Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections. An Interview with Jeff Blackman and Michael A Forman

Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, building Profitable Connections, the podcast where we turn handshakes into opportunities and conversations into conversions. Today's guest is someone who knows how to turn strategy into results, and not just on paper. He's the bestselling author of Peak Your Profits and Bullseye Hitting Your Targets at Home and at Work.

His insights have helped entrepreneurs, leaders, and professionals across the country and aim with precision and connect with intention. If you've ever wondered how to build a network that actually drives profits without wasting time and energy and sanity, this episode is your bullseye. We'll dive. We're diving deep.

We're diving into the power of Purposeful connection, which. It means to align relationships with results and how you can level up your networking game. And starting today. Jeff, I hope I didn't put you that too much, but I'd like to welcome Jeff Blackman to my podcast. Jeff, it's so great to have you.

Can you give us a little bit about your background? Oh, thanks Michael. Really appreciate being with you and your many listeners and viewers. I will give you the unequivocal, abridged version. So I'm actually trained as a lawyer. I have been a lawyer since 1982. The good news is I have never practiced law.

I wanted to be a litigator, but you quickly determine and understand that in law school litigators. They don't litigate. They want to avoid going to court because it's so time consuming, exhaustive, and it cost clients a lot of money. I go, wait a minute. The thing that I want to do, I'm not gonna do much of.

So I really gravitated my first loves, which were related to. Communications and broadcasting. We also got a broadcasting background. So here in Chicago, and I'm talking to you from a northern suburb of Chicago right now, Glenview, it's what we call the North Shore. So from downtown Chicago, we are 23 miles to the north and then we to the west.

So from 82 through 89, I, along with two other partners and then by myself, had a radio talk show. So just the way you and I are doing, what we are doing today, years ago, it wasn't called a podcast, but this is really radio or for that matter, television and guests could have been literally Bruce Jenner.

Bruce, not Caitlyn. I knew Bruce back in the eighties. A terrific guest. Ted Coppel, the broadcaster, Oprah Wintry. In addition, Walter Cronkite. And we interviewed entertainers entrepreneurs. So if somebody was interested, I would talk. To them, Jim Lovell, the Apollo 13 astronaut. So I had the great pleasure to sit down with many folks like that, but it was always a compliment my broadcasting radio and TV to what I decided to do.

And that was Speak 1982. I really didn't know what that meant, but over time, clients began to define me as being their business growth specialist because I helped them quickly. And ethically and dramatically grow their businesses. So my clients have really evolved over the years, but primarily now it's the C-suite.

So I'm dealing with the president, the owner, the chairman, the chairwoman, whoever else might be in that C-suite, VP of Sales and marketing, chief Revenue Officer. So I work with them and I work with their team, and we do it in a variety of ways. It could be speaking, training, consulting, ongoing learning system.

And then we've got lots of business growth tools. But fortunate, we have had six bestselling books, and then we've got audios, videos, et cetera, but all designed for one purpose, and that's to help people really meet and exceed their goals. And again, quickly, ethically, and grammatically. And the good news is.

It works because everything we do, Michael, is with an unequivocal no risk assurance. Folks can go to our website and read about it. I explained it in a video. If you think we're not gonna have to generate dollars equal to, or far greater than whatever dollars you've given us, we'll give you all your money back.

And it's a bet, thankfully, that we've never lost because this stuff works, not my opinion, but thankfully, the experiences of lots and lots of clients who have generated really remarkable results, literally generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new business. Sounds wonderful. It really does.

I've been to your website, I've seen that the video and I have nothing but to assume that everything you're telling us is correct. And and we're gonna get into that a little bit later on, but let's delve into the questions that I've come up with. Your book, peak Your Profits, dives deep into strategic growth.

How does networking play in that profitability formula, especially for solopreneurs and small business owners? What's interesting about networking or one's network, and you have heard, like I have heard really now for decades, is that one's network is really all about their net worth. And it's true of any business.

It's not just a solopreneur, it's not just a small business. Any individual, even if they're working for a large corporation, even Fortune 500, who they know is absolutely crucial. But then there's a subtlety. When you and I first chatted several weeks ago, one of the things that we discussed is that I've returned, thankfully to my al Mater, that's the University of Illinois, and that's in Champaign Urbana, approximately 150 miles south of Chicago.

And our youngest daughter, Amanda, graduated from Illinois. My wife is also graduate from Illinois, but from the medical center. She had a phenomenal career as an occupational therapist, but I always loved going back to campus until Amanda graduated in 2017. And then I didn't have a connection, but it turned out I did.

I became very friendly with Amanda's professor, Tom Costello, who unfortunately has now passed away, but TC was a terrific guy. I went back for a couple of years and spoke to his College of Communications students, which I was a College of Communications student back in the seventies. And then I went back after that once Tom had passed away, and I spoke to the kids at Geese College, which is the business college at the University of Illinois.

And the kids would often say to me, Hey, isn't it important? What you know, and I'd say yes. And they go, is it important Who you know? And I would say, yes, but those two things are not the most important. They go, what? What do you mean? I go, what's really important is who knows you. And that's what really effective networking is all about is who knows you yet at the same time.

What do you know about an individual? So you can connect individuals And I do it all the time. One of my great joys is my clients know my juice is when I can connect people. They could have totally disparate interest, but then something happens. Where they wanna be able to chat. My brother-in-law, Alan, who's married to my younger sister, Tammy, who I love dearly, he is the president of a company called Libra Moth.

