What Business Development REALLY Means, According to Cannon Carr

Mo asks Cannon Carr: What is your personal definition of business development?

If you have a craft that you know and love and want to grow, you are naturally going to step into business development so you might as well do it right.
For Cannon, business development is about connecting people and ideas. He thinks of it as purposeful engagement that connects those two things.
Connecting people with ideas often becomes deeply personal. During the pandemic, Cannon noticed a number of clients struggling with aging parents so they put a lot of effort into coming up with and connecting clients with ideas to help manage the issue.
Taxes and the rapidly changing legislative landscape has been another area where Cannon and his team have been working with clients to stay ahead of the curve.
The foundation is always being helpful rather than looking directly for business. It's not about the revenue, it's about enriching lives.
Sometimes the solution falls outside of the firm's specialty and that's okay as long as the end result is helping a person out.
You have to think of your relationships as a portfolio with investements in people all the time. Being proactive and helpful will eventually pay off.
Not everything will connect. You have to look for additional opportunities to be helpful and keep reaching out.
Think about business development as solving problems through connecting people and ideas together. If you are doing a good job, you will naturally get your share of the business. Proactive engagement is vital for service businesses.