Unconventional B2B Strategy #1

Robert Greene’s first strategy of war states, “… you cannot fight effectively unless you can identify your enemy.”

It’s no accident Greene opened his book, The 33 Strategies of War, with this particular strategy. I’ve encountered hundreds of businesses that confused their competitors with their enemies.

I have fallen into this trap plenty of times over the years, so no judgment.

Here are some no-bullshit questions you can ask yourself to strengthen your company’s ability to fight on this unconventional B2B battlefield.

⚔️ Selling fleet management software?

⚔️ Is your enemy the top 3 fleet management platforms or 3PL mega-platforms??

⚔️ Or is your true enemy Denise in the front office who will make it her life’s mission to bury your pitch and ensure COO Denis, with one N, stops questioning her old-school fleet management skills??

⚔️ Slinging plumbing fixtures?

⚔️ Is your enemy Ferguson or Kohler??

⚔️ Or is your true enemy private equity firms violently merging every mechanical contractor outfit on the left coast, and bringing their overpriced good old boys’ supplier with them???

In true ‘practice what we preach’ form, the Bandits went through this exercise. And true to Greene’s assertion, identifying our true enemy has filled us “with purpose and direction.”