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Something broke in B2B.
Used to be simple: Do great work. Build reputation. Talent follows. Clients follow. Revenue grows. The end.
Now? The best firms are losing to mediocre competitors with sharp websites. Twenty-year track records beaten by two-year-old boutiques. Merit losing to marketing.
The reputation-revenue link isn't broken. It's just not automatic anymore.
The New Reality
Digital beats word-of-mouth. Your reputation lives in closed rooms. Their presence lives on screens. Guess which one prospects see first at 11 PM?
Speed beats seniority. While you're crafting the perfect response, they've already shipped three solutions. Market rewards velocity over wisdom.
Clarity beats credentials. Your 47 tombstones impress nobody. Their one-page explanation of exactly how they solve the client's problem wins the deal.
Systems beat relationships. Relationships retire. Systems compound. The firms building the latter are eating the former.
Why This Happened
Buyers changed. They research like consumers. Decide like procurement. Expect like Amazon.
They don't start with referrals. They start with ChatGPT. They don't want your credentials deck. They want to see you understand their specific problem. They don't care about your history. They care about their future.
The firms that adapted are thriving. The ones that didn't are writing think pieces about "the good old days."
The Fix
This isn't fair. But it's fixable.
Great firms need:
- Digital presence that matches their excellence
- Systems that demonstrate capability, not just claim it
- Speed that matches market tempo
- Clarity that cuts through noise
Build the infrastructure that ensures merit wins. Because reputation without reach is just a secret. And secrets don't scale.
The market still rewards excellence. It just needs to find you first.
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