How to build Strategic Relationships with Decision-Makers

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build strategic relationships with decision-makers in your industry (and beyond)? A lot has changed in B2B Marketing, especially over the past 18 months. According to Forrester, 71% of buying decision in B2B are now made before the buyer even speaks to you and 97% of executives do not take cold calls (or even cold mails, as email response rates have dropped to as little as 1%).

Why is it important to build Strategic Relationships?

According to research conducted by the world's leading professional network, there are three key reasons why you need to focus on developing relationships:

• 73% of B2B Buyers prefer sales professionals who have been referred by someone they know;
• 87% of B2B Buyers said they would have a favorable impression of you if you had been introduced to them by someone in their professional network;
• Buying Decisions now typically include 5.4 Decision Makers.

The Key to building Relationships that matter

Thanks to Professor Robert Cialdini, author of the authoritative book on “Influence”, we now know which are the social triggers to apply when building mutually beneficial relationships. Says Cialdini:

“Researchers have been studying the factors that influence us to say yes to the request of others for over sixty years and there can be no doubt that there’s a science to how we are persuaded. A lot of this science is surprising.

When making a decision, it would be nice to think that people consider all the available information in order to guide their thinking. But the reality is very often different. In the increasingly overloaded lives we lead, more than ever, we need shortcuts or rules-of-thumb to guide our decision making."

The Universal Principle of Reciprocation

Simply put, people are obliged to give back to others the form of behavior, gift or service that they have received first. If a friend invites you to their party, there’s an obligation for you to invite them to a future party you are hosting.

Says Cialdini: One of the best demonstrations of the principle of reciprocation comes with a series of studies conducted in restaurants.

The last time you visit a restaurant, there’s a good chance that the waiter or waitress will have given you a gift, probably about the same time that they bring you a bill – a liqueur perhaps, or a fortune cookie or perhaps a simple mint.

Here’s a question: does the giving of a mint have any influence over how much tip you’re going to leave them? Most people will say no but that mint can make a surprising difference.

In the study, giving diners a single mint at the end of their meal typically increased tips by around three per cent. Interestingly, if the gift is doubled and two mints are provided, tips don’t double, they quadruple - a fourteen per cent increase in tips!

But perhaps most interesting of all, is the fact that if the waiter provides one mint, starts to walk away from the table but pauses, turns back and says,

“For you nice people, here’s an extra mint”, tips go through the roof! A twenty-three per cent increase influenced not by what was given but how it was given.

The key to using the principle of reciprocation is to be the first to give and to ensure that what you give is personalized and unexpected.

What are Your Mints on LinkedIn?

In other words, how can you elicit a sense of reciprocation on LinkedIn™? There are a number ways to achieve this:

1. Giving endorsements to connections in your network; albeit this being a one-click-action, it can have a profound effect on the levels of goodwill your endorsements elicits from the other person. Only last week, an endorsement that I gave to a former client, reactivated the relationship and started a new conversation.
2. Writing Recommendations for Connections you know well enough to vouch for; since very few members do this on LinkedIn™, writing a meaningful recommendation can go a long way in establishing goodwill and opening the door to reciprocation. Make it a practice to write a couple of recommendations every week and you might be surprised by the response you receive.
3. Promoting their Work: There are many different ways to do this, for example you can find an article they’ve posted, and share it to your followers with the same passion you would if it were your own content – and let that person know you’ve shared it.
4. Write a review of their latest book on Amazon, or rate their podcast on iTunes. This is the season of writing books and many aspiring thought leaders greatly appreciate your support.
5. Highlight them in your newsletter and then send them a link with a short but warm inmail.
6. Connect Them to Others: Connecting people is a true art form – and if this is a skill you have, take advantage of it – leaders are always looking to meet other great people. Think about the people you already have in your network. Reach out to both parties and see if they would like an introduction. A simple act like this could end up adding tremendous value to their business or life – and they’ll remember you for it.
7. Stacking valuable Pieces of Information into your Profile, especially your Featured Section.

Discover the Strategic Relationship Development MAP™

At our last count, LinkedIn™ provides 49 Relationship building Touchpoints to offer you - and if used correctly (that is the right ones at the right time in your buyer's journey), these are the key to building strategic relationships with decision-makers. To discover the Strategic Relationship Development MAP™ that we have developed by analyzing and synthesizing the relationship building data of our over 15 years+ of developing strategic relationships with decision-makers

Join our Virtual MasterClass (complimentary access)

• on Thursday, 1 February 2024
• at 18h00 SAST (GMT+1)
• online (register at https://www.linkedin.com/events/7128088986601803777/about/)