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      THE B2B EXECUTIVE PLAYBOOK

      COPYRIGHT © 2011 by Sean Geehan

      ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any fashion—print, facsimile, or electronic—or by any method yet to be developed without express permission of the copyright holder.

      For further information, contact the publisher:

      Clerisy Press

      P.O. Box 8874

      Cincinnati, OH 45208-0874

       clerisypress.com

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

      Geehan, Sean.

      The B2B executive playbook: the ultimate weapon for achieving sustainable, predictable & profitable growth/Sean Geehan.

      p. cm.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-57860-446-3

      ISBN-10: 1-57860-446-X

      1. Industrial marketing. 2. Executives. 3. Customer relations. I. Title.

      HF5415.1263.G44 2011

      658.8’04—dc23

      2011034195

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

      All images courtesy of The Geehan Group unless otherwise noted.

      CONTENTS

      FOREWORD by David G. Thomson

      INTRODUCTION

      Chapter 1: SETTING THE STAGE

      Chapter 2: A DIFFERENT GAME

      Chapter 3: SIX BENEFITS, FOUR STEPS

      Chapter 4: ENGAGE

      Chapter 5: PLAN

      Chapter 6: COLLABORATE

      Chapter 7: GROW

      Chapter 8: IMPLEMENTING THE PLAYBOOK

      Chapter 9: AVOIDING THE FOUR PITFALLS

      CONCLUSION

      MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA

      Leveraging Marketing to Drive Organizational Value

      B2B and Social Media

      CASE STUDIES

      HCL

      Oracle

      Harris

      Intesource

      Springer

      Wells Fargo

      Crown Partners

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      FOREWORD

      Nothing is more important to me than the success of my growth company’s clients, students, and friends. I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Sean Geehan for the many years he has spent advising and problem-solving with leading B2B companies.

      It is incredibly difficult to define the key criteria to help B2B companies develop a consistent, profitable growth plan. Sean’s B2B Executive Playbook succeeds with this insightful set of rules and programs that drive long-term growth. This is particularly important for B2B companies where a handful of customers account for the majority of their market and sales opportunities. The B2B Executive Playbook can help B2B leaders take their organizations to the top, thriving in the face of incredible competition for customer relationships.

      Today’s uncertain economic times require B2B companies to focus on the one constant that defines success: sales growth. Regardless of the size of business or industry, being strategically close to your customers is a prerequisite for attaining industry leadership for the next cycle. This prerequisite includes product and service innovation, market positioning and acquisitions, as well as internal alignment, prioritization, and resource allocation.

      My research into growth companies reveals that achieving consistent sales growth is the hallmark of only 5 percent of management teams—and consequently, the most difficult objective for virtually all B2B teams.

      With the next growth cycle about to emerge, leading companies will be defined as those achieving sales growth driven by deep customer relationships, particularly challenging for B2B companies considering the dependence on a few customers for growth. B2B customers are an extension of your management team’s ability to help define your company’s higher-order benefits—i.e., strategy, organizational alignment, and innovation.

      More than just an overview of principles, The B2B Executive Playbook provides the tools and approaches that any B2B leader can apply to create huge impact with market and organizational alignment.

      Sean has done a wonderful job of illustrating what works and describing why it works. He has not only analyzed winning approaches, he also has successfully tested and applied his B2B Executive Playbook to different B2B situations to ensure its programs and rules apply, in turn helping these companies build win-win, long-term market relationships and gain insight that ignites sustainable and profitable growth.

      The real value of this book is more than its interesting case studies, programs, and rules. The real value lies in what we do with what we learn.

      David G. Thomson

      David G. Thomson is a world-renowned business growth consultant, keynote speaker, and best-selling author. He is the founder and chairman of the Blueprint Growth Institute, a specialized consulting firm that advises growth companies. Thomson’s book, Blueprint to a Billion, has been translated worldwide and featured on top media globally.

      INTRODUCTION

      Back in the day, I was the head coach of the University of Dayton’s men’s water polo team. It was a young program, and in my first few years as coach, we consistently posted losing seasons. Actually, we got slaughtered. I’ll never forget the televised match against the nationally ranked University of Kentucky team, in particular. By half-time, Kentucky led 14-0, which means they scored 14 goals since each is only worth one point. Kentucky’s coach then played his B team the entire second half, and we still ended up losing 24-3. Ouch!

      I accepted our losses because I understood it would take some time to develop the program. But I really didn’t expect to fare so poorly because I had followed the conventional wisdom of water polo success: recruit big, fast swimmers and teach them how to play the game. This strategy seemed to work for other teams; it had to work for ours. So, I stayed the course and recruited even bigger and faster players and swam them even more…that’s right, nobody was going to beat us down the pool. And, we continued losing.

      After a couple of seasons, we headed to Southern California, the Mecca of water polo, seeking to prove we could hold our own against the best of the best. We played top-ranked Pepperdine and lost 14-1. In fact, we lost every one of the seven games we played on that humbling road trip. It was obvious we just weren’t improving or even close to being competitive at a national level. I finally realized I just did not have the right formula for success. For us to be great, I needed a completely new approach.

      I decided to become a better student of the game to see if there were important elements or attributes of winning water polo our team was missing or didn’t understand. In my study, I learned that size and speed were not nearly as important as conventional wisdom dictated. Instead, other aspects of the game had larger impacts on the final score, including field position, minimizing your turnovers and capitalizing on those of your opponents, and understanding how to adjust your play to the refereeing. With this insight, I developed a new game plan and playbook, and enlisted experts in the sport, including the icon of U.S. water polo, five-time

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