It's a family business that's been passed on through the generations, and they're based really in the South Bend, Indiana area. So Alan shot me a text and then we spoke. He said, Hey, jb, you mentioned something about somebody who you recently met in a speaking engagement. He says, I'd love to talk to that guy.

And I said, that's easy. I'll shoot him an email, which I did, and so help me. Within three minutes, Michael, Brendan responded and said, I'd be more than happy to chat with them, and they're scheduled to talk today. So within three minutes he responded. And now they're planning to chat today. So I love being able to connect people.

It doesn't have to involve me. Go play in the sandbox. You figure out how you can make things happen, and I do it all the time. A client in Wisconsin, they happen to be lawyers, one of their attorneys, Nathan has a wonderful line. He said, I want to be the go-to person for my clients, not just for things that are related to the law, but any aspect of their business.

If I can either help them, a loved one, a friend, a family member, I want them to see me as their go-to, and I tell the same thing to clients. I go, it doesn't have to involve me, use me as a resource. My business began with my first client when I decided not to practice law in the early 1980s, was based upon an advertising fellow student that I had at the University of Illinois.

So Robin's ad agency. They became a client of mine. And then through that contact, the American Medical Association became another client of mine. So if I take a look at my career, whatever success that I've had, it's really been based upon people who became aware of me through others as well as me having the ability to introduce others that would benefit them, that have to have anything to do with me, because that's just a quid pro quo.

And that's not really being in a servant relationship, so to speak. By giving of your heart and your mind, what can I do to help you? And really being serious about it. 'cause you and I both know a lot of people will use those words and they really don't mean it. They wanna get something in return. Those ain't my kind of folks.

Those ain't your kind of folks. You're absolutely right. And listen, having a servant's heart is, it's so precious to me to be able to give and not to receive. I too am what's called they, my clients. And everybody else calls me a super connector because I, every week I say, all right, there's two people that I have to put together, and it's just that, that I put, X in front of Y and I say, look, go ahead.

Do what you have to do. I back away and I forget about it. They both acknowledge it and they talk to one another. They always include me on an email chain, which I, they don't have to do. But if I do that every week I feel good because that's really my purpose. So when I go to do my workshops in the companies and everything else, it's, I look to do that.

It's much more fulfilling for me than actually going there and doing the breakout session, the workshops and everything else. That's how we met. We met through Larry Kaufman. Yes, Larry has been a guest on your show. Larry's become a dear friend over the past couple of years, and I met Larry through somebody else in business, and Larry and I didn't know each other.

And then ironically, we discovered pretty quickly that years ago he actually worked for my dad's accounting firm, so he was part of Blackman Cick. Blackman. Cick has now been gobbled up by Plant Moran, but Larry and I didn't have that connection. He and I just had lunch together recently. And we're always looking for ways that what can I do to be able to help you?

And I asked Larry, what's going on with the kids? And I immediately thought of wait a minute, here's some folks that I can introduce to your children that might help them in terms of future employment opportunities. And then Larry said, I got a guy. I think you ought to talk through. And I'm actually talking to that individual later today.

So I've introduced Larry to Opportunity. He's introduced Beat to Larry to Opportunity. Larry's introduced Beat to Opportunity and that's how you and I met. We met through Larry and he's got a terrific book as NCG, which is Network Connect, and people Think Grow and I go, no, it's give.

And I often tell people, Michael, I go, Hey, don't focus on capitalism, focus on altruism and don't focus on being selfish. Focus on being selfless and not what can you get, but what can you give and that will really be far more successful for you in the short as well as the long term. You and I know folks go, eh, I don't buy it.

Okay, then again, they're not our kind of folks. You are Absolutely not. And really, I wish I had you in my jacket pocket when I'm out talking and speaking. I'm not that, I'm not that small that, you say the same things that I align with, that I believe in with my heart and I go out and I do on a daily basis.

So what you're saying I align with so well and so perfectly. But let me get to the next question in bullseye. You talk about hitting your targets at home and work, how can people use networking to align their personal and professional goals more intentionally? That's really an interesting question because the last two bestsellers, bullseye was bestseller number six, and it's really more of an inspirational motivational book instead of a real how to book.

But still, there's an important business lesson that comes out of it. The bestseller before that, the fifth edition of Peak Your Profits is a real how to in terms of business growth skills related to sales, marketing, negotiations, customer service. But what really both of them do deal with is to be able to hit a target.

To be able to focus on a bullseye, whether it's in a recreational activity or a business pursuit. I'll often say to folks, it's related to the world's fastest strategic plan. And people go, but what are you talking about? I go if you went to any major airport, whether it's Hartsfield in Atlanta, in your neck of the woods, or, oh, here by me, which is only 13 miles and 17 minutes to the south, what do they ask you?

Where are you going? And imagine, you say, yeah, I don't know. Why don't you pick the city? What? So I'll often say to leaders, let's engage in the world's fastest strategic plan. Where are you? Where would you like to be and how do you want to get there? And as you start to focus on those things, which is also related to being on target with networking, and one of the things that I say to folks is, you gotta embrace overall what I call the three Ps.

They go, what? What do you mean? I go For any activity that you're engaged in, whether it's internal in terms of you perhaps as a leader or with members of your team or external, whether that's at a networking event or actually with a prospect. A customer. A client. Know your purpose. That's the first P Michael, know your purpose.

What do you wanna accomplish? Not only for you, but for that decision maker or decision influencer? They go okay, purpose, I get that. What? What's the second P? And I go, know your power probes. They go, what? What's a power probe? And I'll soon make available a power probe opportunity specifically for your listeners, but we'll delay that by a couple of minutes.

