Model Positioning Technique for the Skilled Providers Business

Means again in 1969, a really perceptive marketer named Jack Trout launched the idea of brand name positioning to the world. He was the primary to place a phrase to a really highly effective advertising impact. Just a few years later, he and Al Ries wrote the seminal ebook, Positioning: The Battle for Your Thoughts, and the remaining is historical past.

Now, greater than half a century later, the idea of positioning is simply as related to companies — and possibly extra so. If something, in the present day’s skilled providers market is far bigger and extra crowded. Patrons have a bewildering array of corporations to select from, and with the rise of the Web, native corporations are contending with firms throughout the nation, if not the world.

What’s a agency to do? How do you compete when there’s barely room to breathe?

That’s the place model positioning is available in. It elegantly explains how folks see {the marketplace} and prescribes a method corporations can carve out a spot within the minds of their patrons.

Model Positioning Outlined

At its easiest, model positioning is the method of setting your enterprise aside out of your opponents in a method that builds choice for you amongst your target market. Its purpose is to affiliate your agency with an concept or class within the minds of people that would possibly purchase your providers.

Let’s take into account a few examples.

What do you consider once you learn the phrases, “gentle drink” or “pop”? Did Coke or Pepsi come to thoughts? These two merchandise are positioned to dominate the gentle drink class.

Now let’s attempt a service. What firm does “in a single day delivery” make you consider? Although different firms provide in a single day supply, FedEx owns that class — it has constructed its whole identification and operations round doing it higher than anybody else.

In principle, any skilled providers agency can construct a powerful affiliation between their model and an concept. However to achieve success, your positioning should be 1) completely different (it’s robust to take over a management place already held by one other enterprise — keep in mind, Avis has been #2 since 1953.); and a pair of) seen (if no person has heard of your agency, your positioning can’t take root).

Sometimes, your model positioning is articulated in your model positioning assertion. However I’ll have much more to say about {that a} bit later.

Why Model Positioning Is Vital

When you could have a well-defined model place, your agency has many benefits. Positioning can present a conceptual template in your model, your advertising messages, the providers you provide and even the way in which you construction your pricing.

Listed below are just a few of the important thing advantages of brand name positioning:

1. It focuses you on a selected goal market. Once you present a restricted set of providers to a restricted viewers, your advertising turns into extra highly effective and efficient. You’re perceived as a high-value professional.
2. It clarifies how you’re completely different from opponents. You’ll lastly know precisely what units you aside and be capable of speak about your agency in a method that will get prospects excited.
3. It reveals methods to win new purchasers. Positioning arms your enterprise growth group with essential arguments they’ll use within the nurturing and shutting processes.
4. It drives artistic selections. Once you perceive the core message you could talk to prospects, you may make knowledgeable selections all through the artistic course of. Your positioning turns into the DNA of your visible model.
5. It drives service growth and pricing selections. Realizing the way you examine to your opponents helps you determine what new providers to supply, and when. Are you positioned as a supply of revolutionary providers? A low-cost supplier? A specialist or a generalist? The solutions to those questions can have an effect on what providers you provide and methods to value them.

5 Kinds of Model Positioning Technique

Positioning methods can take many types, however not all are applicable for skilled providers corporations. Beneath are 5 methods which are most related to positioning a agency like yours:

1. Price-driven positioning. “We provide the whole lot these different corporations do, however we value much less.” It is a very difficult technique except you could have an inherent value benefit. Expertise could be your greatest good friend if you’re utilizing it extra successfully than your opponents or your worst enemy if you’re behind others in a cost-driven technique.
2. Area of interest service specialization. On this technique, you give attention to providing a service that isn’t extensively accessible by way of opponents. You provide specialised experience that, presumably, a generalist wouldn’t have. This strategy can work nicely except the service begins to generate sturdy demand and new opponents emerge to dilute your “specialness.”
3. Business specialization. It is a fashionable and infrequently efficient strategy to place an expert providers agency. It’s one other type of specialised experience, and it means that you can tightly focus your advertising and evolve your providers as your market modifications. The implication of trade specialization is that your agency has deep expertise working with related companies. This strategy comes with dangers, nevertheless. In case your trade experiences an financial decline, your fortunes could observe. It is usually simple for brand spanking new opponents to enter the fray and disrupt your positioning.
4. Function-focused specialization. “We assist CEOs succeed” is an instance of role-focused positioning — concentrating on a selected operate within the group. As a substitute of specializing in a selected trade or service, you goal a cohort of individuals. These patrons will understand you as extra tuned in to their wants and expectations that you just provide particular information or experience that can make their job simpler.
5. High quality of service positioning. This is without doubt one of the most typical methods utilized by skilled providers corporations, and (with uncommon exceptions) it is without doubt one of the least efficient. “No person’s extra dedicated to high quality,” “we ship the very best service” and related messages are so ubiquitous within the market that they completely fail to impress patrons. In fact, patrons do need high quality and customer support — however these traits are desk stakes and they’re hardly ever standards used to pick a agency.

