How do you do real business development? “Stop guessing. Business is done outside the office!” That is the core message from Stu Heilsberg’s book. A true Business Development Executive, Stu shares his experience in The Answers Are Outside The Building.

Business development is customer/client development. Being Startup Weekend Organizer and entrepreneur, I’m well aware of the “customer development” concept advocated by Eric Ries and Steve Blank.

You may get this, and may even do it. And, I know what you are thinking, get out and talk to customers. Right? Wrong. That is only part of it. What Stu teaches you, is that you should go out and talk not just to customers, but also partners. and even competitors. It is Business Ecosystem Development.

And, the motivation to look at it this way is: I don’t know. As in, the answers are not inside our building. They are out there and we have to go get them.

Thought Stu does have a process to do this, this is a book about mindset. Not about process. The process is very straightforward, but you must move out of your own way of sitting in a conference room trying to guess what it is that is happening out there.

The mindset is that you shouldn’t sell, you should aim to help. And, that starts by listening. This is why this book resonated with me on so many levels. I highly recommend it, it is a quick read but it packs a punch with insights.

Go ahead and connect with Stu on Twitter and LinkedIn. Also, visit his website to learn to engage ecosystems effectively and quickly.