Chicago Managing Partner

kdemonstrates how a small collection of deep, meaningful relationships can transform your career. David Ackert makes a compelling case for quality over quantity in this incredibly useful relationship manual. Reading this book is one of the highest ROI investments you can make in yourself.

US Executive Sales Coach 

“When looking for new clients, fill a suite, not the whole stadium.”

David Ackert’s practical approach to narrowing your scope to those few people that will make or break your year is critical to long term success in generating revenue and building an impactful, engaging practice. Less effort, more results. 

Chief Strategy Officer

For the busy professional, the task of managing a vast and ever-evolving network can feel overwhelming. In The Short List, David Ackert provides a step-by-step guide to turn your network into a strategic, manageable pipeline system that helps you identify the key people you need to prioritize and the techniques you can use to turn those relationships into business referrals. As a long-time senior executive with one of the largest financial services associations in the world, I find this book is an indispensable resource for professionals looking to streamline their approach to networking and achieve greater professional success with less effort.

Partner at Withum & President of ProVisors

“This book is spot on in showing people to effectively use their time to develop the right relationships to build their businesses. As a Business Development  partner at Withum and President of Provisors (a nationwide networking organization) I build relationships for a living, I still gather tips and ideas from David Ackert.”

CEO

“Elevating sales for service professionals.” 

The Short List is perfect for those who value a strategic approach to sales. It transforms the dated high-volume prospecting methods into a refined system focused on high-value opportunities. With David Ackert’s relatable tone, compelling research, and clear step-by-step guidance, this book is a must-have for anyone who resonates with the idea of a high quality, buyer-first approach. 

Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer 

With so many options and opinions about how to ignite a successful practice, it can be hard to know which tactics to employ. With “The Short List,” David takes the guess work out of where to start. He offers practical guidance about how to anchor your business development efforts in strengthening the relationships that bring both joy and opportunity. 

Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products 

David Ackert has distilled decades of business development experience into a concise, practical guide that shows you exactly where to direct your efforts. If you want to elevate your networking strategy and see real results, The Short List is your roadmap to success. 

Managing Partner

As a managing partner, I know that deep client relationships are the foundation of every firm’s success. The Short List expertly highlights the importance of focusing on key individuals within our networks – and explains how to activate these connections. The result is a blueprint for targeted and personalized business development.  An essential guide for every professional. 

Executive Chairman

With The Short List, David Ackert has delivered the essential guidebook for business development results.  Every rainmaker knows that their success is built on the strategic cultivation of a small network of deep, high-impact relationships.  As he has done for decades as a C-suite coach and advisor, David lays out a clear, actionable roadmap for growing and maintaining your own high performing network.  The Short List should be on every ambitious business leader’s desk. 

Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer

In David Ackert’s The Short List, you’ll discover a robust roadmap to cultivating, nurturing and leveraging your network in the most intentional, efficient ways to fuel your success. The Short List is comprehensive, but it is also remarkably concise, making it an easy and compelling read for those of us pressed for time. The guide is packed with focused exercises and templates that provide practical, actionable value.  

The Short List is that rare gem – a succinct yet sophisticated business guide that offers insights and practical strategies valuable to a range of professionals from those in the nascent stages of their careers to those of us in C-level roles.  

Chief Strategist, Legal 

Among the many reasons I loved The Short List is that David Ackert doesn’t gloss over the fears and uneasiness that hold so many professionals back from growing their practice and, in the process, expanding the reach of their impact. One of David’s innate strengths is his ability to relate meaningfully to so many people, regardless of their role or standing. He shares the plans, actions, and exercises he uses to hone his message and execute his strategies, making him one of our industry’s most respected, admired, and shortlisted people. 

Managing Partner

I have had the privilege of working with David Ackert as a facilitator of an invaluable law firm managing partner group and as a business development consultant to my firm. As a firm leader, I have always valued “The 80/20 Principle” by Richard Koch. Now, I am excited to add “The Short List” to my key reference materials. 

David distills his extensive and unique experience into a practical playbook with tools anyone can use to initiate the growth of their business or enhance existing success. “The Short List” is an essential resource for anyone looking to achieve significant business development results. 

Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer 

A clear, achievable roadmap to focused growth and faster success. The Short List removes complexity from client development, unlocks opportunity, and is, ultimately, a guide to greater personal fulfillment.   

Chief Business Development Officer 

The Short List offers practical, research-based methods to deliver greater returns on business development activities – without marketing or sales jargon. The most common challenges I see is that professionals spread themselves too thin, don’t know when and how to get a contact to a sale, or feel unsure of where to start. Ackert provides strategies for all three. If you’re serious about growing your book of business, you’ll want to put The Short List on your short list of books to read.  

Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer

Everyone seems to agree that successful business development plans begin and end with relationships. That revelation, however, is not enough to answer the questions “What should I do first?” and “What should I do next?” David Ackert answers those questions. The Short List is a thorough and practical guide to demystifying the inevitably rewarding world of smart business development strategies. 

Director of Client Development

David Ackert has already proven that he is one of our industry’s great consultants, a savvy executive coach and highly regarded business development thought leader. Now he has crafted an amazing book that resonates and enlightens readers on how to build effective and rewarding business networks and relationships in a practical and tactical way. 

Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer 

David Ackert has been known in our industry for practical and insightful discussions around effective business development. Taking his famous “fishbowl” conversations now to print, David’s book provides the roadmap for becoming a successful rainmaker.  

Founder

Converting casual relationships into quality referral sources is the key to keeping the business development pipeline flush with opportunity. Yet, many professional service firms do not know how to. In this book, David provides the reader the process to do so. 

CEO

I was an early adopter of David Ackert’s systematic approach to business development, and it was instrumental to the successful consulting firm I run today. Read The Short List, or don’t and spend a lot of unnecessary time and energy doing it the hard way.