Understanding Positioning Will Increase Your Sales – Article 4

You now know that your customers are your best asset and an easy way to develop new marketing strategies is to follow the leaders and model your business marketing after their successes. Today I want to discuss the powerful, frequently used and sometimes misunderstood term “positioning.”

Positioning in its simplistic form is merely where does your business fit in the market and against your competition as well as what is unique about your business. Let me give you more information before we go further, as I think this will clarify it a little more.

I believe there are three ways to position a business. The first is what I call “Force in the Market”. When I was handling the marketing for Bridgestone Sports USA, I developed a friendship with the head of the tire division. One day we were talking about marketing and he happened to mention that at that time Bridgestone was number one in truck sales and airplane sales, yet they were not number one in new car sales. Firestone held the top position. So what did Bridgestone do? They bought the majority stake in the Firestone Company and became number one in new car sales. Unfortunately most businesses cannot grow by acquisition.

The second type of positioning is being “Number One”. This is quite simply either reaching the pinnacle of your business category through sales or developing something new to achieve the top spot. A perfect example is Avis. Many years ago when Hertz held the top position in the rental car business, Avis was in second place. Avis developed a new positioning campaign under the theme’ “At Avis We Try Harder”. The market was very attracted to a company that tried harder than the leader and eventually Avis became number one.

The third method of positioning I call “Reformulating an Old Idea and Making It Better”. A good example is Domino’s Pizza. There are pizza restaurants everywhere. It is difficult to make a pizza that much better than your competition. So Domino’s changed the playing field and developed their market position around “Pizza Delivered in 30 Minutes or Less.” Their success was instant.

So what do I as a business owner do in a tough economy with this information to increase my sales. You need to look at your business through the eyes of your customers and develop a newer or better way of presenting your business in the market.

I will give you an example that should tell the story best. I had a meeting yesterday with a top tennis pro. She had just signed a contract with a large popular tennis club where she will be starting a tennis academy. The challenges are that there are several tennis instructors already teaching there. How can she successfully launch her tennis school and rise above the high noise level of competition?

As a tennis player, I understand that instructors pretty much do the same thing. At your first lesson you go on the court and the pro starts hitting you tennis balls to see your strengths and weaknesses. I suggested that she create a new term for a new method of teaching. I cannot share the name at this time or the process, but lets give it a name like the Matrix Method. The words mean nothing, but the process is totally different. With the Matrix Method, your first lesson is done off court. The student is put through a series of movements and is measured to determine their strengths and weaknesses. They are questioned as to their goals to be achieved in taking tennis lessons and their level of commitment. By promoting this new school as the innovator of the Matrix Method, they are uniquely positioned to ask the question to all tennis students at the club; What is the Matrix Method and why is my instructor not teaching it? I am confident she will be very successful.

The ultimate goal in positioning is to have your brand become part of the vocabulary. Most people still ask for a Kleenex when they actually mean tissue. Kleenex is a brand not a product. How about making a Xerox copy? You don’t hear anyone saying make me a Toshiba copy? Or having a cup of Sanka when they mean decaf. You get the message.

My next article will discuss a better way of selling through NLP. Until next time.