Superior B2B growth is challenging

Transcript of Chapter 2

Superior B2B organic growth is challenging. But it’s worth it, right? Imagine outpacing your competitors, growing 1) faster, 2) more profitably, and 3) reliably year after year. Investors would applaud, customers would respect you, employees would have rewarding, stable careers, and it would irritate competitors. What’s not to love, right?

But maybe this is a more familiar scene: As you develop next year’s plan, someone says, “Hey, our market’s growing at 3%, so we should be able to grow 5% next year.”

Well, how fast are competitors are planning to grow? The same, higher, or lower than the market? Also higher, right? So all the suppliers plan to grow faster than the market they serve. As TV psychologist, Dr. Phil, would say, “How’s that been working for you?”

Why will you win, while they lose? How will you move faster than the world around you? This dilemma is called the Red Queen Effect. Alice in Wonderland had to run as fast as she could just to stay in place. What are you doing that lets you “run faster” than competitors?

Is your R&D staff 20% brighter? Your marketing more persuasive? Your sales force harder-working? Can you think of even one unassailable competitive advantage? You need something if you want your business to rise above mediocrity.

In these videos, we will explain how to grow faster than your competitors. We’ll draw on our research based on over 10,000 years of B2B respondent experience and our many years working with the largest B2B companies around the world.

But here’s the thing: It only works if your leadership team has a “builder” mentality, which we’ll explore in our next chapter. For now, check out our research on What Drives B2B Organic Growth. The good news is, it’s pretty clear what works.