Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Scott Grozelle and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Scott Grozelle and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:16
  Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
• 0:20
  Connections, the show where real relationships
• 0:23
  create real results. I'm your host, Michael Foreman.
• 0:26
  Let's be honest, most professionals have experienced
• 0:30
  networking that felt more like a sales pitch
• 0:33
  than a conversation. Too many people enter the
• 0:36
  room focused on closing a deal instead of building
• 0:39
  a relationship. But the truth is, the most successful
• 0:43
  professionals often grow their businesses in
• 0:46
  a very different way they become known for their
• 0:50
  knowledge their credibility and trust that they
• 0:53
  build with others in their industry my guest
• 0:57
  today believes that authentic relationships consistently
• 1:00
  outperform traditional sales tactics We're talking
• 1:05
  about how deep industry knowledge positions you
• 1:08
  as a resource, how trust develops through genuine
• 1:11
  conversations, and why people are far more likely
• 1:15
  to do business with someone they respect than
• 1:18
  someone trying to sell them something. So if
• 1:21
  you want to build connections that naturally
• 1:24
  lead to opportunity, this episode is for you.
• 1:28
  I'd like to welcome to my podcast, Scott. Scott,
• 1:31
  you are a professional or an expert in all of
• 1:36
  this. So why don't you introduce yourself? Give
• 1:39
  us the cliff notes of how you got where you are
• 1:42
  today. Sure. Thanks, Mike, for having me on your
• 1:45
  show. Yeah, so I started actually in architecture.
• 1:50
  I got out of college. I moved to the U .S. I
• 1:53
  was born and raised in Canada. And I moved to
• 1:56
  the US doing architecture for 10 years. And as
• 1:59
  much as I liked, I loved being in the US. That
• 2:02
  was the best part. But I didn't really care much
• 2:04
  for doing architecture anymore. I just, I found
• 2:08
  it too confining. I wanted to change careers.
• 2:11
  I wanted to get into more sales and just working
• 2:15
  more with people in that kind of an environment.
• 2:18
  So I ended up moving back to Canada and I went
• 2:22
  from architecture into... into construction more
• 2:26
  with larger buildings and custom homes. So I
• 2:30
  got to wear a lot of hats, which I was excited
• 2:33
  about. I got to do the sales. I got to do the
• 2:35
  construction. Like I said, I wore a lot of hats.
• 2:38
  So it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed that
• 2:41
  end of it. So it just felt like a really natural
• 2:44
  transition for me because I could use what I
• 2:46
  learned in architecture, carry it over. I ended
• 2:50
  up moving to Alberta and I got in with the medium
• 2:53
  -sized home builder. We were doing around 50
• 2:55
  to 75 homes a year. And then I got into, I partnered
• 3:00
  up with a couple of other guys and we started
• 3:01
  our own custom home building company. And we
• 3:04
  came right out of the gates quickly. And once
• 3:06
  again, we're lots of hats and we were doing probably
• 3:09
  around 75 homes a year, custom speculation homes,
• 3:16
  just a variety and renovations and everything.
• 3:19
  That's how I made my transition from architecture
• 3:23
  to where I am. So we closed up. How I got to
• 3:28
  here now was we closed up around 2019. There's
• 3:33
  a lot of cycles in Alberta, which makes it really
• 3:35
  difficult to navigate the highs and lows. You
• 3:38
  get caught with all your capital sitting into
• 3:41
  one development all of a sudden. It's just dangerous.
• 3:43
  So the comfort level became where let's just
• 3:46
  part ways, everyone. the three of us, which was
• 3:49
  tough because I really built something I really
• 3:51
  loved and was hugely passionate about. So when
• 3:55
  I closed that up, I started getting a lot of
• 3:56
  calls from people that were working on large
• 3:59
  projects in a cost plus environment or whatever.
• 4:03
  And it was referrals because I really cared about
• 4:05
  my clients and I built relationships like that.
• 4:08
  And the referrals just carried on and carried
• 4:10
  on. And then I had one guy that had a big development
• 4:13
  in Calgary and he wasn't comfortable with his
• 4:17
  numbers. And he was really nervous about it.
