Debt and Equity Brokerage - Educational Resources and Career Development

Looking for advice from the community about how to generate business early in career and what resources to go to to create a deep understanding of the CRE finance industry. 

For background, I have been working with a D/E team that closes about 1-2 B in transactions a year for the past two years. I am learning a lot and am generally happy with my progression thus far.  I am not in a production role, but I sit in on lender/partner calls and client calls to add my two cents on the deal/market/specifics to the financials. Basically, I sit on calls and answer when the brokers don't know specific details. 

My goals is to generate some business over the next year and grow into a more client facing role. I plan on doing this by forming closer relationships with the analysts/associates at firms we are already doing business with, and also bringing in new relationships with investors/developers that we don't do much business with. I am having trouble coming up with the intro/team pitch to new clients and would love to hear some stories how you guys have started generating business at this stage in your career. 

Another thing I am looking for advice on is education. I have a good grasp on how things work, but I still find myself googling things I hear or not understanding how a certain loan term could be better than another. As I pursue new business, I'd like to have a deep understanding on how the CRE structured finance industry works and all available options/structures for borrowers/partners and the benefits and drawbacks of certain structures. For example, I'd having trouble answering if a client wants to know optimal structure for a development deal between stretch construction loan/lower leverage construction loan/HUD Loan and GoGP/LP equity/mezz debt and the desired combination of each. If a client asked, my answer would be it depends on the terms, and then I'd probably tell them about similar deals we've done and how they were structured, but I'd like to have a more thought out answer that shows I have a strong understanding.

Please share any educational articles, books, videos, online courses, or resources you've found helpful in the past. 

Thanks