Latest / What is Business Development? / Episode 105: Top 3 Tactics from Cheri Quinn

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Episode 105: Top 3 Tactics from Cheri Quinn · What is Business Development?

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Business Development podcast, brought to you by
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  Speaker 1: the Global Business Development Association, delivering the strategies and tactics
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: to boost your career and corporate growth.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Hello BD pros, and welcome to the Global Business Development
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Association podcast called What is Business Development? And Folks. Today
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  Speaker 2: we're going to talk about a topic that I always
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: like to talk about. It's in the Business Development Body
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: of Knowledge and its trust building trust, and as is
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: indicated in the Business Development Body of Knowledge, trust is neuroscience.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: It's based on engaging with your prospects and customers on
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: three fundamental areas, purpose, empathy, and truth. And having those
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: truthful discussions is so critical, asking those open and honest
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: questions and then and then listening with an open heart
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  Speaker 2: and mind. Well, today we're going to have a great
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  Speaker 2: guest on the call that really walks us through how
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  Speaker 2: to do that. But before we get to that, let's
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  Speaker 2: be honest with ourselves. Everybody isn't a business development expert.
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  Speaker 2: We're all business development explores and myself included, and so hey,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: why don't you to explore the Business Development Body of
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Knowledge that's available on Amazon. That is the core document
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: that allows you to then take your Business Development Professional
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: certification at the GBDA website and that's at Gbdassociation dot org.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: So grab your bd bock on Amazon and get your
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: BDP certification today. All right, So today we're going to
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  Speaker 2: talk about how to really have those candid conversations in
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  Speaker 2: the top three B tactics with our guests. Who is
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  Speaker 2: Sherry Quinn? And Cherry has a wealth of experience in
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  Speaker 2: brand strategy, strategic planning, marketing strategy, communications and content strategy.
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  Speaker 2: Cherry's helped numerous organizations discover and define their best opportunities
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  Speaker 2: for growth. She understands the importance of a strong brand
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  Speaker 2: identity and the role it plays in creating an emotional
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  Speaker 2: connection to audiences. As a self proclaimed word nerd, Scherry
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  Speaker 2: excels at crafting compelling brand stories that resonate with varying audiences.
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  Speaker 2: Sherry Quinn, Welcome to the show.
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  Speaker 3: Hi, Tony, thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great to have you here, Sherry. So, I
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  Speaker 2: always like to start off by asking our guests, Hey,
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  Speaker 2: how did you get into your profession of marketing?
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  Speaker 3: Sure?
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  Speaker 4: So, officially, I guess my title is the director of
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  Speaker 4: Brand Strategy for Mercury Creative Group. We are an agency,
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  Speaker 4: and I haven't always done agency work, but have been
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  Speaker 4: in this space for the past almost six years.
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  Speaker 3: But before that, I really started in.
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  Speaker 4: Marketing, and I've been in marketing my whole life, but
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  Speaker 4: started in that brand and marketing phase with a big
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  Speaker 4: financial services firm. So worked for about ten years for
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  Speaker 4: a large broker dealer, and that gave me some great
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  Speaker 4: experience in marketing within that organization, but also marketing within
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  Speaker 4: a very compliance heavy industry, marketing within regulation and understanding
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  Speaker 4: what that means to still build connection when everyone's kind
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  Speaker 4: of doing the same thing and held under the same
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  Speaker 4: compliance and regulation. So having those two things together, I
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  Speaker 4: think really grounded me in what it means to find clarity.
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  Speaker 4: Beyond that, I went as far as I could with
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  Speaker 4: financial services.
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  Speaker 3: What I discovered along the way was that.
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  Speaker 4: In order to move up within that company, I had
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  Speaker 4: to pass my Series seven exam, so the exam to
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  Speaker 4: sell securities, which.
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  Speaker 3: I will never do. I'm going to save the world
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  Speaker 3: from that and not do that. I took that test
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  Speaker 3: twice and failed it twice.