Model Positioning Examples

What does a well-positioned agency seem like? Beneath we embrace just a few examples of how a few of our personal purchasers have positioned themselves within the market. These examples characterize the purest distillation of their model positioning—easy concepts that anybody within the market can perceive however that are troublesome for opponents to repeat.

Vault Consulting

“The nation’s main accounting and analysis agency for nonprofits and associations.”

Why it really works: Vault’s uncommon mixture of accounting and analysis providers, along side their trade focus, permits them to say management standing.

Sellers Dorsey

“The nation’s main Medicaid consultancy to well being care suppliers, payors and state governments.”

Why it really works: They do only one factor: Medicaid consulting. They usually have constructed a market management place round that specialization.

20-20 Providers

“We give attention to only one factor: equipping in the present day’s accounting professionals with all the talents, information and management coaching they should thrive and develop.”

Why it really works: They give attention to a robust want within the CPA trade: maintaining accounting professionals totally educated and geared up to construct their enterprise.

What Is a Model Positioning Assertion?

A model positioning assertion is a succinct, easy-to-understand paragraph that describes your agency’s positioning within the market. It ought to tackle three questions: 1) What do you do? 2) Who do you serve? 3) How are you completely different from related corporations within the market? It could additionally embrace different key causes purchasers choose your agency over others. A model positioning assertion is primarily an inner doc {that a} agency’s advertising and enterprise growth groups can use to craft differentiated advertising language—although a few of its language could also be used verbatim in public-facing messaging. In Step 4 under, we clarify methods to write your individual positioning assertion.

The Model Positioning Course of

Able to develop a model positioning technique in your personal agency? The steps under offers you a stable roadmap to get there. I’ve additionally included hyperlinks to different assets that can assist fill in a number of the particulars. Let’s get began!

Step 1. Begin together with your general enterprise imperatives. What are you making an attempt to perform as a agency? Your positioning is a basic pillar of enterprise technique, and it impacts the way you drive development and entice the expertise you could maintain your growth. For those who don’t have your enterprise objectives written down already, sit down together with your administration group and ensure everybody has a transparent set of priorities. That method, once you start formulating your positioning assertion you’ll a transparent vacation spot in thoughts.

Step 2. Analysis your goal purchasers and opponents. In keeping with a examine {of professional} providers advertising, corporations which have a powerful understanding of their audiences and competitors are greater than twice as more likely to be high-growth companies (people who develop no less than 20% yr over yr). Such a investigation is commonly known as model analysis, and it’s usually carried out by an impartial entity to make sure its confidentiality and encourage extra trustworthy suggestions from contributors. It normally entails interviews with present purchasers, prospects, and referral sources. It additionally contains an evaluation of your opponents — what they’re saying about themselves and the way your viewers perceives them.

Model analysis can even determine strengths and weaknesses you weren’t in a position to see earlier than. As well as, you’ll be taught what components potential purchasers worth most throughout the choice course of.

And model analysis is essential to the success of the following step.

Step 3. Establish your differentiators. That is the place your enterprise objectives and model analysis flip into advertising gold. Drawing on the insights of your group, exterior perceptions of your agency and a brand new understanding of your opponents’ positioning, you’ll pick traits that each set you aside out of your competitors and are invaluable to potential purchasers on the time they choose a agency.

Robust differentiators should additionally meet three different standards: they should be 1) true, 2) provable and three) related to your target market. If a differentiator isn’t true, purchasers will typically sense it and strategy your agency with skepticism. That’s why you need to be capable of assist every differentiator with proof. Typically you’ll uncover proof in your model analysis (for instance, a discovering that “9 out 10 purchasers refer us to others” is a pleasant statistic to bolster a wide range of differentiators).

Some differentiators could also be traits that you just uncover in your analysis (“purchasers discover us to be extremely versatile”), whereas others could also be a specialization that you’ve got already cultivated (“we offer community safety providers solely to accounting corporations”). For those who discover your present differentiators missing, it’s possible you’ll determine to pursue a brand new space of focus or consider a selected space of energy. Whereas this strategy will probably be aspirational at first, it might probably work as long as you really commit your agency to it and might show you’re doing it going ahead. In case you are struggling to consider doable differentiators, seek the advice of this record of 21 skilled service differentiators for concepts. Or, check out this record of the 12 worst differentiators for skilled providers corporations to verify your present differentiators aren’t included.

