Yes, You WANT Me To Make You Angry!

One of the best parts of my job is listening to new prospects tell me their positioning statement.

One of the worst parts of my job is listening to new prospects tell me their positioning statement.

Yes, it’s a paradox.

This is why being a Positioning expert isn’t easy.

Almost every prospect who contacts me wants my help but they also don’t want my help.

Yes, another paradox.

They want me to help improve their positioning to their market so they can grow their revenue and their company.

But, at the same time, they don’t want to feel like they ‘failed.’

It’s as if they think there is some kind of shame in letting someone else help them figure out what the real value of their product or service is and how to express it.

This is the dilemma of my profession: I spend my days basically destroying people’s positioning so I can help their positioning.

(Another paradox – Woohoo!)

Of course it isn’t easy.

I’ll ask them why someone should choose their product/service over a competitor and they’ll start to spout out stuff like “best price,” “best value,” “years of experience,” “best service,” “best quality,” etc.

They want to hear me say that their positioning is “great”…but, of course, I don’t say that.

And when I tell them that their competitors can claim exactly the same things that they claim they get angry. They’ll grudgingly agree, but they are angry nonetheless.

You have to be cruel to be kind.

So why am I so hung up on Positioning?

Simple: In a hyper-commoditized world only positioning creates the ability for a product or service to break away from the competition.

Technological advancements, hordes of desperate investors, countless “entrepreneurs” who think they can “do it better,” and a marketplace that is overwhelmed with options and distractions have leveled the playing field.

Hell, they’ve obliterated the playing field!

And in this mess, all I see, over and over again, are “me too” businesses.

“You sell tires? Me too.”

“You sell video conferencing? Me too.”

“You sell consulting? Me too.”

Now, here’s the thing, a lot of these “me too” businesses ARE NOT “me too” businesses.

Aren’t you sick of the paradoxes?

Yes, even though they are acting like “me too” businesses, they aren’t.

Why?

Because they could be unique, but they are stuck in the “let me copy other ‘successful’ companies” mindset.

How does this work and why is it a problem?

Well, let’s say that Johnny creates a new box and he calls is Mega-Box.

Now Johnny wants to sell tons of Mega-Boxes, right? So he needs to market it.

Since Johnny knows boxes, and not marketing, he hires a marketing firm.

The marketing firm is all excited to help Johnny, so they roll out their process: Create content, push out messages on relevant media, buy Facebook ads, etc.

But the marketing firm doesn’t know boxes either, so where do they get content and ideas from? They get them from copying other companies that sell boxes.

(Beginning to see the problem?)

Now, armed with copycat ideas and content, the marketing company gets to work.

They start dumping and pumping…and spending.

Johnny starts getting some inquiries. They ain’t great, and there ain’t a lot of them, but any effort will yield some results.

Of course Johnny is not a salesman, so each sales process is long and arduous and his loss rate is high.

Eventually Johnny hires salespeople.

(Did I mention Johnny is burning through cash since income is far outpaced by expenses right now?)

The salespeople study the marketing material – for five minutes – and get to work.

Sales is (supposedly) all about “closing,” so whether or not the marketing process brings in good leads, or the prospects are properly prepared to buy is irrelevant because the salespeople will just “push.”

Sales are sporadic.

No one is breaking the bank and Johnny’s visions of glory have turned into a daily grind of spending more and more on marketing to get leads who are less and less qualified, then passing them off to indifferent salespeople who “turn and burn.”

And so long as Johnny’s Mega-Box remains a “me too” business, this will be his life.

Then Johnny hears some moron like me say that he could have avoided all this trouble and made a lot more revenue if he had just Positioned properly.

…and that’s why he gets angry….

So what is Posiotioning?

Now you can Google “Positioning” (for business) and get some generic definitions that sound a lot like the definition of “Branding”…and that’s how you know their wrong.

From my perspective, Positioning (when done correctly) is the art of expressing your product/service/company to the world in such a way that it has no peer. This forces your target market to create new real estate in their mind, which your product/service/business owns.

Basically, you create a new marketplace…and dominate it!

Of course, the next question is: How can you Position your business (correctly)?

That takes time and, usually, some help from someone like me.

But to get you started, here is a simple – and possibly painful – exercise:

• Write down all the reasons you think your product/service/business is different and/or better than your competitors.
• Take your time and make the list as long and complete as possible.
• When you’re done, put the list aside for at least 24 hours. Do not look at it or think about it.
• Then pick up the list and ask yourself how many things on the list can be claimed by one or more of your competitors. Cross off those things and whittle down your list.
• Next, take what’s left of your list to someone else (unconnected to your business) and ask them how many of the items on your list are similar or the same as your competitors. Cross them off.

Now you should be left with a few keys items which MAY be useful for you to start building a Position on.

At the very least you will have eliminated a bunch of “attributes” that would have done nothing but commoditized your product/service/business and made it easier for your competition to take your prospects.

Good luck and have fun!

*****************

Okay, so you’re still reading.

I’m going to guess that you’d like see what Positioning can do for your business and revenue.

So the easiest way to find out what Positioning is, how it works, what it can do for you, etc. is to experience the “destruction” of your current Position.

That way you will see what is not working and why. And that will start to inform you about what needs to change and how we can change it…for the better.

Are you up for a little destruction?

Then let’s do it!

CLICK HERE to schedule a 30 minute call with me. Yes, it’s free.

Please put Position Destruction as the Subject for the call.

And please put the URL of your company’s website in the Note section. I like to see what I am dealing with ahead of time.

Obviously, due to response rate, we will have to limit the number of calls, so we can only accept a certain amount. Either way we will let you know if we can or cannot do the call with you.

Good luck and hope to speak with you soon!