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  Speaker 4: And realized that I was a marketer working in a
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  Speaker 4: financial services organization and not the other way around. So
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  Speaker 4: I thought, you know what I'm gonna I'm going to
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  Speaker 4: best serve the world with my talent by by really
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  Speaker 4: leaning into marketing and branding. From there, I started my
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  Speaker 4: own consultancy.
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  Speaker 3: So left that firm and knew that I wasn't going
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  Speaker 3: to move up. I couldn't pass that darn test.
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  Speaker 4: So I started my own thing and still served a
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  Speaker 4: lot of financial advisors within that industry. And then from there,
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  Speaker 4: my biggest client was Mercury Creative Group. They hired me
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  Speaker 4: to consult with their clients in the agency until they
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  Speaker 4: asked me to come on full time. So that's where
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  Speaker 4: I am today.
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  Speaker 2: Well that's a great story, Sherry, because I followed pretty
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  Speaker 2: much the same path industry wise. I've been in highly
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  Speaker 2: regulated industries from past us. I've been in the professional world,
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  Speaker 2: and it's challenging. It's challenging from a marketing perspective, from
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  Speaker 2: a business development perspective, You're limited in what you can say,
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  Speaker 2: You're limited in your abilities to engage with prospects and customers,
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  Speaker 2: and so you really have to be a solid business developer,
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  Speaker 2: a solid marketer to play under so many restrictions. So
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  Speaker 2: I really like that about your journey and how we
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  Speaker 2: have that thing in common. Looks like we also share
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  Speaker 2: a commonality in a focus on fitness. Folks that are
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  Speaker 2: listening fun facts about Sherry not only Nerd. Apparently she's
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  Speaker 2: a fitness book. You're a certified pilates instructor and pilates
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  Speaker 2: for golf specialists. Now that's quite a niche.
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  Speaker 4: Oh that's true. Yes, I am not currently teaching. I
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  Speaker 4: haven't taught for a while. Just holding those two things
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  Speaker 4: in my brain is too much sometimes to do brand
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  Speaker 4: strategy and pilates.
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  Speaker 3: But I will do pilates for the rest of my life.
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  Speaker 4: I've been doing pilates myself for honestly thirty years and
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  Speaker 4: and continue to be involved in that. But I taught
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  Speaker 4: for a long time. And also I'm not a great golfer.
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  Speaker 4: I don't want to mislead people, but I do know
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  Speaker 4: the body mechanics of it and how the thing, you know,
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  Speaker 4: the mechanics of pilates really balance and strength and resistance
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  Speaker 4: and how that how that applies to golf.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, well that's great. Yeah, No, we won't.
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  Speaker 2: We won't hold you to it to say that you're
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  Speaker 2: a great golfer. But I do find it that so
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  Speaker 2: many people come on this show, and they're in the
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  Speaker 2: business development profession and marketing where it's high stress. You know,
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  Speaker 2: you need to be able to deliver the numbers. And
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  Speaker 2: I think having a fitness quotient if you will, to
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  Speaker 2: go along with your IQ, your EQ, your emotional quotient.
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  Speaker 2: I think for survival and success in our profession that
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  Speaker 2: is so high stressed and other high stress professions, you
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  Speaker 2: really need to have some sort of outlet, and fitness
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  Speaker 2: is a big part of that. So interesting to see
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  Speaker 2: that in your background as a pilates instructor or former
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  Speaker 2: PLATES instructor not currently practicing PLATES instructor, I know is fitness.
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  Speaker 2: I have my ISSA Fitness Instructor certification, So I know
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  Speaker 2: we always want to be sensitive about saying whether we're
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  Speaker 2: currently certified or not, but hey, if you're and I
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  Speaker 2: feel for you. On the Series seven exams, I've heard
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  Speaker 2: those are very difficult to take. Good news if you
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  Speaker 2: ever want to become a Business Development Professional certified by GBDA.
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  Speaker 2: It's an open book exam, that's right, hey, folks. BD
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  Speaker 2: is an open book sport. It's a team sport. It's
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  Speaker 2: open book, so is the exam. So Sherry, we would
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  Speaker 2: never subject you to that kind of mental anguish and torture.
