How to Make Every BD Conversation Feel Valuable to Clients

Sara, a corporate partner at one of our client firms, recently shared something that made me grin from ear to ear: “It’s weird. I’m not trying to impress anyone anymore, but my contacts keep telling me how valuable our conversations are.”

That’s not weird at all. It’s neuroscience!

When we shift from trying to demonstrate our expertise to genuinely exploring someone else’s world, we trigger what psychologists call the “self-expansion effect.” The person we’re talking with literally feels their sense of self growing through the conversation, and they attribute that feeling to us.

But here’s the counterintuitive part: this only works when our curiosity is completely authentic.