Sorted. Jul/Aug 2015 80

BUSINESS

RelationologyMATT BIRD

Matt Bird is the Creator ofRelationology which helpsbusinesses grow their top linethrough the power ofrelationships. If you would likethe other three approaches towinning new business visitwww.relationology.co.uk

@relationology

Winning New Business 2

1 PriorRelationshipsW inning new

businesshas becomea bigemphasisfor

companies due to thecombination of a recoveringeconomy stimulating demandand a saturated marketplace of competing providers. Companieswant to establish a culture ofwinning new business whereevery employee is reaching outthrough their relationshipnetworks to generate leads.

Relationology offers a unique six strategy approach to winningnew business and here are the first three:

Winning new business ismost often the result of oldrelationships not newrelationships. Given thechoice clients choose to dobusiness through priorrelationships with peoplethey know, like and trust.

Many people wrongly thinkthat winning new business isabout going to ‘networking’events and ‘working theroom’ to find a new client.Instead smart people attend

A friend was speaking passionatelyabout a private car hire service withan amazing iPhone App, a friendlyservice (that sometimes even providesa bottle of water and chocolate) andhire prices that are half that of a blackcab. They were a fantastic brandadvocate for Uber, it was as if theywere on the payroll. Now I’m a regularcustomer and brand advocate too.

Growing your business throughbrand advocates requires the creationof an outstanding customerexperience. It takes a significant

3BrandAdvocates

2TargetedReferrals

One of the restaurants that I frequenthas a breath taking view, live musicand a brilliant service team. Up untilrecently there was one smalldeficiency, the food menu lacked acheese plate. The chef mentioned thisto me and I referred him to a cheesemonger I know well. The restaurantnow has a best-selling cheese plate.That is a targeted referral.

Growing your business throughtargeted referrals is the ‘holy grail’ ofwinning new business. It is theperfect storm of client need andsupplier availability referred to oneanother at exactly the right time. It isat its most powerful when thereferrer is a user of the product orservice so they can speak from first-hand experience about its value.

business events with theaim of meeting someonethey can build a meaningfulconnection with whichcould become anestablished relationship inthe future.

It is very difficult to predictwhich prior relationships aregoing to provide newbusiness in the coming yearwhich means caring fornurturing all our priorrelationships.

investment, however the up side isyou have a network of people whodespite being unpaid spend their

lives talking up and persuadingothers about the brilliance of yourproduct or service.

Sorted Issue 47 Jul_Aug 15 pp 64-93.qxp_Layout 1 06/06/2015 09:56 Page 80