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Companies don’t make decisions, people do
We often talk about decisions firms make. The reality is that one or more individuals make decisions. So, if you want to do more business with a firm you need to be able to influence key decision makers.
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How does the market view your firm?
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Perceptions of your firm influence decision makers in your ecosystem
Decision-makers seek real benefits for their business but, as humans, also need to be excited and inspired by the solutions they choose. Given increasing competition and businesses becoming more agile, branding your B2B business is no longer an option, it’s a necessity.
Fact-based business branding provides a unique opportunity to close this gap between suppliers’ messages and decision makers’ needs. Early movers can expect to reap disproportionate rewards by differentiating their propositions accordingly.
Since brands can help reduce the level of perceived risk and uncertainty for organizational buyers, it is expected branding may be more effective when the buying decision is more complex or has a high degree of uncertainty.
When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.
Branding is not just about getting your target market to select you over the competition. It’s also about getting your prospects to see you as the sole provider of a solution to their problem or need. In its essence, branding is a problem-solver.
When we brand things, our brains perceive them as more special and valuable than they actually are.
In most professional services, you are not really selling expertise – because your expertise is assumed, and because your prospect cannot intelligently evaluate your expertise anyway. Instead, you are selling a relationship.
To succeed in our over communicated society, you must create a position in the prospect’s mind. A position that takes into consideration not only a company’s own strengths and weaknesses, but those of its competitors as well.
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Does your firm have a (positive) B2B brand?
Many firms spend millions of dollars on researching and maintaining a positive brand. However, those efforts are almost always exclusively focused on how investors or target company CEOs perceive the firm.
What about the other firms that operate in your ecosystem? What comes to mind when they think of your firm? Interactions with them can significantly influence your firm’s ability to achieve its goals.
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Differentiation can yield
many benefits
Firms that develop a strong brand within their ecosystem can establish themselves as market leaders. While competitive terms will continue to be critical to winning business, having a preferred relationship can tilt the balance in your favor. That could mean getting the first call, winning a mandate, capturing an allocation bump, or receiving proprietary insights.
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Relationship AlphaTM is the
reward for maintaining
strong relationships
The opportunities that arise from your relationships can create millions of dollars of incremental profits. It may come from getting an edge that helps you make a unique pitch for an opportunity before anyone else. Perhaps it will be the offer to buy more of what you want rather than having to buy what is available. Or it may be from just retaining money you have earned by reducing risks. Such wins are attainable by effectively using information to influence key decision makers.
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Maximize relationships by using the Science of
Since the beginning of time people have sought to influence others. But what works? One of the leading researchers in the field, Dr. Robert Cialdini, has identified “six universal shortcuts that guide human behavior”:
| Reciprocity | |
| Scarcity | |
| Authority | |
| Consistency | |
| Liking | |
| Consensus |
He calls these the Principles of Influence. They can help maximize relationship management opportunities by acting as a framework for determining what information will be useful and how best to present it.
Click the button to watch the overview video that has been viewed 11+ million times.
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Superstar relationship managers not required
Some people are natural relationship managers. However, the majority of people find it challenging to promote themselves and their firms. Maybe it takes too much time; maybe they don’t know what to say; or, maybe they aren’t comfortable.
Everyone who has significant external contacts should help promote your firm’s brand, even those who won’t pick up the phone. Forward-thinking firms can unleash that power through the adoption of an optimal blend of processes and information systems.
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RApportTM creates a competitive
Relationship Alpha Processes & Reporting (RApportTM) is the factory that makes alpha possible. It is a blend of processes, technology, investment, and execution that achieves desired results.
Most firms have committed to all of these elements in some way. However, those commitments often were not made holistically, resulting in implementations that are siloed, sub-optimal, and expensive.
Firms obtain competitive advantages when they align systems and processes with the Principles of Influence to create RApportTM. Once a firm demonstrates it will consistently walk-its-talk, its brand will become evident. Then, as word spreads, the firm will reap Relationship AlphaTM!
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Benefits
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Learn about the many benefits gained from developing RApportTM
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We have decades of experience
helping financial services firms
elevate their games
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