A power probe is an open-ended need development question. It begins with A who, A what, A when or where, A why, or which A how, or, here's the TED principle. T. Tell me more about E. Explain to me how, and D, describe for me. You need to ask open-ended questions to truly understand the logic of why somebody wants to do something, as well as the heart and the tummy.

That's the emotion. 'cause those are the two things that really influence decisions. So you've got purpose, you've got power probes. Here's the third P. And someone said isn't that really four P's? And I go, if you watch, you can call it four P's and it's parade of progress. And the parade of progress is what are you doing to keep things moving forward?

So if you were a prospect, we were engaged in a conversation, it would end by Michael, let's review my deliverables to you on or before blank. I will do blank. So the blank is a behavior or an action. And the second blank is a date. So what's the behavior, what's the action and what's the date of realization?

Pretty simple success formula. I will do X by Y, I will do this thing by this date, but you will also do this. To send to me by this. So now we're working in a collaborative way. And that's really what also networking is all about. It's about collaboration, it's about in essence, partnering, networking. And do I trust this person?

Because some people they're takers and not the kind of folks who I want to work with. But when you find someone that you can trust, and I always stress this to folks, when trust is high, what's low? Fear when trust is high, what's low? And that's fear. So I stress to folks, closed ended questions are okay, but that's really only related to one.

Do these people qualify as a prospect? A little bit different than a networking opportunity. And the other is, if you're now pursuing an opportunity for biz dev or rainmaking, it's decision time. Thumbs up. Yay. Po. A CHY or whatever it might be. And if you'd I can share with you an opportunity for your listeners and viewers that most people go, wait a minute, I can use these immediately.

And the answer is yes. So if it's cool with you, can I share that opportunity for your listeners and viewers? Absolutely. Go right ahead. So most folks, when I ask them, how many of you have got a dynamic dozen? They go, what? What are you talking about? You're talking about bagels? Muffins, croissants, donut table.

What's a dynamic dozen, right? Yeah. And I go, no. A dynamic dozen is at least 12 dozen. At least 12. Open-ended need development questions. And they begin with a who, what, when, where, why, which how? Tell me more about, explain to me how and describe for me. And these are questions you would ask of a prospect or perhaps even a current customer or a current client to dig even deeper in the relationships.

Most folks don't have a dynamic dozen, and I stress to people, once you've created your dynamic dozen, then put it on this little computer that is literally in the palm of your hand on my smartphone. And now I encourage clients to do the same. I go put them in print form so you can look at them and then also put it in an audio form so you can hit play and hear you reciting your dynamic dozen.

That's how you get really good at that skill. And it's a skill. It is not a parlor trick. So we've had people who might hear me in the morning in a three hour result session, and they'll send me an email and go, Jeff, that afternoon I used these questions that I had never used before and I've got the opportunity.

To now help a new client. I can't believe it worked that fast. And I go it worked that fast because you heard it, but then you used it. And I always stress to people, Michael, don't tell me what you know. Tell me what you're doing with what you know. So here's the opportunity. If anyone listening or watching would like to get what we call the Sweet 16, we will send you 16 potential power probes that you can use in your business.

No matter what your business is, if you're selling a product, a service, whatever it might be, you can apply these questions immediately. All you need to do to send an email to Cheryl, S-H-E-R-Y-L. One more time, Cheryl, S-H-E-R-Y-L, at jeff blackman.com. J-E-F-F-B-L-A-C-K-M-A n.com. One more time, Cheryl. At Jeff blackman.com in the subject.

This way we'll know exactly where you heard about the opportunity. Simply put Foreman Rocks. So simply put F-O-R-M-A-N Rocks Sweet 16. We will know exactly what that means, Cheryl, then send you your Suite 16. And folks, when I've been on other interviews have said, I've been able to now use these questions immediately and generate results.

So I want your audience to be able to benefit from them as well. And the good news, it works. It does. It does. Okay. That was way more than I even expected, so that was fantastic Jeff. Okay, so you've mastered profitable connections. It's one powerful shift someone can make today to start attracting high value relationships instead of chasing them.

So this is gonna sound counterintuitive and that is you do not make it about you. You always make it about it's not count. That's not counterintuitive. That's both network. You always make it about somebody else. That's interesting. You talk about network unleashed, and I know you don't meet it, but unleashed implies wild.

Running amuck, it's gone awry. One of my new favorite words is catty wampus. So catty wampus, as is things have gone crazy. But networking is just the opposite. It's actually specific, it's precise, it is targeted, it's designed. So get really comfortable asking the question, Hey Michael, help me out when I'm out and about in the community.

Who is your ideal prospect or client so I can keep my eyes and ears open for you? That's all about you got nothing to do with me. So that enables me to be in the best position to go, I met this foreman guy about six weeks ago and now I'm gonna. All about you. And when you go out of your way to connect other individuals and ask for nothing in return, it becomes incredibly valuable because now they realized, oh, this person's really serious about that.

They really do go out of their way to be in a position to help me. Again, no, quit pro quo. It's not a barter. It's not an exchange system they gave before they even intimated they might want to take. And that's one of the really simple things that most people do not do. And also people think that networking is about how many people can I meet in the shortest amount of time When I'm at a networking event and I go, whoa, slow down.

