Unconventional B2B Strategy #13
1942. Lisbon. Juan Pujol writes another coded message for the Nazis.
English troop movements. Air defenses. Supply routes.
At least, that’s what the Germans believe.
In reality, Pujol has never stepped foot in England.
His 27 agents? Fiction. Every report mixes public information, educated guesses, and outright lies.
Pujol hates the Nazis. So he conned his way into their spy network to eff with ‘em.
The British spy agency, MI5, sees his potential and brings him to London. Pujol earns the codename: Garbo.
Garbo’s fake intelligence misdirects bombing raids, invents troop deployments, and convinces Berlin the D-Day landings are fake.
The Germans eat it up. The Allies break through, eventually winning the war.
The 13th Strategy of War says:
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Your real enemy is your opponent’s mind. His armies, his resources, his intelligence, can all be overcome if you can fathom his weakness, the emotional blind spot through which you can deceive, distract, and manipulate him.
”Robert Greene
Apply this to the #b2b battlefield.Every large corporation has its own “Garbo.” Someone who knows how the organization really works. Someone overlooked by leadership but critical to the flow of information.Your job? Find Them. Feed them. Use their intel to infiltrate and win business.
STAY SMALL & INVISIBLE
MI5 didn’t win the war with loud moves. They slowly, quietly embedded.In B2B, solve one small problem for someone working in or around a major target account—something quick and non-threatening.Target overlooked employees or vendors, NOT the decision-maker. They’re often easier to access and often eager for attention & help.⏳️ BUILD INFORMAL INTEL NETWORKS ⏳️
Think asymmetrically when recruiting more intel sources, target …… Disgruntled ex-employees… Happy vendors servicing different departments… Overlooked staff, like executive assistants or adminsBecome their biggest fan. Listen hard. Speak little. Support shamelessly.
[SEE Use Spies]ETHICALLY EXPLOIT EGO
Humans make decisions based on emotion and justify them with facts. Your allies can help uncover your primary target’s emotional drivers.Subtly find out their pressures (emotional, financial, political), drivers (status, power, safety), and influences (co-workers, old boss, a particular thought leader).Armed with this info, you can finally time and frame your approach in a way engineered to get your target’s attention – and favor.⚠️ WARNING: as you can imagine, deploying this strategy requires a great deal of time and energy. Use it only on a couple of worthy, larger targets.