• 4:19
  So he sent me all his information, all the documents
• 4:21
  and all the pricing. And I reviewed it and I
• 4:24
  realized that there's just a lot of things going
• 4:27
  on behind the scenes. So I helped him navigate
• 4:29
  through that and saved him a few hundred thousand
• 4:32
  dollars for sure. Because it was a large project.
• 4:35
  But same with homes, a custom home, you can spend
• 4:38
  a couple million bucks and you don't realize
• 4:40
  that you're throwing a lot of that money away.
• 4:42
  And so that's where I got. I guess I built my
• 4:45
  business around being. transparent and doing
• 4:49
  what I like. And I have a pretty good knowledge.
• 4:50
  I've been doing this for, how do we say, around
• 4:52
  25 to 30 years. I've been involved with at some
• 4:55
  level of construction all the way to where I
• 4:57
  am now. Good. Okay. Okay. Thank you for giving
• 5:02
  us the background. You emphasize the power of
• 5:05
  industry knowledge. How does deep understanding
• 5:09
  of your field change the way people respond to
• 5:12
  you in networking conversations? Oh, it's huge.
• 5:16
  Yeah. I mean, it's, they get a sense of that.
• 5:19
  You're not BSing them at all. So it gives them
• 5:23
  the comfort level. And I put out three books
• 5:25
  just recently with all my, everything I learned
• 5:29
  over the last three decades. And the books actually
• 5:33
  had a lot of credibility because there's a lot
• 5:34
  of information. And if they know my background
• 5:37
  like that, then it's, there is a, it just seems
• 5:40
  to bridge that, bridges the confidence right
• 5:43
  away. Many professionals rely on sales tactics.
• 5:50
  Why do authentic relationships often outperform
• 5:55
  those approaches in the long term? Yeah, that's
• 6:00
  important. I always believe in relationships.
• 6:02
  That's how I built my success. I just think the
• 6:06
  sales pitches and I took a bunch of those programs,
• 6:09
  those classes, and I just felt it just, it didn't
• 6:13
  work. And I just felt if you're being honest,
• 6:16
  transparent, you build trust, your referrals
• 6:19
  come so much more. And then if you come pre -qualified,
• 6:24
  if somebody's recommending you, you know, that
• 6:27
  says a lot. And I tell you, that's where you're
• 6:29
  building your business. And like you said, it's,
• 6:31
  you're doing stuff that's scripted and that's
• 6:34
  not genuine and people feel it right away. There's
• 6:36
  no question. They sure do. I take the pandemic
• 6:39
  as a line in the sand. Before the pandemic was
• 6:43
  really transactional. People really weren't thinking
• 6:47
  about relationships and authenticity and everything
• 6:50
  else. But post -pandemic, it's become more because
• 6:55
  Zoom came into it. And you had to realize that
• 6:58
  there were people behind the camera. And you're
• 7:02
  speaking to people. So you have to create that
• 7:04
  relationship first. Nobody likes the guy. walking
• 7:08
  up to you and giving you a business card and
• 7:11
  saying, look, I do X, Y, Z. Doesn't work. No,
• 7:15
  it really doesn't. All right. What does someone
• 7:18
  say or avoid saying in a first conversation that
• 7:23
  signals credibility instead of just persuasion?
• 7:28
  For me, when I would meet somebody, I would ask
• 7:31
  them pre -qualifying questions right away. And,
• 7:34
  you know, at the end of the day, I would ask
• 7:36
  them right out. If you're looking to build, I'd
• 7:40
  like to build for you. I'd like you to pick me.
• 7:43
  I just, I want to work with you. And I would
• 7:45
  just be right out honest about it. If you're
• 7:47
  looking to build, I hope I can earn your business.
• 7:50
  That's usually how I made it work for myself.
• 7:54
  And I watched a lot of people over the years.
