If you’ve ever lost a job, customer, or press opportunity, chances are you’ve spent time afterward thinking about what you could have done differently to affect the outcome. As it turns out, there’s a secret ingredient you may have been missing in your career, sales, and media relations strategy.

It’s called personal investment.

I’m not talking about money. I’m referring to intent.

Think for a moment about the last opportunity that you lost. Ask yourself a few of the following questions:

• How much time did you spend investigating the company and its leadership?
• How much do you know about the problems and goals of your target audience?
• What have you researched and found as opportunities that would help them?
• Are you following up regularly to share your good ideas?

These questions all reflect tactics from the same strategy: become an extension of the team you’re pursuing.

The days of conducting business as an impersonal transaction are gone. In the modern marketing and communications age, you’ll need to set yourself apart from fierce competition by personally investing your time, knowledge, and resources in the audience you’re trying to win.

The Secret to Getting Hired — Act Like You Already Work There

When trying to get hired at a new job, every employer will take some time to deliberate about which candidate they want to bring on. Everybody already knows about the importance of sending follow-up notes, but this is your window of opportunity to show them that you’re already a member of the team.

For example, send your relevant team members opportunities that they should be working on now that you would be happy to help secure if you were hired. Is there an industry award they should apply for, or an event they should attend with a deadline coming up? Get all of the details and send them to your prospective boss to show them you’re already working for them.

This will demonstrate how invested you are in the position, that you’re a proactive and thoughtful candidate, and it will likely make you stand out from your peers.

Win the Customer by Acting as Their Partner

Making a sale isn’t easy, and there are a lot of pieces that have to be lined up before you can land a customer. But in your approach to relationship-building with a prospect, you must not only show them what you can do for them. You should also prove that your business or product will align seamlessly with their everyday needs. Don’t just be a vendor — be a partner.

For example, show that your company is invested in their company as a customer, and that you will become an additional resource to their organization if they purchase from you, instead of your competitor.

In early stages, this could look like professional recommendations you would implement if they become a customer. In later stages, it might mean putting one of your staff members on-site in their office once a week, offering more accessible customer service during after work hours, or changing your delivery schedule of a product to fit their workflow and timeline more effectively.

Become an Ally to Journalists and Help Them Tell Their Story

Journalists today are greatly outnumbered by PR professionals — six to one according to Muckrack. Journalists have to weed through more pitches than ever before, and they have less time to work on more stories. Increase the odds of getting the press placement you want by packaging the story for the journalist you’re reaching out to. This will help save them from doing the extra legwork.

For example, in your pitch, get right to the point of what the story is and why it’s important. Plus, always, always makes sure it’s relevant to the editorial beat they cover. Offer up a demo, interview, or quotes from leaders in your company. Also, send multimedia content like images, video, and links to more information about the focus of your pitch. Last, give them the story a week or so ahead of time so they have time to digest it and review everything you’re offering. Then, they can easily turn it into a story they can publish.

“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together, we can do great things.” — Mother Teresa

If you approach the hiring manager, customer prospect, and journalist you wish to write about you like you would a teammate, you might just find better results.

At the very least, you’ll learn more about customizing communication to your audience and build a great reputation for yourself in your industry.