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  Speaker 2: All right in the in the BD community, we're all
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  Speaker 2: friends here, all right, great, well, hey, I am going
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  Speaker 2: to torture you with pulling out some of the secrets
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  Speaker 2: that you have in your top three tactics today. So
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  Speaker 2: if you wouldn't mind sharing, I know you've been in
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  Speaker 2: the industry for a while, you've been in the in
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  Speaker 2: house space, you've been in the agency world, you've had
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  Speaker 2: your own agency, so you've learned a lot here. So
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  Speaker 2: I can't wait to have you share with the listeners
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  Speaker 2: what your top three tactics are. So let's jump into
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  Speaker 2: tactic number one. What do you have for us?
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  Speaker 3: Sure? Absolutely.
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  Speaker 4: I think the first thing to understand of is that
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  Speaker 4: strategy alone. I work in brand and marketing strategies, so
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  Speaker 4: strategy alone, the definition of that word has a lot
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  Speaker 4: of meanings for people and it can be a little fluid,
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  Speaker 4: and my take on it, what I rely on is
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  Speaker 4: that strategy equals clarity. So if I were to redefine
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  Speaker 4: that word, replace the word strategy with clarity. So if
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  Speaker 4: you're thinking about what is brand strategy, it's brand clarity
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  Speaker 4: or business strategy is business clarity or sales clarity, So
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  Speaker 4: hold that as as a foundation.
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  Speaker 3: When you think about what strategy actually is.
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  Speaker 4: The first tactic I want to share is about leading
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  Speaker 4: with point of view over products and services. So when
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  Speaker 4: you're in that business development framing, that sales framing even
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  Speaker 4: and you're talking to prospects and customers or clients that
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  Speaker 4: you're leading with point of view, your point of view
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  Speaker 4: is expertise plus differentiation.
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  Speaker 3: So lead with your expertise and differentiation.
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  Speaker 4: This is primarily important in a crowded marketplace. Many of
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  Speaker 4: the places that we work right now are We're not
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  Speaker 4: the only one doing the thing we're doing. We're not
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  Speaker 4: the only one with our product. We're not the only
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  Speaker 4: one serving people the way we serve them. But your
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  Speaker 4: point of view is your point of differentiation. So how
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  Speaker 4: you think, who you are, what you do, who you're
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  Speaker 4: best for, and clarity on those three things forms really
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  Speaker 4: those point of view signals. So leading with those things
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  Speaker 4: is number one tactic.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, So tactics number one is nail down your brand strategy,
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  Speaker 2: which is, as you say, clarity, it's having clarity. Replace
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  Speaker 2: the word strategy with clarity, and that clarity needs to
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  Speaker 2: be anchored in two things one is your expertise, and
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  Speaker 2: then one is your differentiator, which ultimately forms your point
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  Speaker 2: of view as you engage with the community.
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  Speaker 3: Right, you got it?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, okay, so let me let me let me pull
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  Speaker 2: the thread on that one a little bit. Maybe we'll
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  Speaker 2: get onto it in tactic number two or three. But
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  Speaker 2: you know that it sounds easy to do, and it
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  Speaker 2: is easy to do when you do it in a vacuum. Right,
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  Speaker 2: You just get a couple of people in a room
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  Speaker 2: with a whiteboard and you just throw the Hey, this
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  Speaker 2: is what we're really good at, and oh, yeah, this
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  Speaker 2: is what we do. And but okay, well who said that?
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  Speaker 4: Who other than you.
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  Speaker 2: Guys sitting in a room and just you know, being
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  Speaker 2: self centered and thinking, you guys are the best things
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  Speaker 2: in sliced bread. So what's that methodology that you use
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  Speaker 2: to really to really add some truth into that whole process?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, I love that you asked that question.
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  Speaker 4: As a brand strategist, I also get the question of, oh,
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  Speaker 4: so you create brands for organizations, and that's not what
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  Speaker 4: I do. It's rare that I'm creating a brand. Your
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: brand already exists. It exists in the hearts and minds
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  Speaker 4: of your leaders, your team members, your customers, your community,
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  Speaker 4: your industry. All of those voices are important to hear
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  Speaker 4: and then find those common threads that pull through. So
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  Speaker 4: a lot of times if it's just a leadership team
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  Speaker 4: or a couple of people sitting in the room talking
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  Speaker 4: about how great they are, what's interesting about that To
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  Speaker 4: your point, Tony, is You're not for you, so you
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  Speaker 4: really need to capture that additional perspective. So I don't
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: need brand strategy work.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not for me. I'm for my customers and.