• 7:56
  Like a lot of times we would, my wife and I would
• 7:58
  go in to different developments in different
• 8:01
  cities and that, and just see how the salespeople
• 8:03
  were. We're reacting with or interacting, I guess
• 8:06
  you could say, with the people that were coming
• 8:07
  into their sales center. And the ones that were
• 8:10
  doing well, they were pre -qualifying you through
• 8:14
  questions and that. Nobody wants to waste a bunch
• 8:16
  of time on somebody that's not serious. But you
• 8:19
  do find the ones that are serious will take the
• 8:21
  time to give you the information that you need
• 8:23
  to move forward. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. There's
• 8:26
  a book written a long time ago, like 15 or 20
• 8:29
  years, called The Rating Fan. by Ken Blanchard.
• 8:34
  And it's like a 45 minute read. And it's out
• 8:37
  of publication already. I used to, I always used
• 8:40
  to be in a mortgage field and I used to buy them
• 8:43
  by the truckload. I used to give it with my business
• 8:46
  card to a realtor. And I said, look, for customer
• 8:49
  service, read this book. Really quick, it's really
• 8:54
  simple, but it teaches you all the basics of
• 8:57
  having good customer relationship. And it's incredible.
• 9:02
  You would think that it's common sense, but it's
• 9:06
  not. It's really not. People don't think about
• 9:08
  it, but that's a really good book to read. Oh,
• 9:12
  go ahead. Sorry. No, go ahead. Go. No, I was
• 9:15
  going to say in the mortgage business, that's
• 9:16
  important also, like the referrals. That's going
• 9:19
  to make or break you. pretty quickly it was all
• 9:23
  referrals all referrals and where i came from
• 9:26
  the county had 3 000 realtors wow and the mortgage
• 9:33
  guys were almost as much you were working your
• 9:36
  way through the forest to get to the one referral
• 9:39
  so i changed what i did 100 and authentic relationship
• 9:46
  building I went into it with a servant's heart.
• 9:50
  I wanted to say, how can I make you more successful?
• 9:54
  And all of that turned everything around for
• 9:56
  me. And that's when I started becoming successful.
• 10:00
  Mortgage company. Yeah. How does sharing insight
• 10:03
  from experience build trust faster than trying
• 10:07
  to close the deal? Yeah, I never was one to push
• 10:13
  a close quickly. I would want to earn the trust
• 10:17
  for sure. And I want to gain their trust. And,
• 10:20
  you know, because that to me, like you said,
• 10:22
  I didn't want it to be transactional ever because
• 10:26
  that doesn't work. Not for longevity. And especially
• 10:29
  in a home building, that's one of the biggest
• 10:32
  purchases of your life right there. And I always
• 10:36
  found that if you walk into a Best Buy or an
• 10:39
  RV place and those guys knew their products so
• 10:42
  well. And that was, I'm thinking, why wouldn't
• 10:47
  you want to be working with somebody that knew
• 10:49
  that kind of knowledge on one of the biggest
• 10:51
  purchases of your life? And that's where I found
• 10:54
  that's where I would gain the trust. I would
• 10:57
  walk them through a project midway through construction
• 11:00
  just to show them the important stuff behind
• 11:02
  the walls before it gets drywalled in and that.
• 11:06
  So once you build like credibility, you're moving
• 11:10
  forward. You have to realize that if you're a
• 11:13
  good salesman, your sales cycle, like the back
• 11:17
  of your hand, but nobody teaches you how to properly
• 11:22
  network, how to properly communicate, how to
• 11:27
  properly get the other person's attention. You
• 11:29
  may know your product really well, but your communication
• 11:33
  skills lack. That's where I'm going to move to
• 11:37
  somebody else. That's right. Yes. Yeah, that's
• 11:40
  another piece of the puzzle that has to come
• 11:42
  together. Absolutely. And yeah, you're right.
• 11:46
  Communication is going to move you. It's going
• 11:50
  to move the needle. Let's just say that, right?
• 11:53
  Yes, absolutely. What habits help someone become
• 11:57
  known as a trusted resource rather than just
• 12:00
  another salesperson? Obviously, networking, going
• 12:04
  on, creating YouTube videos and that and becoming
• 12:07
  that voice. is huge that's something i've just
• 12:10
  recently adopted because i just feel that people
• 12:15
  want to know more about you who you are you know
• 12:17
  what you are and that's i think important in
• 12:21
  getting yourself out there for sure is social
• 12:25
  media has become a part of being recognized.
