System of Agents on a mission to activate hidden relationship value based on the Relationship Economics methodology. #IntelligentRelationshipManagement
Yesterday's room had a moment.
We asked people to plot their last three shortlist losses on the Hidden Deal Timeline.
Almost nobody entered before Day −30.
The room agreed: the proposal is paperwork.
Replay → https://t.co/9On8T0eoTK #BeforeTheRFP
That's a wrap. Thank you to everyone in the room today.
Replay coming shortly — same link.
This week we unpack each of the four moves in depth. First up tomorrow: 5 things the room discovered.
Today. 1PM ET. LinkedIn Live.
"The Deals Decided Before the RFP."
The deals you'll win next quarter are being decided right now. We're talking about how to be in those conversations — before procurement is ever in the room.
Join us → https://t.co/Aa2tqePWNh #BeforeTheRFP #LinkedInLive
#BeforeTheRFP #LinkedInLive
Where you enter the deal decides whether you win it.
Most firms enter at stage 7 — the RFP drops.
The winner was at stage 3 — while the question was still being formed.
Be there while the question is still being formed. #BeforeTheRFP
Shape the problem, own the conversation.
Whiteboard, not pitch.
The firms that help clients name the challenge before the scope exists aren't responding to the RFP — they wrote the questions in it. #BeforeTheRFP
You know one person.
The decision involves seven.
And by the time the RFP drops, the committee has already formed its view — in conversations you weren't in.
That's the gap. And it's structural.
By the time the RFP lands, someone else is already the frontrunner.
You went in strong.
You just went in late.
That's the sentence most post-loss debriefs never reach. This month, we're getting there. #BeforeTheRFP
Name it below — as specific as you're willing to be. Your answers shape June. May gave you the lens. June helps you use it. See you there. 🧭
#RelationshipIntelligence
May newsletter is live 📬 — it resolves 'The Value You're Not Seeing' and opens the door to June.
Full toolkit summary: deposits, withdrawals, multipliers, the 2×2 matrix, and what relationship-rich actually means.
Subscribe + read → link in bio. What was your biggest May insight? Reply below.
#RelationshipIntelligence
Negative relationship balance? It's recoverable. But not through one well-meaning message.
The arc: → Be honest about the imbalance → Deposit with zero implicit ask → Give it time → Re-establish cadence before the relationship needs to deliver
Which step is hardest for you? 👇
#RelationshipIntelligence
November: a thoughtful connection made with no agenda. February: a proprietary insight shared with context. April: a referral that changed the pipeline.
The referral came from November. Not from March's follow-up.
Deposits compound. Can you trace your last referral back to one? 👇
#RelationshipIntelligence
You probably don't need a new relationship. You need to re-engage the right existing one.
Think of your most underinvested multiplier relationship. When was the last real deposit?
What kind of deposit are you making this week? Drop it below 👇
#RelationshipIntelligence
A managing partner at a mid-market consulting firm came to us with a familiar frustration.
Strong reputation. Active in the market. Regular conference attendance. A network that, by any external measure, looked healthy.
But BD felt inconsistent. Engagements came — but the source was always vague. He couldn't trace a specific opportunity to a specific relationship with any clarity.
We ran the value assessment together.
What we found was instructive.
Nearly 40% of his top relationship investment was going to what we'd call the Evaluate quadrant — relationships that were familiar and comfortable but low on both value exchange and strategic relevance. These relationships consumed the most time and returned the least momentum.
Two relationships in his Develop quadrant — high strategic relevance, low current value exchange — had gone essentially unattended for nearly a year. Real potential. No deposits.
And one relationship he would have described as one of his most important — a genuine Connector who had produced three meaningful introductions over two years — had received no intentional deposits in six months. The balance was quietly draining.
We shifted the investment.
Within 90 days: the Connector relationship produced two meaningful new introductions after three specific, well-timed deposits. One of the Develop-quadrant relationships, after a genuine and well-timed deposit sequence, advanced to the Invest tier — and became an active referral source. BD activity felt more focused. Less scattered. Less like effort and more like strategy.
His words: "We weren't under-investing in relationships overall. We were investing in the wrong ones."
If that sentence resonates — DM us "VALUE" and let's have a real conversation.