To be taught extra about uncovering your differentiators, take a look at our free Differentiation Information for Skilled Providers Corporations. Additionally, I counsel you learn this weblog submit on aggressive differentiation.

Step 4. Craft your model positioning assertion. Now it’s time to translate your differentiators right into a story that clearly communicates your aggressive benefit. A positioning assertion distills your key shopping for propositions into a brief paragraph. It’s an inner doc — as a result of it’s compact it’s not meant for use verbatim in your web site or in your advertising supplies. As a substitute, consider it as a supply you’ll be able to return to time and again once you want the inspiration to explain your agency or persuade folks to purchase from you.

A model positioning assertion can take two completely different types: a crafted paragraph or a prompted assertion. Growing a crafted paragraph takes extra ability and time, however some corporations discover that it interprets extra simply into advertising messages. A prompted assertion is faster and easier to assemble — your group fills within the blanks with the suitable data.

Right here’s an instance of a positioning assertion in paragraph kind:

Newco is the nation’s main IT consultancy that makes a speciality of legislation corporations and authorized departments. Our group of attorneys, engineers, CIOs, govt administrators, and undertaking managers is uniquely positioned to make your follow extra productive and worthwhile. We’re aware of the a whole bunch of software program functions utilized by the authorized group, and we’ve developed a set of instruments that makes migrating and configuring techniques quicker and extra environment friendly. We even have a repute for doing a job as soon as and doing it proper — that’s why 4 out of 5 purchasers put us on a long-term contract. Once you want the very best authorized IT recommendation and assist, Newco is the simple alternative.

And right here’s what a prompted assertion template, able to be crammed out, seems to be like:

If Newco had used the prompted assertion, that is the way it would possibly learn:

Whichever format you select, your model positioning assertion ought to embrace the next parts:

• Your agency title
• What you do
• Who you serve
• Why purchasers select you
• Proof that helps your claims

Okay, let’s break down the Newco instance and ensure we’re coated.

What’s their title? Newco. (Verify!)

What providers do they supply? IT consulting providers.

Who’s their target market? Legislation corporations and authorized departments.

Why do purchasers select them over different corporations? They work solely with authorized practices, so they’re trade specialists. This provides them a bonus when pursuing enterprise with legislation corporations and authorized departments over generalist IT corporations that serve a number of industries. Additionally they declare to be the leaders of their area of interest.

What else helps their positioning? They’ve developed a proprietary suite of instruments that enables them to do their job higher than their competitors. And since their group contains professionals who’ve been of their purchasers’ footwear (attorneys, CIOs, govt administrators) they’re nicely attuned to their wants. Additionally they have an incredible repute, which they’ll exhibit by citing the excessive share of purchasers that put them on long-term contracts.

So how do you employ your model positioning assertion? The very first thing many corporations do is develop their elevator pitch — that quick description of your agency that solutions the query, “What does your agency do?” Preserve your elevator pitch quick — a sentence or two will normally do the trick — and write it in pure, conversational language. If folks had been to memorize it, it ought to sound like one thing an individual would really say.

You can even use your positioning assertion as the inspiration of your messaging structure. Your messaging structure is a doc that spells out key messages for every of your audiences and addresses particular objections they might have. For instance, “Why would I select your agency over a better-known competitor?”

Lastly, you’ll use your positioning assertion as inspiration for headlines and persuasive language in your web site and in advertising collateral.

Step 5. Implement your new positioning. No technique, irrespective of how well-conceived, will survive poor implementation. It’s important to have the precise communications instruments in place — items that can assist the brand new message you’re delivering. And that will require revisiting the whole lot you employ to market your providers. On the very least, it would be best to mirror your new positioning in your advertising supplies and web site.

For some corporations, nevertheless, implementation entails rethinking their general identification or initiating a rebranding course of. This course of can contain a soup-to-nuts overhaul — a brand new title, tagline, emblem, web site, advertising supplies, and extra. Sometimes, this occurs when a agency both undergoes a change in technique or realizes that its model is old-fashioned and now not displays the caliber of the agency they’ve grow to be.

As you develop your new positioning, take into consideration how you’ll convey that message to the world. What wants to vary, what can keep the identical, and what new elements must be launched?