Concentrate on meeting fewer people and dig deeper. Find out things that are important to them so you can follow up with, Hey, thought you might be interested in this. Found this story. Thought you might find it interesting. Google alerts, and I'm sure you've used Google alerts. So I've got Google alerts on things that I don't have an interest in, but I've got clients who do have an interest in whatever it might be.

So as a result of that, I literally might get something related to shoes because I've got a client who's a woman who's really fun and she loves shoes. So if I've been anywhere in the country and I remember, gosh, it's gonna be about 10 years ago, I happened to pass a really cool women's shoe store in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I took pictures of the shoes that were in the window and said it to her. I went, some thought of you. Those are just little simple things that people know. Hey, I've got top of mind awareness of something that's important to you. Got nothing to do with me. I know that this matters to you, and that's one of the really important things when it comes to networking, is what can you do that's in somebody else's best interest?

And it really does absolutely nothing to do with you. Absolutely. I went to the school of hard knocks, right? I did everything wrong before I learned how to do it correctly. And I was in the mortgage industry. And I would go to a networking event. I'd come home with a shoebox filled with business cards.

Look how good I did. Look how well I achieved my, my, my success. I was fantastic. I was horrible. I did it. I got the wrong way. So now when I, because I teach networking. When I go out and teach for about a three or four hour event, I say come back with about 15 or 20 business cards. Because then you can follow up and a follow up, is so much more important than actually meeting the person.

But you can follow up properly and everything that goes along with that. I don't want to take time out from that, but I wanna tell you that I made that transition from just networking on networking and unleash wildly networking to a strategic networking module. That, that, that's how I did it. Crucial.

And also, as you can actually be proactive before the event. It depends upon what the event is. But with many events, for example, okay, these folks will already be in attendance. That list is often published and you go, I don't know him or her. I would like to know him or her because they've got an expertise in something that I'm really interested in.

You can contact that individual in advance email or telephone call and say, Hey, I've actually been very familiar with your work for years. I noticed that you will be at the upcoming yada. Can I buy you breakfast or lunch? My truth, would love to chat with you. Now. Most people are willing to give.

Most successful people. Don't hold it close to the chest. No, I'm successful because of what I know. Ain't gonna share it. Actually just the opposite. So this weekend, if I was going to the National Speakers Association Annual Conference, I'm not. Why? Because our twin grandchildren, who are almost three, will be with us.

So I get to play Poppy while my wife plays Nani. So I won't be at the convention. But if I was going, I would've gone, okay, who are some key folks who I would like to spend some time with one-to-one, not in a fleeting in-between session moment. And I'll treat 'em to breakfast or lunch and just chat. Now, I will also do that with folks that I've known for years, just to catch up, to find out what are you doing, what's happening in your business.

And I just did that with a friend who I first met at an NSA Convention in 1985. So another wonderful speaker, brilliant guy's, become a dear friend by the name of Chuck Reeves. Chuck and I have now known each other for over 40 years and so on, and he used to actually live in Atlanta. He lived in Snellville, now he's in Arizona.

But Chuck and I will get together probably two times a year and just visit with two old buddies. And I think we spent 60, 90 minutes recently on a Zoom call just catching up. 'cause I might be doing something, he's not, he might be doing something I'm not. Who do you know? Who can I introduce you to?

And I do that with friends on a regular basis. And that's really part of the fun. 'cause over time you really know who you can trust. Yeah. And I consider that enjoyable. Yeah, that's great. And fun as well. 'cause for me, that's not work. I'm putting two people together and it's just, it's what I, what I like to do, okay. What's a networking myth or outdated belief that you think is actually holding people back from real success?

Interesting question, and I think it really goes to self-belief. Many people have got this self doubting reality that they've created about how difficult something is or how challenging something is, or I'm not gonna be very good at that. That's what we call based upon work that I did with a client years ago.

A CVS and A CVS is the current view of the situation. What's the BVS? The BVS is a better view of the situation. So the current view of the situation is, boy, I can't stand events like that. I'm not very good at networking current view. What's a better view of the situation? I'm really excited about to meet other people who I might be in a position to help.

Totally different mindset. So how are you looking at that either as an opportunity or with negativity? So mindset is absolutely crucial. We are always gonna face challenges in our lives, guaranteed. So the key question then becomes how am I going to perceive that opportunity and. One of the quotes, I'm a great big fan of quotes.

My first book was the Opportunity Selling Sales quotation book. So it took the opportunity selling business developed system that I created literally on the back of an napkin in 1985, that in the pages of Peak Your Profits is explained in a real how to format. But in the opportunity selling quote book, which was a little guy with just quotes that reinforce each step of the six step business development system, what happened is I reinforced those quotes.

I always look for other quotes, and John Wooden, the great basketball coach at UCLA, so he coached the men's basketball team to 10 national championships in 12 years. Seven of the 10, Michael, as they were consecutive. Yeah. And if I've got a challenge, and I've always had challenges, people will sometimes say to me you've had a charmed life.

And they've got no clue as to all the challenges that I've had to confront as an individual, as a parent with kids medical issues or whatever it might be. But John Wooden said, things turn out best for those who make the best out of the way. Things turn out. And the beauty of that quote is you can control your mindset.

You can control your attitude. And I find it fascinating that a lot of airports that I'm in, they've now got rocking chairs. Have you seen these rocking chairs at airports all over the country? No, I haven't seen 'em. So multiple airports that I've been in, they have got rocking chairs, so they're like everywhere.

And I find it interesting that a place that's designed like an airport to get you from point A to point B gives you an activity to do that gets you nowhere. And that's what a rocking chair does. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere. That's the equivalent of worrying. Worrying is an activity, but it doesn't get you anywhere, doesn't get you closer to a solution.

