Winning deals from outside the room - the power of B2B recommendation

Most of the conversations that decide a B2B deal happen in a room you'll never be in. By the time you're in contention, the decision is often half made. In this episode of Trust & Influence in B2B, Joel Harrison is joined by Lottie O'Donoghue, strategy director at Velo, a specialist B2B agency built on recommendation. They explore why becoming the recommended choice has shifted from a nice-to-have to a commercial imperative, the real difference between being known and being recommended, and the trust signals that quietly compound into advocacy. In this episode: Why the recommended choice now matters more than the visible one The trust signals that accumulate into recommendation, and the ones marketers most underestimate How to make the case for investing in influence that conventional attribution can't capture Where to start if you suspect you're not being talked about in the right rooms Velo's six Rs of Recommendation Marketing framework This is a sponsored episode, produced in partnership with Velo. CHAPTERS 00:00 The room you'll never be in 02:00 Velo and a business built on recommendation 03:20 Why trust and recommendation matter now 06:05 The shortlist: why being on it is everything 07:05 Risk aversion and the "no one gets fired for IBM" effect 10:15 Where marketers should spend their time and budget 12:30 The trust signals that compound into recommendation 15:35 Known vs recommended: the RFP that didn't add up 17:40 How much of recommendation is in your control 21:10 Making the case to a sceptical CFO 23:25 Where to start: voice of customer and honest reflection 26:25 AI, discovery and the machine-generated shortlist 27:50 Velo's six Rs of Recommendation Marketing 32:30 The one thing to do tomorrow LINKS Velo's six Rs of Recommendation Marketing: [add link] Velo:   / velo-marketing-ltd   Lottie O'Donoghue on LinkedIn:   / lottie-odonoghue   🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬 How do you see the role of B2B marketing evolving—and what does that mean for your work today? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! 🔔 Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing.    / @joelharrison-b2b   --------------- Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Joel Harrison B2B. This is your inside track to the ever-evolving world of business-to-business marketing—told through the lens of someone who’s lived and breathed it for over two decades. I’m Joel Harrison, founder of B2B Marketing, creator of Propolis, and host of the Trust & Influence in B2B Marketing podcast. Through this channel, I bring you real conversations with the people driving change, navigating complexity, and building the next generation of marketing leadership. ➡️ Expect regular videos filmed on the move—from major events like Ignite, to behind-the-scenes interviews, to deeper dives into topics that matter most to today’s marketers. We’ll explore what it means to be a commercial marketer, how to build trust and credibility in technical sectors, and how thought leadership can evolve beyond buzzwords into something truly impactful. You’ll hear from voices at the cutting edge of B2B, including marketers from global brands, fast-growing startups, and everything in between. This isn’t theory for theory’s sake. It’s about helping you become more effective, influential, and commercially grounded—so you can thrive in a fast-moving, high-expectation world. 👉 Subscribe now and tap the bell icon to get notified whenever a new episode drops—from the show floor, the studio, or the front lines of B2B. --------------- 📲 Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶️   / joelharrison   Podcast ▶️ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captiv... Instagram ▶️   / joelharrisonb2b   --------------- 🎬 Video chapters: 00:00 - --------------- #JoelHarrisonB2B