The Third Pillar of B2B Writing Success

 

Hey,

 How are you doing? I hope you are doing great. Sorry, for more than two weeks now, you didn't get to hear from me. Actually I was not around. Now that I'm back , you 'll get to hear from me. I really missed you all.

In my last blog post, I discussed The Second Pillar of B2B Writing Success, which has to do with Prospecting. Hopefully by next week, I'll round up with the series of four pillars of B2B Successful Writing.
 

Today, I'll talk about yet another important  pillar Of B2B writing - Become a linchpin for each client. Meanwhile, let me share with you the tale of two B2B copywriters.

The first copywriter, Bill, gets hired by a B2B company to write a web page. He gets the information he needs from his new client, writes the web page, and submits the copy. A week later, he sends his invoice.

The second copywriter, Debra, gets hired by the same company to write an email. She gets the information she needs from her new client, but also shares some ideas for making the entire campaign more successful. She writes and submits the copy. Sends her invoice. A couple of weeks later, she calls to follow-up on how the campaign did.

 

Bill and Debra have done similar work — although Debra perhaps invested a little more time. Who do you think is most likely to get repeat business from that client? And a testimonial? And possibly referrals?

 

The answer is quite obvious. One of the big advantages of writing for a business-to-business (B2B) company is that it can give a copywriter a lot of business year in, year out — for years.

 

It worthy to note that some of your clients have been with you for more than a decade. If you've been writing for one company for so long, you can  get Christmas cards from employees who aren't even in the marketing department. They will just recognize you as  part of the team!

 

The big difference between Bill and Debra is that Bill took a transactional approach to working with the client. He focused on the project at hand, did the work, and sent his bill. Debra, on the other hand, took a relationship-building approach. She not only did the project well, she also actively looked for ways to make herself even more valuable to the client.

 

In his book by the same name, Seth Godin refers to this as becoming the "Linchpin." Being that person who is so valuable a client wouldn't even think of working with anyone else.

 

Let me give you an example:

 

I read it recently of  a Copywriter that took on a new client for an ebook project. When he asked who would be doing the design, his client told him they had an in-house designer,- Amy. So he called her, introduced himself, and let her know he is looking forward to collaborating with her on the project.

 

Here's the thing: His new client phoned me later that day to say she was totally impressed. "We've worked with dozens of writers over the years. You're the only one who has ever bothered to introduce himself to our designer."

 

As you can see, it doesn't take much extra effort to become a linchpin. Simply look for ways to plug into what your client is doing and become indispensable to them. Believe me, the extra effort pays off. Big time. These days, more than 90% of my business comes from repeat clients and referrals from those clients.
 

Takeaway: Don't be transactional. Focus on building the relationship with clients. Be the linchpin.

 

Quick review: So far we've covered first three pillars of B2B writing success:

1.      Commit to a target market.

2.      Never stop prospecting.

3.      Become a linchpin for each client.

 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the first three pillars in the comments box .

 

By next week I'm going to discuss what I think is the most important thing you can do to become hugely successful as a B2B writer. Bye!