wardell books

Chapter 3: Your Positioning

your positioning

In the last chapter, you fine-tuned your understanding of exactly who your customer is. Now that you know who your customer is, and what motivates them, we must position your company so when your customer wants what you offer, they think of you first. Why should people buy from your business, as opposed to any other business that sells similar products or services? What's so unique about your business? If you don't have specific answers to these questions or, more importantly, if your customers and prospects don't have specific answers to these questions, you've got a problem. There is a solution, however, and it's called positioning.

When your prospects think of your business, do they consider you to be: Fastest?

Highest quality?

Most convenient?

Least expensive?

Most attentive?

The store with the best selection?

Or do they just think of your business as one of many businesses of your type? Just one more place to go when they need your products or services.

Positioning helps a business stand out. When people think of Federal Express, for example, they don't just think of a courier, they think of a “guaranteed overnight delivery service.” At its inception, it was a boldly unique position. Sure, their business did a lot of other things well, but they focused their marketing efforts on overnight service. Now, even though other businesses might make the same claim, in the mind of the marketplace, the position still belongs to Federal Express. That's the incredible power of positioning.

In order to position your business effectively, you need to come up with a unique strategy that offers something of value to your market. You need to identify the specific quality that makes you “number one” in the minds of your prospects and customers. This doesn't mean you don't do other things well; it's simply a rallying point. Once you have identified your position, it becomes the marketing focus of your entire business.

Your Marketing Position is the relative location your business occupies in your prospects' minds.

"...Marketing is just positioning your product (or service) properly in the market.”

- Paul Hawken