Comments on: B2B Selling. It’s About Relationships, Right?

By: B2B Positioning Strategy | Why Weak Positioning is Price Positioning | B2B Marketing Blog

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:15:31 +0000

[...] B2B Selling. It’s About Relationships, Right? [...]

By: Public sector tender specialists - ways2win

Public sector tender specialists - ways2win — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:11:51 +0000

Public sector tender specialists – ways2win…

It’s easy to assume that it will always be the cheapest price that wins. It is not the case in the public sector…

By: The Long Hello. Building brand-relationships in B2B

The Long Hello. Building brand-relationships in B2B — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:09:14 +0000

[...] Read the full Proteus article [...]

By: William King

William King — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:27:52 +0000

It’s quite apparent that one will get sales if he/she is offering prospect a distinctive and different kind of service. Establishing a relationship with the prospect is major tactic in B2B selling. All you have to do is to gain trust but the service should also be distinguishing and more prominent to the prospect.

By: scott carpenter

scott carpenter — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:32:38 +0000

Galen………….the scenario you described is unfortunately a familar one.

Two additional thoughts:
1) if after the first lost deal you haven’t changed your positioing in your prospects mind I would walk away from that prospect. That would save the company $$.
2) there are times when you win the business the first time around. That occurs when you combine the relationship with your unique value aka positioning.

Selling by relying completely on relationship is not effective.

Scott

By: Twitter Trackbacks for B2B Selling | The Role of Relationships & Positioning | B2B Marketing Blog [proteusb2b.com] on Topsy.com

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:42:39 +0000

[...] B2B Selling | The Role of Relationships & Positioning | B2B Marketing Blog http://www.proteusb2b.com/b2b-marketing-blog/index.php/b2b-selling-positioning – view page – cached Common wisdom in B2B selling suggests the first thing to do is establish a relationship with the prospect. Learn why this strategy often leads to failure — From the page [...]

By: Mike Marn

Mike Marn — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:58:14 +0000

Nice contrarian post, Galen. The examples are real enough, and it’s an excellent, if not very subtle, endorsement for what Proteus is about,

The one exception to your caution, however, is golf, You HAVE to take the prospect to play golf, and in most cases, take your senior creative people along.
Other than that, you’re right on….

By: John Bottom

John Bottom — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:14:51 +0000

Like it, Galen. A buyer has every reason for listening to you but, unless you offer something distinctive (ie you have a distinctive positioning) they have no reason to actually buy.

By: Ardath Albee

Ardath Albee — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:20:05 +0000

Hi Galen,

Great post! And right on target. Positioning, done well, builds a value-based relationship – not just an acquaintance factor.

The situation you describe is kind of like embracing the adage, “People buy from people they know,” without looking deeper into what that means. With positioning, that adage can shift to “People buy from people they know provide value they can’t get elsewhere.”

By: Galen De Young

Galen De Young — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:06:00 +0000

Thanks, Mike.

You’re absolutely right. The right positioning does get you the meeting. It also makes sure you’re on the short list from the start. Frankly, its amazing what proper positioning can do, and yet so may companies continue to spend huge sums just for the opportunity to battle it out on price. Amazing.

By: Mike Damphousse, Green Leads

Mike Damphousse, Green Leads — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:55:26 +0000

Galen,
Great post. I wanted to also add that better positioning helps get the introductory appointment. We have found that better positioning delivered through nurturing can increase not only the number of meetings, but also the conversion rate to opportunity.

That, combined with your increased throughput of success when positioning is improved, is a win-win strategy.

More in a blog article here: http://www.damphousse.org/2009/06/b2b-appointment-setting-best-if.html?blogcomment