And when people say to me, I'm so worried about it, I go, how's that working for you? How's that helping you? And so much, again, it has to do with your mindset. This happened probably about a month ago. So a client said, I am really uncomfortable with change. People asked me to help them, either their organizations, their teams, or one-to-one coaching.

So I had a client who said, Jeff, I am really uncomfortable with change. I said how do you feel about improvement? Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm fine with that. How do you feel about enhancement? Oh that's okay too. How do you feel about upgrade? No issue. What if we no longer talk about you changing, but we talk about you making improvements, enhancements, and upgrade.

I'm good. Okay. So he just shifted his mindset and are now using a different word or words because change he immediately. We've always done it that way. And that's the CVS? Yeah. Yeah. And there are three words that I always suggest to people that can be transformative. If you think something's not possible, simply have three words to your vocabulary and mindset.

And that's up till now, huh? It's not how we do things here. Up till now, we don't have any budget for that. Up till now. Our folks just are not well trained up till now, right? And people say, but hang on, but why does it work? It's not magic. And I go, no, but it is about belief. And I tell people that belief is about confidence.

Confidence comes from two Latin words, cone fete, which means with faith. And if you don't have faith with you, how is anyone else gonna have faith with you? Very good. Very good. I'm gonna have to replay this podcast because otherwise I'd be writing notes down Feverously and just trying to take all the notes down.

So I'm, I'll list this afterwards. How do you differentiate between noise and opportunity when you're networking, especially in crowded spaces like LinkedIn or large conferences? Large conferences can be overwhelming, and that's not my word choice. Instead, it's what others say, and I never understand the word overwhelming.

When people say to me I'm overwhelmed, my immediately thought isn't, again, I don't challenge them 'cause I don't wanna be rude. I go so what are you gonna do different if you're overwhelmed? Change the game plan. Change the game the way you're playing it. So a large conference and how are we defining large?

Pick a number. It's a thousand people. Oh no, it's 15,000 people and it's like going to college. So the University of Illinois, when I went to school, and from what I understand, it's maybe a wee bit more now. Approximately 35,000 undergrads. I didn't have daily contact with 35,000 undergrads.

My primary contact was with my friends. It was with my fraternity brothers. It was with the sorority sisters of my wife. And it becomes really your group, your network if you will. So first you go, I don't need to make contact with 1500 people at this conference. I'm gonna focus on these 10 or whatever it might be.

So again, it's what are the strategic decisions that you're making? And it also does with focus, people are, oh, there's. There's a shiny oh no wait, that, oh, look at that shiny. So people are often easily distracted. One of the stories that I describe in Bullseye, you remember Bill Russell, the great basketball player?

Absolutely. So Russell is one of the greatest basketball players of all time, if not the greatest Celtic of all time. Bill Russell years ago decided that he also wanted to be a speaker to share the message of Celtic Pride. So a sports entertainment agency that was a client of mine was working with Bill, and they said, bill, you really need help with your message.

And we've got a friend who also is a coach to us who helps us with business growth. He's a professional speaker as well. He can really help you with your message. So one afternoon at a Chicago hotel, I consulted with Bill Russell about how to improve his message. And one of the stories that he told was about his ability to grab off of the defensive board.

A basketball and a rebound. And how he immediately would have an outlet pass that would go to Cozy or some other member of his team with just maybe one or two bounces if that, or one more pass. Somebody was streaking to the offensive class. Two points and he did it all the time. And he said, most people refer to that as a blind pass.

He said A blind pass is stupid. 'cause a blind pass means you've got absolutely no idea where it's going. You don't see anything. Blind pass is stupid. Bill Russell was a really smart guy, he said, so Jeff, what I did is with his seven foot frame is he would extend his hands out as far as he could so he could still see in his peripheral vision, his hands, and then the next day he would extend it.

Just a little bit further. So every day he was working on extending the view line of his peripheral vision. So what appeared to be a blind pass was not, he always knew exactly who he was passing it to. So what he did was he had extreme focus removed distractions, and that's really important. That's one of the things that I work on with clients is, okay, if you know your purpose and you know your power probes, now let's have singular focus.

That's one of the great things that Bruce Jenner did when I interviewed him. I did not interview Kaitlyn Marie. I interviewed William Bruce, and people have said to me, who was one of the best guests that you ever had? I said, Barden on Bruce Jenner. And they go, why? I go, he was smart, he was friendly, he was personable before and after the radio interview, he hung around.

He took care of signing autographs. But what Bruce Jenner did is I asked him about the gold medal that he won in 76 in Montreal into the decathlon, Michael. And here's what he said to me. I didn't win in 76. Bruce, don't mean to correct you, but you won in 76 in Montreal. Remember the flag in Olympics stand me?

He says. He says, lemme tell you what I mean. And this story is actually in the pages of Bullseye. He said, Jeff, in 1972, I lost. He said, didn't place. He said, so here's what I did. I removed the faces of the gold, the silver. And the bronze medalists. And in the place of the face of the gold medalist in 72, I put my face.

So what I did for the next four years is I only saw one winner in 76, and that was me, that was Bruce Jenner. So first I trained my mind and then I trained my body, and then I believed in essence, he had Conte. He was with faith, he said. So in Montreal, I simply picked up a medal I had won in my mind four years earlier.

Unbelievable story. The only other story I know about belief that's any better than that is Sully Sullenberger, when he landed US Airs flight 1549, January the 15th of 2009 on the Hudson River. That was about belief. If he didn't believe that he could land and create the Hudson as a liquid tarmac would've never happened.

