored.

[00:15:03] And he said, I've heard of you.

[00:15:05] And I don't know how he did and I'm not a big deal.

[00:15:07] I promise you that there's people that do recruiting

[00:15:10] that are much more depth than me,

[00:15:12] but I've been able to do the work to get noticed

[00:15:14] and to build a name.

[00:15:15] Thank God.

[00:15:16] And I'm telling you it's a system.

[00:15:17] Anybody can do it.

[00:15:18] I've really believed that.

[00:15:20] But he said, I've heard of you.

[00:15:22] That is what you want in business development.

[00:15:25] Now number five, the area that has the least likelihood

[00:15:30] of bearing fruit.

[00:15:32] You know what that is, it's cold.

[00:15:34] But why is it that so many people spend most of their time

[00:15:38] trying to get business from people

[00:15:40] that they've never done work with before?

[00:15:42] They don't know.

[00:15:43] There's no connections and they've never heard of them.

[00:15:45] They're extremely cold.

[00:15:47] That is the way people have done it traditionally.

[00:15:49] Now, when you understand game theory,

[00:15:51] you wanna put your money on the felt

[00:15:54] when you know that you have a high likelihood

[00:15:55] of a favorable return and you want to bet

[00:15:59] in proportion to your advantage.

[00:16:01] That's why I don't even like gambling

[00:16:03] except I'll play in poker tournaments,

[00:16:05] maybe small stakes cash games.

[00:16:07] But really, in professional services, it is a game.

[00:16:12] When you think of your professional services business

[00:16:14] as a game, then you turn it into what one of my friends,

[00:16:18] Don Ancona, who's the founder

[00:16:19] of Cendias Executive Search in Albuquerque,

[00:16:21] he calls it a can't lose casino.

[00:16:24] You can turn your business into a can't lose casino

[00:16:28] when you understand which actions can give you a return

[00:16:33] and which ones have a higher likelihood

[00:16:34] of giving you a greater return

[00:16:36] and put your time and your effort in that.

[00:16:38] Think of it like this, and these are my final thoughts.

[00:16:41] Think of the 80-20 rule.

[00:16:43] 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients.

[00:16:46] 80% of your business comes from 20% of your efforts.

[00:16:49] Well, just focus on the 20% of your efforts.

[00:16:52] That gives you the greater return.

[00:16:53] That's game theory.

[00:16:55] I hope that this program has given you

[00:16:57] some ideas worth studying.

[00:16:59] Reach out to me if you wanna talk about this

[00:17:01] in greater detail.

[00:17:02] And as always, this episode is sponsored

[00:17:05] by Leopard Solutions Legal Intelligence Suite of Products,

[00:17:07] FirmScape and Leopard BI.

[00:17:09] Push ahead of the pack with the power of Leopard.

[00:17:13] Thanks again for listening,

[00:17:14] and we'll catch you next time on the Rain Making Podcast.

[00:17:21] Thank you for listening to the Rain Making Podcast.

[00:17:24] For more information about our recruiting services

[00:17:27] for international law firms,

[00:17:29] visit our website at attorneeserjgroup.com

[00:17:33] To inquire about having Scott speak

[00:17:35] at your next convention, conference, sales meeting,

[00:17:38] or executive retreat, visit therainmakingpodcast.com.