Tyler Sweatt Discusses Acquisition Warfare and Business Development Lessons

Tyler Sweatt shares a series of powerfully concise lessons on business development he’s picked up over the years consulting in a wide range of industries. Find out how Tyler and his team solve incredibly complex compliance problems while making the buying process as frictionless as possible, why saying no to some prospects is critical to find the customers, and how planning is the easiest way to set yourself apart from your competition.

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: When did you realize that business development was great?

• When Tyler transitioned out of the military, he wasn’t sure which direction to take his career. He cut his teeth at Deloitte where he learned the two basic functions of a business: value creation and value protection.
• You have to figure out which one you need to focus on from a career standpoint. Tyler started thinking about how to build relationships and establish trust since that was the fastest way to grow.
• Tyler found a few partners within the organization that helped him learn the ropes of value creation, and in the process, he got in touch with Toffler Associates. That was where he learned a new approach to consulting that opened up a huge number of opportunities for him.
• Those experiences became unique information that Tyler could share simply by being exposed to it.
• There is no better time than now to invest in yourself and your education. Focusing on your technical expertise, getting exposed to how other businesses work, and growth skills.
• When you’re learning, you should always have the last part be a practical implementation. Test your knowledge and put it into practice.
• Value creation and growth skills are highly transferable.

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: What is your personal definition of business development?

• Simply put, it’s all about value creation.
• The entire spectrum of taking a prospect from completely cold to raving fan is the process of growth.
• Content creation is part of the effort, similar to an at-scale give-to-get. When someone hits the pipeline, Tyler focuses on qualifying them immediately and moving quickly on closing the deal.
• For marketing and lead generation, you need to figure out the three most important metrics you need to cover and orient on those. That will make everything else easier.
• Referrals are a big indicator of both effectiveness and product-market fit.
• Try to avoid measuring too many metrics at the same time.
• You need to think about business development from the customer’s buying process and how you can remove as much friction from their buying process as possible. Make it as easy to buy from you as possible.
• Focus on a positive buying experience and make it easy for the customer. Being customer-centered will be extremely valuable in everything you work on.

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: What is your favorite science, step, or story from the GrowBIG Training or Snowball System?

• Too many people focus on just having a meeting and following the script they have in their mind. Dynamic Meeting Prep is one of Tyler’s favorite strategies that solves that problem.
• Using the process, you can solidly prepare for a meeting in under 10 minutes which is a great way to bring many of the other Snowball System strategies.
• Have a goal in mind, but be flexible on how you get there.
• The value is not in the plan, it’s in the planning. You are creating a plan to operate fluidly depending on the situation.
• You can completely separate yourself from your competition in the way that you approach meetings.
• Tyler’s second favorite strategy is Asking For The Advance. Moving along opportunities ties into the Dynamic Meeting Prep and makes the buying process much easier.
• You are 34x more likely to get a yes in person than you are over email. This is why it’s so important to get the next step or next meeting nailed down during your current meeting.
• There are four main reasons you might not win. It’s usually either not a strategic fit, a technical fit, a timing fit, or not a relational fit. You should try to eliminate those potential obstacles during the qualifying process.
• Think about who stands to benefit from the purchase, how to make the purchase as easy as possible, or how you can get the prospect to build the solution with you. Seek early victories.

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: Tell me a business development story that you are really proud of.

• At Second Front, Tyler is working to solve some ridiculously complicated problems and building something that has never existed before.
• Tyler has been in several different industries, all of which involve emerging technology and security. In most of those industries, compliance burdens were always an issue and Second Front is working on solving that. They have figured out a solution that solves a pressing national security problem and has opened new doors of opportunity that could be saving lives.
• The Second Front team is the best team he’s been a part of since leaving the military, and he loves the fact that he’s proving people wrong. When somebody tells him that something can’t be done, that motivates Tyler to go and prove them wrong.
• It’s a lot easier to maintain things than it is to create things. At its core, business development is always new and always different, which is something that Tyler appreciates.
• Know what your why is, and it’s okay if that changes over time. For Tyler, being able to set examples for his sons and have teachable moments is the core of why he does what he does in his season of life.

Mo asks Tyler Sweatt: If you could record a video around business development and send it to your younger self, what would it say?

• Don’t fall in love with titles.
• Identify character traits that you don’t want to emulate.
• Don’t lose sight of the value of saying no. No is the most strategic word in your arsenal.
• Don’t feel obligated to stick around in an organization. You are your own client.
• Tyler is a fan of being brutally transparent. The easiest way to make sure your message is heard the way you want it to be heard is to make it as simple and plain as possible. You are doing the other person a favor by being honest.
• No is a decision, yes is a commitment. Saying yes to something you don’t want to do only creates negative energy and sabotages the relationship over time.
• Figure out what you’re doing that you don’t want to do right now, and start cutting them out so you can focus on the activities that have the highest value to you.

Mentioned in this Episode:

GrowBIGPlaybook.com

linkedin.com/in/tylersweatt

secondfront.com