• 12:30
  When you go out and you speak with people, when
• 12:33
  you network with them, they may ask, if they
• 12:36
  don't know of you, what work have you done beforehand?
• 12:40
  Or who do you know that I can go talk to? So
• 12:43
  all of that builds credibility. And the more
• 12:47
  credibility you have, yeah, it's huge. It's huge.
• 12:49
  Yep. I couldn't agree more. Where do people unintentionally
• 12:54
  damage trust when they focus too much on the
• 12:57
  transaction? They try to over -promise, seems
• 13:01
  to be one of the biggest. Over -promise and under
• 13:05
  -deliver. Every time, anytime I see that, it's
• 13:09
  just going to be a recipe for disaster. Clients
• 13:11
  don't mind you being honest. And if you can't
• 13:15
  do something or can't give them something, be
• 13:18
  upfront about it. Everybody's trying to be in
• 13:21
  business and stay in business. If you want to
• 13:24
  blow trust really quick, start over promising.
• 13:29
  It's a great way to destroy your business. And
• 13:32
  then you're assuring your own. If you're a salesperson,
• 13:34
  a realtor, a new home salesperson, and you're
• 13:37
  over promising and you're not delivering, nobody's
• 13:40
  winning them. The company's upset with you. The
• 13:43
  client's upset. You're not getting referrals.
• 13:45
  You're not going to get a network of people coming
• 13:47
  to you ever. And the other thing I noticed is
• 13:50
  when you become that person that people are talking
• 13:55
  about, you're getting a lot of different referral
• 13:57
  sources coming. You're going to get them from
• 13:59
  mortgage brokers, love working with somebody
• 14:02
  that understands the industry really well. You
• 14:05
  know that for sure. Realtors love bringing a
• 14:08
  client that they know they're going to be handing
• 14:10
  it off because they trust you and they know you're
• 14:13
  not going to fumble it. And those things... When
• 14:17
  you build that kind of trust, you don't want
• 14:18
  it to be deteriorating anytime soon because that's
• 14:22
  your business. That's your pipeline for sure.
• 14:24
  Absolutely. Absolutely. How can someone use their
• 14:28
  industry knowledge to add value to conversations
• 14:31
  without sounding like they're lecturing? Yeah,
• 14:37
  you don't want to come off like that for sure.
• 14:39
  And I don't know. I always watch how I present
• 14:43
  myself. Because you don't want to become arrogant
• 14:46
  or belittle someone just because they don't know
• 14:50
  what you know. It took me 30 years to get to
• 14:53
  where I got. And I don't know. I just think you
• 14:58
  just got to listen more than you talk. Listen
• 15:01
  for what the questions they have. I think that's
• 15:02
  important. And then answer. Try not to overstep
• 15:06
  where you don't need to. Because that'll tear
• 15:09
  people apart also. Yeah, it's really important
• 15:12
  that you listen. Whenever I talk about communication,
• 15:16
  about networking, listening is such an important
• 15:19
  part of the networking and communication. You
• 15:23
  have to listen to what they have to say, but
• 15:27
  you don't come up with the next thing that you
• 15:28
  want to talk about. Don't do that. You're listening
• 15:32
  to the person, and then you're responding partly
• 15:34
  with what they're talking about, and you're saying,
• 15:37
  if I understand you correctly, you said X, Y,
• 15:40
  Z. Excuse me. So you're really paying attention.
• 15:45
  You're not saying very much. And that pause,
• 15:49
  oh, my God, that pause after you listen to them,
• 15:53
  it tells the other person that, yes, you were
• 15:56
  listening and you're responding to what they
• 15:59
  have to say, not the next thing you want to come
• 16:02
  up with. Exactly. I agree. Okay. What role does
• 16:07
  curiosity play in building authentic professional
• 16:11
  relationships? That's interesting. Yeah. Somebody's
• 16:17
  curious and they're coming to you with questions
• 16:19
  about what you do and what you have to offer.
