Page 74 - Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing - PDFDrive.com

(What’s different) John Doe is smaller, less experienced, and not as
outstanding, [Remember, this is the typical prospect’s perception, and not
necessarily reality.]

(So) but because of that, they charge less, so you can save some money.”
This is the position of 90 percent of all service companies, because this is
how they are perceived by potential customers.
Chances are that this, or some slightly improved version, is your position
statement. This is where you must start.
So ask yourself, your clients, and your prospects, “What is our position?”
Your position is all in people’s minds. Find out what that position is.*

How to Narrow the Gap between Your Position and Your
Positioning Statement

Getting prospects to move from how they see you—your position—to how you
wish them to see you—the perception captured in your positioning statement—
may require a huge push. And the wider the gap between your position and your
statement, the stronger you must push.

Ask yourself: Given our position, will people believe our positioning
statement?

This problem often arises when a small or midsized service tries to pitch that
it is the “premier provider” of its service. Few prospects can reconcile “small or
midsized” with “premier provider”; the claim fails the laugh test.

A similar problem occurs when a service with a well-entrenched position
creates a new positioning statement that does not fit its established position. Take
this frequent case in retailing:

Milt Franklin starts off in bowling supplies. He calls his company All Star
Bowling; prospects position Milt as a bowling-supply provider.

Slowly, Milt learns that bowling supplies barely cover his overhead. So he
adds golf supplies—even though bowlers and golfers are continents apart
demographically, and even though few golfers would believe a bowling-supply
salesman knows Tommy Armour 845s from Colt 45s.

Having diversified, Milt tacks onto All Star Bowling a new theme line,
“Bowling, and a whole lot more.” (These “And a whole lot more” themes, which
abound in America, are a sure sign that the store owner has made a positioning
mistake.)

Clients like Milt often name themselves into these problems, and then try to