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  Speaker 4: My clients, so I need to really capture their perspective
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  Speaker 4: along with other perspectives within the community that I work in.
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  Speaker 4: So one of the big things my talent in the
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  Speaker 4: world is high pattern recognition. I approach brand strategy work
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  Speaker 4: through a discovery process and insights gathering across the board
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  Speaker 4: from those additional audiences, so that I'm really stringing together
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  Speaker 4: those common themes. That's the sweet spot, that's where your
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  Speaker 4: clarity lies.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm glad you provided some details there because
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  Speaker 2: you'll I think you'll like the fact that the business
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  Speaker 2: development body of Knowledges starts off with a whole discussion
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  Speaker 2: about brand and what is brand and brand is a
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  Speaker 2: container of trust, and trust consists of purpose, empathy, and truth.
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  Speaker 2: Just as I started off the podcast describing what we're
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: going to talk about today, and so, your brand trust
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  Speaker 2: is absolutely critical for your business. It is your brand
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  Speaker 2: is not your logo, folks. Okay, so if you're going
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: to hire Sherry in her team, I don't hire them
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  Speaker 2: to just create a logo for you. That's not what
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  Speaker 2: a brand is. Okay, that is your brand logo, Yes,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: but everything comes out of this brand trust. And because
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: the brand trust is intangible, you need hard data to
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: really quantify what that brand us is. And so as Sherry,
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  Speaker 2: I really like what you said about rooting that brand
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  Speaker 2: trust in data, hard data, engagement data with your community.
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  Speaker 3: Right absolutely.
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  Speaker 4: I think the business development impact of that as well
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  Speaker 4: is really about attracting aligned prospects.
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  Speaker 3: It filters out poor fit work. So when you're clear
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  Speaker 3: about who you are, what you do, who you're best for,
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  Speaker 3: it does those two things.
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  Speaker 4: It attracts aligned prospects, it filters out those that are unaligned.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that is so critical for folks that are
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  Speaker 2: probably just getting into the business development profession. You may
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: hear that and go, wait, wait, did I hear that, right,
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  Speaker 2: you actually want to turn away certain prospects and clients
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  Speaker 2: And the answer is yes. It's absolutely critical that you
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  Speaker 2: qualify your prospects and make sure that they fit your
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  Speaker 2: ideal customer profile. And that's what Cherry's talking about here,
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: is defining who that ICP is so that you know
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  Speaker 2: they're a solid fit when you bring them on. Because
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  Speaker 2: here's what happens, folk, If you bring everybody on, what
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  Speaker 2: will happen is inevitably some of those will fail, and
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  Speaker 2: they'll fail either for you or they'll fail for them. Right,
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  Speaker 2: you won't be able to truly support them to degree
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  Speaker 2: that you set their expectations to, and that can lead
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  Speaker 2: to disaster for your brand overall, because what that does
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  Speaker 2: is it destroys trust. And again, your brand is a
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: container of trust. You destroy it on the back end
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  Speaker 2: when you bring on just anybody, and that dilutes or
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: destroys your brand trust. So, Sherry, I really like tactic
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  Speaker 2: number one. Let's jump into tactic number two.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, So it builds off of that.
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  Speaker 4: So when you think about clarity and you think about
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: point of view, so expertise and differentiation. Tactic number two
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  Speaker 4: is using content to demonstrate that expertise even before your
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  Speaker 4: first call or your first meeting with somebody. So think
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  Speaker 4: about it this way. Content isn't filler, it's a filter.
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  Speaker 4: So just jumping off of what we were just talking about,
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  Speaker 4: Tony as really you're saying I can say no to
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  Speaker 4: people or there is there are clients that don't fit
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  Speaker 4: with what I do, So using that.