• 16:22
  That's important. They're curious enough to be
• 16:24
  talking to you and have the conversation open.
• 16:27
  So to me, that's important. That's all, that's
• 16:29
  the whole part of the engaging part. And that's
• 16:32
  how you get, ultimately everybody wants to close
• 16:34
  whatever their, whatever service product, whatever
• 16:37
  you are selling, you want to move the needle
• 16:40
  towards the end of it. And that's the sale. Yeah.
• 16:43
  Curiosity does build the pathway to that. Absolutely.
• 16:47
  You have to ask the questions. Otherwise, you're
• 16:50
  not going to know. You're not going to truly.
• 16:53
  And you're going to have to find out what their
• 16:55
  problem is, because that's what that's the crux
• 16:58
  of everything. The person has a problem. You
• 17:01
  have a solution. Exactly. What I teach my clients
• 17:05
  is that, OK, yes, you're a problem solver and
• 17:08
  they have a problem, but you don't want to meet
• 17:11
  them right there. You want to solve their problem,
• 17:15
  but you want to meet them a little ways up the
• 17:17
  ladder because you want to be there for them
• 17:20
  after you solve their problem and you want to
• 17:23
  be there for them. Absolutely. A little after.
• 17:27
  So it all works out. No, you're absolutely correct.
• 17:30
  You want it. You want to be guiding them. You
• 17:32
  don't want to be stumbling along with them. That's
• 17:34
  not going to build the credibility that you're
• 17:37
  looking for. No, and you're not the expert then,
• 17:39
  right? If you're stumbling with that, you have
• 17:41
  to be able to take them by the hand and say,
• 17:42
  look, I want to lead you this way. I don't want
• 17:46
  to walk with you to get to this point. You don't
• 17:49
  want to stumble around and say, look, I'm not
• 17:52
  sure, but I think we should go this way. And
• 17:54
  it doesn't work out that way. No, it doesn't.
• 17:57
  For professionals who feel pressured to sell
• 18:01
  themselves, what mindset shift helps them focus
• 18:05
  on connection instead? Everybody likes to elevate
• 18:12
  themselves, I guess, is the better way of putting
• 18:14
  it. And I don't know if that's necessarily the
• 18:19
  best way of approaching anything. The mind shift
• 18:23
  part. I think you got to focus on the client
• 18:26
  and really where they're going with it. It's
• 18:29
  nice to be able to elevate yourself, I guess
• 18:31
  you can say. But at the end of the day, the client
• 18:35
  is who you should be concerned with. That's the
• 18:37
  mind shift for sure. Absolutely. And I go across
• 18:41
  the country speaking about all of this. And one
• 18:45
  of the things I bring into it is humor. And it's
• 18:49
  more self -deprecating than anything else because
• 18:52
  I'm going to make fun of myself, all my problems,
• 18:55
  all my mistakes. Everybody will have a good laugh,
• 18:57
  but they can't laugh. They're not going to be
• 19:00
  upset with me because I'm not doing it to anybody
• 19:02
  else. I'm just doing it to myself. Sure. Why
• 19:05
  not? If you can't laugh at yourself, who can
• 19:08
  you? Absolutely. And me, I can laugh at myself
• 19:11
  all day. So that's beside the point. Yeah. Okay.
• 19:14
  So let's bring this podcast full circle. If a
• 19:18
  listener wants to build a reputation as someone
• 19:22
  people trust and recommend, what one relationship
• 19:26
  -building habit should start immediately? Honestly,
• 19:33
  I would just be transparent, trust, focus on
• 19:38
  always having an open conversation, I guess.
• 19:44
  That's a good way to start things. I don't see
• 19:49
  as many people taking the path of that. I mean,
• 19:53
  but it's the longevity. That's where it's going
• 19:56
  to get you in the end, right? And that's how
• 19:59
  you're going to build connections. And that's
• 20:00
  when people don't refer people that they trust
• 20:02
  and they feel good about. I refer people I trust.
