Unconventional B2B Strategy #15
1941. North Africa. General Wavell finally gained the upper hand against the Germans.
The British general had more soldiers, more weapons, more tanks, more supplies, and a heavily fortified position.
There was no way the smaller German force could plow through the British lines. Right?
Wrong.
The brilliant German strategist – Erwin Rommel – refused to play a straight-up game with the British.
Instead, Rommel …
>>> attacked at night while the Brits were slow & groggy
>>> faked retreats to lure Brits away from entrenched positions
>>> confused the Brits with dummy tank formations & fake radio traffic
>>> broke his forces into smaller pieces to outmaneuver & overwhelm the Brits
>>> ignored British strongholds, opting to pick away at their supply lines instead
The “Desert Fox” won back Libya.
Eventually, the Brits replaced Wavell with the savvy General Montgomery, who was smart enough to flip the game on Rommel. But the Desert Fox’s years in North Africa placed him on the same level of military genius as Ghengis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, & Hannibal.
Robert Greene’s 15th Strategy of War says:
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An enemy naturally wants to fight you on familiar terrain. By subtly shifting them into places and situations that are not familiar, you control the dynamic.”Robert Greene
Here’s how you can adapt this strategy to B2B sales:
SIDESTEP RFP’S
The “request for proposal” process can usually be sidestepped. Don’t be afraid of ruffling the bureaucracy of your dream client to win a deal. If you lose a battle breaking the rules, pivot to other prospects and earn their attention before an RFP needs to be issued.
Look up WalMart’s buying process to see a masterclass in controlling dynamics.
STOP FETCHING ROCKS
I learned this from Oren Klaff years ago.
When a buyer starts asking for more and more ‘homework’ during the sales process – portfolio, references, strategies, SOW edits, etc… respond with a strategic ‘no’ – something like: “We’ve earned 300+ reviews and succeeded in a dozen projects harder than yours – if that’s not enough to earn us some trust, then we’re probably not the right team for you.”
MAKE ‘EM JEALOUS
After putting a prospect on pause, reach out to their competitors. Once you get a meeting, ping your prospect with a, “I may need to withdraw my proposal from this deal due to competing deal with one of your competitors. Standby.”
Publicly > Speak on social and podcasts about ‘pulling back to focus on our core competencies’ – advertise the message directly to your competitors.
WARNING ⚠️ Your prospects are not your enemy in B2B – the ‘dynamic’ is the enemy. Imposing control & overpowering prospects will create an adversarial (a.k.a. unprofitable) dynamic.
