Can You Compete Through the Power of Your Relationships?

Whenever speaking with a business owner, especially small or mid-sized ones, they will likely tell you that almost all their past business came from referrals. And when they think they're ready to grow beyond referrals, they usually reach out to someone like me, a marketing expert. That's because they want to go beyond lead generation that occurs solely through referrals. They don’t want the referral channel to stop producing; they just want to add another channel or two.

However, there are a couple of issues with this approach, along with a few insights that might lead to getting more business faster.

Competing on Relationships Is Hard to Copy

Look at any wealthy individual, and you will likely find that they achieved their wealth, at least in part, because of a few key relationships in their life. Whether through inheritances, golden networks, or strong referral channels, many people become wealthy because of the people they know (and the people that those people know, and so on).

For those of you with abundant networks who invest time in networking, you likely see the payoff. And if you don't and you're smart, you shift networks to a different one or ones.

What you're doing, even though you might not be aware of it, is you're creating a competitive edge for yourself based on relationships. When you compete based on the networks you’re part of, you create tribes.

Tribes that you're already part of and have worked to build trust within are challenging for your competition to penetrate, especially if you were there first and if loyalty is valued by the members of your tribe(s).

Adding Other Marketing Channels Isn’t a Light Switch

Let's say you've done a good job building networks. You feel fairly good about them, but you want to expand. To be realistic in this next step for your business, you must consider how long it took you to establish your networks and tribes. Was it days? A month? Or did it take a series of months, if not years?

Think like a marketer and add other channels before you need them as sources of leads. Any new marketing channel takes a significant amount of effort to establish a rhythm, audience, trust, and results.

Venturing into other marketing channels before you feel you need them is wise. Always think about what your future self will be grateful for, and take action accordingly. "Put in the time," in other words. The sooner you test and experiment, the more knowledgeable you’ll become about what works and how to implement it effectively.

Expand Your Relationships Even Further

Let's say you've done a good job with your networks and building your tribe. And you've begun testing new marketing avenues before you necessarily need them. What else should you do to grow quickly? Expand your networks further.

You're probably going to argue that it takes time and isn't scalable. And you're right...partly. It does take time, but it is scalable. After all, you don't have to be the one in the business to always be doing the networking. Individuals in certain roles can be tasked with networking and building partnerships, alliances, and tribes in specific relevant places. It doesn't have to only be you doing this work.