MM M&A 013: Building Relationships

This is a special episode discussing how to build successful business relationships. In this episode, Gina Cocking, is joined by featured guest Willard Bunn, a managing director at Colonnade Advisors. Willard has previously served as chairman, chief executive, and director of several commercial banks. He has held numerous board positions and has extensive experience as an investment banker. Willard has the ability to build deep relationships with potential clients and industry professionals, resulting in seemingly effortless marketing.
One of the key takeaways from this episode is that trust is a critical factor in building a successful business relationship.

In this episode, Willard addresses the following questions as related to building business relationships:
Before you meet somebody for the first time, do you do any special preparation beforehand? (02:02)
Willard: "Yes, there is so much information available on LinkedIn and other sources. When I meet people for the first time, I will search for them and extract what I can. It's helpful when you show up at a luncheon table to know who exactly you're talking to."

How do you prepare when you don't know you're going to meet a person? For example, when attending conferences with hundreds of people in a room. (03:11)
Willard: "I have found the best icebreaker has always been to ask. 'What is your business? What do you do?' Because there is nobody on the planet who doesn't want to talk about his or her business. Once you get that laid out, then you know where to go with the next question."

Once you have met a person and chatted for a few minutes, how do you continue with that relationship? What type of follow-ups do you do? (03:57)
Willard: "Normally, the follow-up would be an email of some sort. In the email, try to grab onto something in the conversation because that person has met a lot of people that evening, too."

How soon do you generally follow-up with someone that you have met? (04:53)
Willard: "I try to follow up quickly with an email, so the image is still in their mind. I also think it's helpful to attach something to the email. For example, for Colonnade's marketing, attaching a podcast episode or white paper would be helpful because it gives them an idea of who you are and the company."

Do you have any strategies for cold calling or emailing people? (04:53)
Willard: "If you are reaching out to someone for the first time, it is a good idea to attach a piece of work that you have done. For people that you're in touch with regularly, it is a good idea to attach a current update to the piece of work. This kind of process can stretch over the years. Building these relationships take time."

When you do outreach and do not get a response, how long do you wait before you reach out to somebody again? What strategy is there without making the person feel guilty but reminding them that you're there? (08:19)
Willard: "These are situational. I think once a quarter is probably sufficient time to give some downtime, but not to let it lapse either."

What are other successful maintaining relationship strategies have you encountered? (09:21)
Willard: "When I was running a bank, I was the target for investment bankers, and one of the bankers would send a non-business book every Christmas. I always thought that was a good way to keep in touch via a non-aggressive Christmas present."

How do you prioritize maintaining relationships with people? (11:35)
Willard: "One of the things that I noticed in the investment banking business was the bifurcation of time. When you get busy with current active deals, how do you simultaneously keep in touch with prospects? It's like everything else in life, you have the work you have to do right now in front of you, but you also have a list on the side of prospects. Communication now is much easier than ten years ago, which makes reaching out to prospects to keep in touch much easier."

How do you reach out to people that you have not interacted with much? (13:26)
Willard: "During non-COVID times, Chicago offered various events that allow people to meet. One medium that I have used in the past was the speaker dinners at the Economic Club. It gives you an informal, non-threatening environment to try to further a relationship."

How do you build trust in a relationship? (15:18)
Willard: "That is an important concept. People hire you because they trust you and feel you understand their business. It is hard to know what triggers trust. In my particular case, on the investment banking side, the people we represented, I knew well over several years. When you see how people behave in restaurants with waiters, how they behave on the golf course, and all that kind of stuff, that adds up to form a standpoint that I know this person and trust them, particularly, I can trust them to tell me the truth."