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  Speaker 3: Content as not as filler, but as a filter.
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  Speaker 4: A couple of things to note is first defining your
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: primary audience primary audience over everybody, putting them at the
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: center and speaking directly to them. Whose attention do you want,
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  Speaker 4: who do you serve best? Putting them at the center
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  Speaker 4: of your messaging. Now that's not to the exclusion of
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  Speaker 4: people that are surrounding that center.
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  Speaker 3: You if you're talking.
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  Speaker 4: To this person that you serve best, and someone else
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  Speaker 4: wants to give you their money and engage with you, you
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  Speaker 4: can still say yes, they're still going to align with
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: some of that messaging and that's great, But really dial
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: into who's in the center and then understanding their real tensions,
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  Speaker 4: their real decision making process. That's a sweet.
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  Speaker 3: Spot, and then articulate that point of view, that expertise.
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  Speaker 4: And differentiation and show them, how you help and how
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  Speaker 4: you add value.
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  Speaker 3: So why does this work.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: The right people feel seen because they're aligning with your message.
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: The wrong people will self select out, and that's okay.
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: I want everyone listening to one believe in abundance. There's
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: enough to go around and allow those right people, those
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: right fit clients to align with you, and the wrong
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: ones to self select out. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I really like what you said about enabling the community
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  Speaker 2: to consume your content. Everybody's at free will to consume
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: your content, but provide content that isn't a filler, but
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: it's a filter. I really like that phrase. Content that's
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: a filter, not a filler. And that is so powerful because,
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  Speaker 2: as you said, it enables a lot of those folks
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  Speaker 2: in your audience to self select and maybe someday they
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: will be an ideal customer for you as they evolve
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: and the nurture with your content over time, and if
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: you do it right, a lot of your content should
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: help nurture them along to the point that they do
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  Speaker 2: become a great candidate, a great prospect for you. But
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: they're just not a good prospect right now, and that's okay,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: and that's okay. Help them succeed along the way, but
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: also also help them learn. Ah, Okay, I'm not ready
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: for company XYZ yet. I need to wait, But boy,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: I can't wait till that day, that day that I
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: can become their customer. Those are the prospects that you
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: want right high ICP fit and they are eager, they're
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: just and if your marketing team is doing it right
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: on the demand gen side, they are going to be
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: knocking down your door and every time you open that door,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: it's your ICP. So Cherry, I love that one. I
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  Speaker 2: know we could go deeper into tactic number two, but
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: I think we need to go on to tactic number
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: three here just for the purpose of sticking to our
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: time schedule. So can we jump into tactic number three?
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  Speaker 3: Of course?
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  Speaker 4: The third one that I wanted to share is about
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: designing strategic conversations. So when you get to that point
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: of conversation with a prospect it or even deepening with
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: a client, design strategic conversations, not pitches.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: So this is the way that we at Mercury Creative Group.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: We use our own method even when we're in a
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: sales conversation.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: And what I mean by that is.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: When I talk about discovering and defining. That's what we
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: even do in sales conversations. It makes it more a
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: strategic conversation over a pitch. So we're discovering really asking
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: better question, just helping that prospect reframe the problem they
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: might be having they might be having, listening with that
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: open heart, open mind, pulling those common threads together and
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: then creating that clarity in real time, creating that strategy,
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: if you will, in real time. So strategic conversations over
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: pitches when you get to that point of having a conversation.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So I'm curious about this one because I really
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: like what you're saying. Create conversations, not pitches. Nobody wants
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: to be pitched.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah right.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: People want a conversation, they want a story, They want
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: to be the hero of the story. Tell me a
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: little bit about how you're engaging with sales and business
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: developers as they're prospecting, as they're going through the conversion process.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: What's your role in marketing and what is the key
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: takeaway for business developers to understand how can we be
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: an effective partner, how can we be aligned with marketing
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: as we have these conversations or before we had the conversations.
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: I think the alignment comes through with consistency. So brand
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: and marketing is sometimes seen as this fancied, cool, sexy
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: thing that changes all the time and trying to get
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: a lot of engagement and intention or attention.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: I should say, but in reality, brand is boring.
