Hot Gossip > Getting your ducks positioned right
How do your customers view you?
What is the mental process they go through to evaluate and conceptually aggregate your business and what you’re all about? Well the process is referred to as positioning and, let’s get this clear from the start, positioning takes place in the minds of your customers, not yours.
In a positioning sense it matters very little what you think of your business but it’s fundamentally vital to understand what your clients and prospects think of you! Author Geoffrey Moore in his book 'Crossing the Chasm' writes, “Positioning is the single largest influence on the buying decision” that seems almost too bold too be true today. Still relevant? You betcha!
A product or service position can be defined as how the prospect might see the offering. Does that mean we are at the mercy of positioning?
Partly but the more you attune your messaging to the perfect position on the radar the better the signal will be understood.
It all seems very ‘airy fairy’ I know but bear with us and hopefully all will become clear. Positioning must be expressed relative to the position of competitors. No business exists in isolation. The prospect is bombarded with messages yours must be clear, unique and propose value.
So, positioning is intangible, it’s something that’s formulated in the minds of the target market. It follows therefore that to achieve that nirvana of having a ‘massive influence on the buying decision’ we must adopt a customer centric approach.
Do a quick check on competitor websites to perceive what you see as their position. Chances are the language will be product/internally centric i.e. ‘We’ ‘Our’ and ‘My’. That’s the first big problem, who cares what you think about your company or product/service? No one (except maybe your accountant). Remember it’s all about perception.
Look at the messaging statements and under the brand, is there a tagline? It’s all part of the positioning of that brand or company.
If the competition is not customer centric and worse still has no discernable value proposition, there’s your chance to own the space. Be clear, be bold, grab the chance to differentiate and gain competitive advantage. The position Apple has created with the iPod is iconic, emotive and highly sustainable. Sure it plays music pretty well but iPod owners don’t buy product features - they enter into a long term symbolic relationship that satisfies higher needs. How influential is that?
Try to conceptualise positioning as the bundled vision the target market has of a particular company, product or service in relation to their perceptions of the competitors in the same category. Whether you like it or not these impressions are formed and shaped over time and they will happen whether or not a company’s management is proactive, reactive or passive about the on-going process of evolving a position. But as I said, don’t worry, a company can positively influence the perceptions through attuned strategic actions.
Even a weak position is re-coverable, careful strategic manoeuvring and specifically brand re-engineering can re-position a company with a position so weak it is about to fall off the ladder. Re-positioning involves the changing of the identity of a product or service, relative to the identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market.
What about value propositions, is it the same as positioning?
In a nutshell, a value proposition is a clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets from using your products or services. The more specific your value proposition is the better.
Documented current customer success stories make you believable to prospective buyers and can be a source of competitive advantage. Who better to deliver and re-enforce your value proposition than your clients? The messages that best resonate with prospects are those delivered succinctly by customers.
Keep the client message focused and clearly aligned with your brand messaging. There’s no point in the client advocating a “trusty but slow and complex system” if the positioning line screams “rapid simple business solutions” Messaging in campaigns should similarly reflect your positioning.
Remember that catch-cry about ‘Customer is King’? it had it’s flaws; but trust us, the most valuable knowledge in marketing really is customer cognisance.
Getting the ducks positioned right once you have this understanding, will have a positively dynamic effect in reaching the market.
Download the Positioning Checklist (pdf 85kb)
Article courtesy of The Channel magazine www.thechannel.co.nz
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