So belief is a really important aspect of anything that we choose to do to attain success in our lives. It's amazing what the mind can accomplish. Yeah. If you let it, if you let it true. 'Cause there, there really isn't anything that, that we as people can't do. And that's part of the my can-do attitude, but Okay.

In your experience, what's the profit leak most professionals don't realize is happening because they haven't built the right relationships. So folks have a tendency to sometimes hang on to relationships that they shouldn't. So if a relationship is not generating the right result, whether it's related to collaboration or lack thereof, or it's not generating the appropriate return on the investment of working with that individual, say goodbye.

As difficult as that might be. That's external and internal, by the way. So if external relationships with clients or customers are really difficult and challenging and people are hard to work with, or you've got the wrong person and the wrong seat in your organization, wish them the best of luck. Sayara, Arla, Shalom, those fatia, move on.

And in terms of, again, avoiding distractions, we work with clients on something Michael called the ICP. What's your ideal customer or your ideal client profile? And let's define exactly who that is. Demographics, psychographics, infographics. And we literally make a long list and I go, your customers or prospects have got every right to vet you, but you've got every right to vet them.

And if you think that they're not who you want to pursue long term. Long-term because you focus on annuitization. If you only wanna focus on a transaction, that's fine, but that's not what I teach my clients to do. I teach them to focus on not the transactional vendor relationship, but instead to focus on the long-term annuitized partner relationship.

And they go what's the difference? And I go, okay, listen closely. Vendors are expendable, partners are invaluable. Vendor expendable, partner, invaluable. Which do you choose to be? And that is a question by the way that we coach our clients to ask, which is What would you prefer that we be a vendor or a partner?

And they go, yeah, we just want a vendor. We're probably not the right folks for you. Then wish you nothing but the best of luck and start to leave. Move on. Sorry, that's not what our clients value. That's not what we value. Two questions related to that really help as well, which is, what will you value most in our relationship?

And how will we measure success? And by the way, you can ask those networking related as well. And you always appreciate what somebody else's appreciation is. Folks go hang on. What do you mean? I go, if a prospective client says Jeff, why should we work with you? I never answer from my perspective.

Instead, I will say, here's what other clients say they value most in a relationship with us. And then I share something called an RBAO strategy. That's the results, the benefits, the advantages, and the outcomes. Those words, Michael, are interchangeable. So there's no distinction, but it triggers people differently.

So I stress to folks, let others know what others are experiencing to be the results, the benefits, the advantages of the outcomes of working with you, of networking with you. And then you pause and you politely ask, how do you think those similar outcomes will be of value to you? So what you've done is you've told the story based upon your experience, not your opinion of somebody else's success, result, benefit, advantage, outcome.

And then you ask somebody, how do you think those types of benefits or outcomes will help or be of value to you? And how they tell you why they wanna network with you or why they wanna work with you. So I will never answer, Jeff, why should we work with you? From my perspective, why, even if I dead accurate, it doesn't matter.

It actually reduces my credulity and veracity. I wanna increase it. So I speak from somebody else's perspective, not mine. Michael, that's an avenue which I never truly thought of. Because when I teach networking, I never do that from the other people's perspective. Up till now. Up till now.

My, my new phrase by the way, up till now. So again, I'm gonna have to listen to this and write down all my notes because me too. It sounds like there's some good stuff going on here. There, there's some very good stuff going on here. I we could probably do this podcast for three hours, but I'm gonna try to limit the time.

Can you walk us through one intentional networking decision you made that paid off massively in terms of business or personal growth?

That's a really interesting question. I'm gonna take you back because it really changed the course of my life. So I'm gonna take you back to the year 1985. In the year 1985, my wife and I were both 29 years old and we went to our first National Speakers Association Convention in Washington dc. At that convention, we heard Chuck Reeves speak.

Subsequent to that, I contacted Chuck and I said, the next time that you're in Chicago, can I treat you to breakfast or lunch? And I assure you, I could not afford to take 'em out to either breakfast or lunch. But I have now had a 40 year relationship with Chuck when I have the good fortune to be inducted into the National Speaker Association's Hall of Fame in 2008 in New York City, Chuck along with another dear friend, Frank Quero, they were my introducers.

Also in 1985 at that convention I met a woman by the name of Laura Hamilton and she was really neat. She was fun, she was smart, and I had no clue who she worked for. It turned out she worked for a guy by the name of Bill Brooks. Bill Brooks was a founder of the Bill Brooks Group in North Carolina.

And she said, I think I'd like to introduce you to Bill Brooks and someone else who I know by the name of Ron Willingham. So Bill Brooks is one of the foremost sales trainers in the world, Ron Willingham as well. And Ron created something called the Bestseller. Through that meeting of Laura, she introduced me to Ron and to Bill, and so I became part of their group of speakers who at that time was doing a program called Slim Up and Live all over the country for the Shackley organization.

So through that relationship, I then had a relationship with Ron Willingham for as long as he was alive, and eventually I started to create my stuff instead of relying upon Ron. Bill Brooks became really one of my very early mentors. And I remember when I was just starting this business, my wife Cheryl and I went to North Carolina to work with Bill, his wife Nancy, said, black man, my office is your office.

Whatever you need, ask any question and document any number. I'm here to help you. And Bill Brooks, when both he and Ron passed away, that was really devastating 'cause both of those guys were incredible mentors to me. So it's really remarkable what happens when you connect with people, and that's an important word, connect.