• 20:05
  I will not refer anybody I don't trust. And I
• 20:09
  guess the philosophy I always run with, always
• 20:12
  have, would I do this? Would I want this done
• 20:15
  to myself? Anything I'm buying, any information
• 20:19
  I want, is this the kind of information that
• 20:23
  I would want to be provided to myself? If I can't
• 20:26
  say yes and I'm answering no, then your integrity
• 20:30
  is being compromised at that point. Absolutely.
• 20:33
  It's know you, like you, trust you. They'll do
• 20:37
  business with you. And that trust factor is so
• 20:40
  important. It's so important because, listen,
• 20:43
  and you're right. You're absolutely right. If
• 20:45
  I don't trust you, why am I going to refer you?
• 20:49
  I'm never going to do business with you, and
• 20:51
  I don't expect anybody that I know to do business
• 20:54
  with you. So that's a very good thing. Yep. Okay.
• 20:59
  This conversation reminds us that strong business
• 21:03
  relationships are rarely built through pressure.
• 21:06
  They're built through trust, consistency, and
• 21:11
  genuine interest in helping others succeed. When
• 21:14
  people see you as someone who understands the
• 21:17
  industry and genuinely cares about the relationship,
• 21:20
  opportunities follow naturally. That's the power
• 21:24
  of credibility over tactics. Take one step this
• 21:28
  week. Instead of trying to impress someone in
• 21:31
  your next conversation, focus on understanding
• 21:34
  them and sharing something useful from your experience.
• 21:39
  You'll be surprised at how quickly trust begins
• 21:42
  to grow. If you found value in today's episode,
• 21:46
  make sure that you like, follow, and subscribe
• 21:48
  to Networking Unleashed, building profitable
• 21:50
  connections so you keep getting the best insights
• 21:54
  on networking and communication and share this
• 21:57
  episode with someone who believes relationships
• 22:00
  are the real founder of business success. If
• 22:03
  you'd like. If you'd like help strengthening
• 22:06
  how you communicate and build meaningful professional
• 22:09
  relationships, visit me to learn how I work with
• 22:12
  professionals, teams, and organizations. So until
• 22:16
  next time, lead with knowledge, build with trust,
• 22:19
  and create connections that last. But what I
• 22:23
  should have done before I did my little outro
• 22:25
  there, Scott, if anybody wants to get hold of
• 22:29
  you, what's the best way that they can do it?
• 22:32
  They can visit me on my website at scottgrozel
• 22:36
  .com, G -R -O -Z -E -L -L -E. And that has my
• 22:41
  books on there, Amazon. My books are on Amazon,
• 22:44
  all three of them. And yeah, but my website,
• 22:48
  I've got lots of freebies on there. I've got
• 22:50
  a free ebook. So yeah, I'm here to help. And
• 22:53
  I always say, send me a message if there's something
• 22:55
  on there that you want, that you're looking for
• 22:57
  some information. I'm here. That's great. Scott,
• 23:01
  thank you very much for coming on the podcast.
• 23:04
  You're a great guest. Thank you, Mike. Appreciate
• 23:07
  it. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.
• 23:15
  Let's hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co
• 23:18
  -founder, Revved Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on
• 23:22
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  They provide prevention training programs for
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• 23:35
  to revvedupkids .org. Henry Kaplan, Century 21.
• 23:40
  When it comes to making the biggest financial
• 23:42
  decision of your life, leave it in the hands
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  of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan. Henry
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  is a global real estate agent with Century 21,
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  celebrating his 41st year in business. No matter
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  where you're moving, Henry has the right connections
• 23:58
  for you. You can contact Henry at 561 -427 -4888.
• 24:06
  A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such...
• 24:09
  insights today. And of course, a big shout out
• 24:13
  to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
• 24:16
  and spending your time with us. If you're interested
• 24:19
  in my digital courses, being coached or having
• 24:22
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• 24:25
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• 24:29
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• 24:32
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• 24:35
  get out there and make some meaningful connections.
• 24:39
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• 24:42
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• 24:50
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• 24:55
  or my website, foreman .com slash podcasts.