Positive behavioral differentiation has always played a more significant role than technical problem solving in the development of long-lasting relationships. This fact became evident two decades ago when Florida went to a qualifications-based selection process for their construction professionals. Technical differentiation lasts only as long as it takes for the competition to learn of your new approach and offer the same services—often only a few weeks. Behavioral differentiation has shown to last over twenty years, and it will continue to do so as long as a human being makes the buying decision.—Business Development Director, Construction Company
We have more ability than will power, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible.—La Rochefoucauld
Throughout this book and Winning Behavior, we have argued that behavior can and should be managed. It should be evident from our discussion of behavioral differences during opening, middle, and endgame that if you approach business development thoughtfully and behave in ways that customers find uniquely and memorably positive, you can create a behavioral advantage for yourself and improve your probability of winning more business. In our years of working with clients, we have met some enlightened executives who instinctively understood BD and found ways to outbehave their competitors consistently enough to improve their top and bottom lines significantly. We have also met numerous executives who were clueless about the impact of behavior and had not the faintest idea how to use behavior competitively. Unfortunately, there are many more of the latter than the former. The good news, however, is that anyone can learn to build a behavioral advantage if he or she has the will to do so.
Being determined to differentiate yourself behaviorally is the first step, of course. Without the will, there is no way. However, even with the will, it is challenging to create and implement a consistent behavioral strategy throughout an organization or over the life cycle of a business development opportunity, especially if what you choose to do is beyond what your people normally do. Challenging, but not impossible. It just takes good leadership and the determination to create a behavioral advantage. As Eric Krueger, chief relationship officer for Centex Construction Company, observes, in today’s tough markets you may not have a choice:
Competition is so keen today that the difference between first and second is as close as the winner and runner-up in the Olympic 100-meter sprint. So for us, winning is not about what we can do for customers. Our competitors can do the same things. We’re all running a tight race on capability. Rather, it’s about how we’ll do it, and that means it’s all about behavior and the strategies we implement to differentiate us with every customer—during a business development effort and after we win the contract. That may sound simple, but it’s not. It’s just critically important if we want to get and keep customers. Before and after we win, everyone who “touches” the customer in any way must be empowered to act as a servant leader, be open minded, show empathy, do what’s right, and demonstrate superior judgment skills. Otherwise, we’re just another runner in an endless race.¹
We begin with two premises. First, you can gain a behavioral advantage if you think strategically about your behavior toward customers. Second, you are unlikely to gain a behavioral advantage unless you actively manage how you and others in your company behave. Left to their own devices and instincts, most of your people will behave as they normally do, and you will not differentiate yourself behaviorally because your competitors will probably behave much the same way. So, if you are going to gain a behavioral advantage, you need to develop a thoughtful behavioral strategy and manage your behavior at every touch point in the course of business development and execution.
In this chapter, we discuss how to create a behavioral differentiation strategy. In the next chapter, we explore why some companies have difficulty creating sustainable behavioral differentiation—and why others have no trouble at all.