And that's why at our website it doesn't say contact, it says connect. Is that a euphemism? Yeah. But I think it's a really good one. So that's what I stress to clients when I work with them or people who I'm speaking to in kind of a large differentiated group. I go. Your website and I looked at it, or your website and I looked at it, you got two words about us, and you just told the visitor, this has got nothing to do with you.

It's only about us. So we don't have that language about us. Why? I think it needs to be about somebody else. And I stress that when I speak Michael, I go, today's message is not about me. It's about you. So everything that I do today is to help you improve your business, improve your career, accelerate how you want to do what you do and why you do it.

And at the same time though, I encourage everyone to challenge others, but to also challenge themselves. And I tell clients this from the beginning of my relationships with them. I'm not gonna appease and please you. If you simply want someone to appease, and please, I'm not the right guy, but I will challenge you to reconsider and reexamine and rethink how you do what you do and why you do it.

Why that'll help you generate the best result. So I pushed back and I pushed back on CEOs of multi-billion dollar organizations. Greatest compliment. Greatest compliment I ever got from a client, multi-billion dollar financial organization. He said to me, Blackman, what I love about our relationship is you never protect your butt and you never kiss mine.

Supreme compliment. Absolutely. So he knew I would always give it to him straight without ever saying, let me give it to you straight. Let me be honest. To be honest. And I hate when anyone uses that language because at some point they're gonna fib to me. I don't know when, but they'll fib. So if you're honest, you don't need to identify it, just be it.

Yeah. He doesn't, he didn't want a yes man. Nope. He didn't want somebody to agree with him. He wanted somebody like you, somebody, you're going to stand your ground. But if he's wrong, you're gonna tell him he is wrong. And he is probably not used to that. No. But probably not. Yeah. No. So he's not, yeah. But he valued it because he couldn't get it internally.

People were concerned. I don't wanna offend him and my goal wasn't to offend him, it was to help him. And he realized that that's worth so much. And I can see how that was the greatest compliment that you could have gotten. It was, yeah. How do you maintain authenticity and generosity in networking without becoming everybody's free consultant?

Most people are really honest, reasonable people, and they do not take advantage. So one of the things that I have discovered over the decades is many people, they're looking for quick solutions, if there are any. I don't know of them. So I, I know of no quick solutions. And people will often say to me, man, what a gift you have in terms of your ability to use language and words.

And wow, what a gift you were born with. And I go, I don't know who you're talking about, but not me. They go whoa. What? What do you mean? And this too is not only in the pages of Peak your prophets, but it's also in the pages of bullseye. When I was a widow guy, I needed speech correction lessons 'cause I couldn't pronounce my i's and my Ls.

So Ms. Northrop, who was my first grade teacher, said, you need speech correction lessons. Jeff and I went home and I said to my parents, my teacher, Ms. Northrop, she's crazy. She claims I need speech correction. Wes, she is wrong. Yeah, that widow guy worked very hard for almost three years, Michael, until eventually he could enunciate and articulate and communicate and obviously I'm talking about me.

So that story is in peak Your profits and in Bullseye to talk about the significance of learning, being persistent and allowing success to happen over time. And Donna Northrop, there's also a separate story about Donna in Bullseye because she became a dear friend. I stayed in contact with her long after first grade.

So I featured her in two books and I was with her just weeks before she passed away. And I loved her and the title of that chapter in Bullseye was called My Favorite Redhead 'cause She was this stunning redhead. She was a stunning redhead. When I had her as a student, she was in her early to mid twenties.

And then when she passed away. Obviously years ago she was still a beautiful woman and she became a dear friend. She actually called me once and she said, you're a Cub fan. She said, I'm a Cub fan. She said, remember Ms. Johnson? And I go, sure. She was another first grade teacher. She's got season tickets to the Cubs game.

How'd you like to go to a Cubs game with your first grade teacher? And we did. She said, I'll pick you up in a limo. We'll ride down together. We will sit behind the oppositions, dug out in the first row when the game's over. We'll ride home in a limo together as well. And we did that. It was one of those memorable days of my life I spent and I, that's great spent.

And I love my cubbies, which is why Ernie Banks is over my shoulder and spending the afternoon with Donna Northrop at Wrigley Field. Watching my beloved cubbies and we got destroyed that day. I remember Roger Clemmens was pitching for the Astros. We did not win, but I was with Donna Northrop, my first grade teacher.

Yep. And some that's all that matters. That's all that matters. The score of the game really didn't matter, is the whole feeling of everything. And that's great. It really is. And that's another important point though. Don't keep score. What I mean is I helped you time to help me.

Yeah. Don't keep score ju just help. Who cares? If there's something coming back in your direction, absolutely. Just help. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. For someone who's introverted or analytical, what's your advice for building powerful connections without feeling like they have to perform?

What's so interesting about that is I do a lot of work and have done a lot of work over the decades with people who. Are very logical. Okay? They're inverted, they're in perspective, they're not Ebo, they're not really animated, just not who they are. So they need to embrace a process and a system and a methodology.

So when I'm teaching them, for example, to have business growth skills or networking skills, I can share with them, here's a process, here's a system, here's a methodology. That means they will now listen when they realize it's not that good old network or just slapping somebody on the back and they go, oh.

So there's a sequence. There's a process that registers, and if it doesn't register, they won't believe. But once they believe, now they have a willingness to listen. So I make sure they understand. This is no different than anything else that you've ever learned, being an engineer, anything else that you've ever learned.