Overcoming Positioning Challenges

Repositioning your agency isn’t essentially simple. It will depend on the uncooked supplies you need to work with and the mindset you convey to the method. Some corporations uncover that they simply don’t have sturdy differentiators. On this all-too-common scenario, a agency has 4 choices:

1. Embrace a brand new focus in an underserved space. That is the best — and troublesome — choice. It nearly at all times means letting go of a number of shopper segments to construct momentum and mind-share in one other. For those who assume you’ll be able to pull it off, pursue this strategy with all of the power you could have. It might pay enormous dividends.
2. Personal a trait. Establish a facet of your enterprise that you just wish to affiliate together with your agency. It’s okay if opponents do it, too — as long as no person else is utilizing it in the identical method. For instance, an structure agency shopper of ours makes use of trade analysis to tell its design course of. This “evidence-based design” strategy isn’t new, but it surely’s not universally practiced, and none of their opponents had been speaking about it. So the agency determined to personal it. As a part of their model positioning technique, they started utilizing the phrase “scientific” to explain their design philosophy. By tying their strategy to science, they might start constructing a repute as probably the most methodical and credible choice of their market.
3. Mix two traits. It is a mashup of choices 1 and a pair of above. Choose two major traits or features of your enterprise and mix them. You might be able to declare that you’re the chief on the intersection of these two issues. For instance, we positioned an accounting agency as “the nation’s main specialist in honest market valuations and monetary transaction consulting to the healthcare trade.” Since no different agency was preeminent in offering each of these providers to the healthcare trade, our shopper might credibly name itself a frontrunner.
4. Do nothing. Or promote weak differentiators, which quantities to the identical factor. You possibly can say that you just rent solely the very best folks, or that you just ship the very best customer support, however no person will care.

Model Positioning Technique Examples

Skilled providers corporations typically wrestle to distinguish and place themselves. So I’d like to finish this piece by inspecting a handful of real-world examples of brand name positioning technique — particularly, how corporations in several industries have used positioning technique to grow to be extra aggressive, develop quicker and be extra worthwhile.

Accounting

Lester + Firm is a Dallas-based accounting agency. At first, they had been a typical common accounting agency with a various vary of enterprise purchasers. Their fortunes turned for the higher once they determined to pivot and focus on serving considered one of their strongest shopper segments: eating places. Over time, they determined to slender their focus, much more, to focus on chain eating places. Right now, they’re thriving and rising of their extremely specialised space of experience. “It’s taken us to an entire new degree of success,” says CEO, Andrew Lester.

Model positioning: The accounting agency for multi-location eating places.

Govt Search

Melissa Henderson was a Managing Director at a big, worldwide search agency when she had a loopy concept. What if C-level executives might rent their very own private consultant, very similar to an elite sports activities agent? It will flip the chief search trade on its head. (Typical govt search corporations are paid by firms who’re on the lookout for expertise, not by the job seekers.) So Melissa left her job and based Summit Govt Assets, a agency that helps high executives discover the management and board positions they’ve at all times wished — with the high-touch private service they deserve.

Model positioning: The private search agency for C-level executives.

Healthcare Consulting

Ascendient is a top-50 consulting agency that serves hospital techniques across the nation. Led by a group of practitioners and lecturers, they’ve a singular perspective on the way forward for healthcare. In actual fact, they consider most healthcare techniques are usually not ready for the large modifications which are about to rework {the marketplace}. To make their perspective extra seen and differentiate their agency from consultants that focus totally on in the present day’s issues, Ascendient determined to reposition its agency round its future imaginative and prescient.

Model positioning: We’re rethinking the way forward for healthcare.

Authorized

Walsh Colucci Lubeley and Walsh is a legislation agency outdoors Washington, DC. For many years, they had been a common legislation agency with a powerful follow in zoning and land use. However when the highest agency in that house dissolved, their management acknowledged a possibility and shortly rebranded their agency as The Land Legal professionals. Whereas they proceed to supply just a few common authorized providers, Walsh Colucci focuses their model message squarely on its space of energy. Right now, they’ve grow to be the area’s dominant participant in business actual property legislation.

Model positioning: Northern Virginia’s premier business actual property legislation agency.

Conclusion

{Most professional} providers corporations are poorly positioned within the market. They consider that they’ll get extra purchasers by opening their arms huge to everybody — the broader their attain, the extra enterprise will float into their embrace. However that’s not what actually occurs. When patrons go searching and see awkwardly splayed arms all over the place, they’ve nowhere to gravitate.

That’s why having a model positioning technique is so vital. It offers your prospects one thing to get concerned about — and can in the end persuade them to purchase from you. Your target market will discover you a lot instances extra fascinating than a generalist agency as a result of you could have the specialised experience they want. And as a specialist, you’ll be able to typically cost extra, in addition.

In case your agency isn’t positioned to persistently entice premium purchasers, take coronary heart. You’re not alone. Any agency can sharpen its positioning and construct an enviable aggressive benefit. All it takes is slightly braveness to take step one.