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: Great branding is boring meaning and I'll elaborate on that
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: a little bit.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: What that means is it's the consistency that you say
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: over and over and over again.
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: Bringing your authenticity forward with clarity and being consistent.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: With it helps your audience get to know you.
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: So the best thing you can do in sales business
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: development when you're having those conversations with prospects or with
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: clients is to be consistent with your brand message, be
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: consistent with the marketing that is out in the world
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: represent sending you so that someone can trust what you're
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: saying in this way of strategic conversation over pitching, when
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: you get when you get stuck with pitching, you're.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Just responding and reacting and answering in.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: A reactive way rather than coming from a place of authenticity.
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: So stick with the consistency, know your brand and say
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: it over and over and over again.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: It's okay to be a little bored with it.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well I like that. I've been accused of being
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: boring more often times than I like, So I must
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: be great at branding.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: I guess.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Brand But you know, I think the key part is
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: understand that marketing, business development, sales were all on the
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: same go to market team here, and it's critical to
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: have the conversations not only with our prospects, but the
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: conversations across the team, you know, as marketing is initiating
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: the brand strategy and creating a lot of the content
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: that we as business developers use, as salespeople use, and
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: the whole go to market motions, it's critical that we
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: as business developers and salespeople also provide feedback I think
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: to marketing. Of Okay, I went in, here's what I
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: here's the conversations that we had with the prospect and
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: this is what they said, and we're seeing a trend here,
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: and so that trend is a feedback mechanism. I think
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: that's critical for marketing because of marketing you're often not
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: engaging face to face with the prospects and customers. So
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: I think that candid feedback to marketing is critical, isn't it?
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: Absolutely It goes back to the first thing we talked
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: about about how your brand lives in the hearts and
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: minds of lots of different audiences and bringing that forward,
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: finding those common themes and merging them together is really
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: what creates that trust.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I love how you just brought it all
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: right back around to where we started starting with trust.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: Let me summarize the top three tactics and take away
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: that you shared with us sharing. So tactic number one is,
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: you know brand, create your brand strategy, but replace the
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: words strategy with clarity. And clarity is based on creating
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: a POV that's grounded in data backed perspectives of what
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: do you do really well, what's your expertise and how
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: are you differentiated. The tactic number two is create content filters,
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: not content fillers. Provide value along the way to your
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: prospects so that they can convert to customers and so
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: that they can self select nurture themselves. And when they
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: knock on that door, you're opening the door to eager
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: icp prospects. And then finally it's tactic number three that
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: brings it all around and the focus is to create conversations,
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: not pitches, and when we're having those conversations with our audience,
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: working together as one go to market team, where we're
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: communicating back to marketing what the audience is saying. The
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: audience is always evolving, our community is always evolving, our
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: company's capabilities are always evolving. So it has to be
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: a constant conversation back and forth to continually refine and
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: go back to tactic number one. It's one virtuous loop
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: if you do it right, and if you do it right,
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: you'll be boring. But I'll tell you what, Sherry, the
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: word nerd Quinn, you were not boring today. Wonderful conversation
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: with you, Shary. How can folks follow your work? How
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: can they connect with you?
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah? Absolutely.
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: You can definitely find me on LinkedIn, so search for
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: me there. I'm Sherry Quinn on LinkedIn at Mercury Creative
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: Group also Mercurycreativegroup dot com. And there's a number of
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: tools available there, even on our home page for helping
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: people discover their primary audience, their value proposition, and really
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: the marketing components that they can use after they have
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: those that foundation in place.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I bet you. There's a bunch of content
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: filters in that content that you have freely available to everybody,
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: but folks, please connect with Sherry, follow her work, and
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: if you have needs for creating your own brand strategy
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: and really generating revenue through your content that's valuable, reach
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: out to Sherry and her team. Sherry Quinn, thank you
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: so much for sharing your wisdom with us today.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Tony, Thank you for listening to the Business
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Development Podcast. Join our free community of corporate partners and
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: business development professionals advancing the art, science, and ethics of
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: the business development profession at GBD Association dot org.