And so help me, you hear this ain't rocket science. Years ago, I literally worked with a client. Everybody was a rocket scientist. They were all rocket scientists, right? So I had to focus on the logic, the process, the system, the methodology, the chronology as to why this made sense. And they went, okay, now we're in.

They had to get past that. It was something else they had to realize no, this is art, but it's also science. And then they bought it. So wow, that really goes to learning and application, trial error, and a willingness to experiment. That's really what's important. You and I together don't have enough time to focus on the things that we've tried that have failed, but we at least have us to try that.

That's it. That's it. That's why I went to the school of hard knocks, I had to do everything wrong. You and I are both graduates. Yes. Yes. Graduate of heart knocks. Okay, listen, let's bring this podcast full circle. If you had to design a networking Power Hour, 60 minutes a week to move the needle, what would you include?

What's the format for this Power Hour? It's from soup to nuts. It's networking. That's your first thought. But if there were to go to a networking event or meeting a, a. Prospective prospect. Okay, what could they do in an hour each day to help them network? So here's the good news. It might not take an hour and hour's a long time.

And I often will say to folks, most people don't obviously plan to fail, but they do fail to plan. And you with 15 minutes of strategic focus can probably accomplish a whole bunch. So an hour maybe might not be necessary, but if you go, okay, so what are the things that I need to do right now in terms of people who I think I can potentially help?

How am I gonna reach out? One of the things that we teach is referrals, as an example. And most people don't rely upon referrals or introductions. But once we show them again, process, system, and methodology, which is what we did with the folks at Bank one, entire stories at the website, bank one, we help generate.

$230 million in new loan business in 23 months with zero acquisition cost. They had no referrals. Culture drove me nuts. And the good news was they had me on long-term retainer. It took me three years until the president said, will you stop bugging me if I let you do this referrals thing? And I went, oh yeah, I'll stop bugging you.

Yeah. So we did a pilot and the pilot was so successful. He said, let's roll the country, which we did, and we generated $230 million in new business, all from referrals in the span of 23 months. Then they sold at a premium, the entire portfolio to household international. So we taught them, here's something that you can do.

Doesn't take a lot of time during the course of a day. And the same thing, you probably don't need to devote an hour. You can probably devote a really focused 15 minutes. Okay. Who would I like to meet? Who can I introduce? What can I do that will really help somebody else who I know? What connections can I make?

What's an industry that I like to focus on? What's the best way to meet those people? So if you take the time to, and most people don't because they're too busy running off to the next opportunity. And I tell folks, do not tell me what you know. Tell me what you will do with what you know. And that's what really is important.

Now, often you and I both know that sometimes people go I just can't think of anything. Now let me share with you as we get ready to wrap up something that John Push said. Who? John Ick. So John is a terrific guy. Became a client president of a company called Prager, moving in storage for the Chicago land area.

If you need to move your house, they can help you. If you need to move your office, they can help you. When mom and dad were alive and they moved back in 2008. Prager took care of the move. 'cause they're so good at what they do. So John is their leader, but he's got great biz dev skills. So here's what John says, and everybody can use this line.

Doesn't matter what your business is. If someone says, John heard great things about Prager, but we're not moving the office, we're actually not moving the house, no need for your services. He doesn't go into let me tell you what makes us great. So that he simply says, that's okay. Better that you know us and not need us, than need us and not know us.

How good is that, Michael? Perfect. It is. It's per, it's perfect. And when I say that in a program, folks go whoa. Slow down. Say that again. Better that you know us and not need us, than need us and not know us. And it brilliant because it's so simple. What does it do? It first captures mind share, and you can't capture wallet share unless you first capture mind share.

That's Jeff. That's great. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it was to have you on as a guest. Oh, my pleasure. To my podcast. If somebody wanted to get hold of you either to ask you a question, ask you about coaching or anything else like that, what's the best way for 'em to get hold of you?

So that's easy. First, let me encourage folks, take advantage of the Foreman Rock Sweet 16 offer. So send that email to Cheryl, S-H-E-R-Y l@jeffblackman.com, subject for Rock Sweet 16. And then Cheryl will send you these 16 questions. If you wanna shoot me an email, you are welcome to simply send an email to jb@jeffblackman.com.

So my initials, jb@jeffblackman.com. If you go to our website, you'll also see a whole bunch of free goodies. So there are book excerpts, there are audio excerpts, a whole bunch of video vignettes that you can take advantage of as well. So shoot me an email if you've got a problem, you got an opportunity, got an issue or a challenge.

Hey, I'm here to be able to help and it is truly my pleasure to be able to help. Just let me know, Hey, heard you with Michael. And so that way I know immediately, ah, this is how we found each other. Great. Great. Jeff, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and I look forward to talking to you soon. My pleasure.

Thank you, Michael.

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 a huge thank you to our guests for sharing such incredible insights today, and of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending your time with us. If you're interested in my digital courses being coached or having me come and talk to your company, just go to MichaelAForman.com and fill out the request form.

Remember, networking isn't about being perfect. It's about being present. So take what you've learned today. Get out there and make some meaningful connections. If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a review and share it with someone who could use a little networking inspiration.

Let's keep the conversation going. You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website michaelaforman.com/podcasts.

Michael is a business networking expert specializing in enhancing professionals' networking and communication skills to drive profitability. As a leading authority in this field, he is highly sought after for his dynamic presentations and workshops. His extensive experience has consistently led to significant improvements in corporate profitability by empowering individuals and organizations to connect more effectively and efficiently.

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