How to create the perfect positioning statement

What is the secret to stand out in a crowd?

As my quest for the perfect positioning statement continues I decided to share my thought process and the way to develop the best position statement for any business.

A position is what people think of you. The cold truth of what people think. A positioning statement on the other hand is what we want people to think of us. How we want our company to be perceived. 

So why do we need positions and positioning statements?

Well it’s quite simple really. Positioning statements will make your word of mouth so much more powerful. For example if you operate a cleaning services company in Perth, people will not give a rats bum that you operate a services company in Perth.

If you have a powerful positioning statement such as that you are Australia’s original cleaning services company or Perth's Original Services Company then you have a much more power behind you and people will be more inclined to use you. It shows that you are serious about cleaning. You have been around. So when people are looking for cleaning services – who are they more inept to hire? The cleaning services company or the original cleaning service company? 

Here are my tips for creating the best positioning statement strategy.
1. Who
2. What
3. For whom
4. What need
5. Against whom
6. What’s the difference
7. So…

Ask yourself this and have seven good answers.

Samples: This is what most companies use as their positioning statements as viewed by their customers. (Dont' use this as your template to follow as I write this sample to illustrate the point how most service companies are perceived by their clients.)

1. Who? “ABC Oil and Gas Engineering”
2. What? “is a small oil and gas engineering services firm”
3. For whom? “that serves smaller clients who want pretty good quality but cannot pay, or do not want to pay for services of larger firms”

4. Against whom? “Unlike its bigger and better known companies”
5. What’s different? “ABC Oil and Gas Engineering is smaller, less experienced, and not as outstanding (remember this is what other people think. The hard cold blooded truth.”
6. So… “but because of that, they charge less, so you save money.” 

Hopefully this will help you with your own branding and how to create the perfect positioning statements. I am off to keep working on my own branding strategy in Perth for this new company that I can't really reveal yet. :)

  

Branding Strategies - Positioning Statements

Heads down in branding and sales at the same time. Oh… right… plus running the sales and marketing strategy for a new company. :)

Lessons learned:
1. Evaluation: what I have to work with
2. Aligning our efforts
3. Who we are and what we want the world to think of us?
4. Sales. Sales. Sales.

It’s interesting that we need sales and revenues to grow but we can’t grow if we don’t understand who we are and what we stand for. If I can’t explain it then how can my sales team communicate it to customers?

I started with a classic branding dilemma that most companies have;
"What do people think of us and what do we want the world to think about us. Position versus Positioning Statements."

In other words; A positioning statement is what we want the world to think. A statement of position, by contrast, admits the truth. Now lets narrow the gap.

With any company we need to get revenues thru the door so I am a firm believer to test test and test some more and practise along the way to re-fine it. So we set out to test our positioning statements and it’s interesting to see that people think we sell advertising. Ok - -we do but that’s not all that we do. We actually help people get more customers by improving not only their advertising channels – we improve their entire strategy of HOW to actually get more business. And it’s free advice.

Next lesson was the word FREE. (I have to admit I kinda suspected this was the case)

We sell advertising but as soon as we started to offer free advice to clients our value proposition decreased and our clients wanted more for free. More and more and more but would not buy advertising space. So we started to charge for our advice. Guess what? We got more clients instead.

This is a classic example of Positioning versus Position Statements. We were perceived as an ad sales company but we thought we are perceived as advertising experts helping companies get more business.
The hard part is to shift this perception so that not only can we sell more advertising spots but also sell our strategic services at a premium rate. That is my challenge over the next few months as we launch across Australia because our product is the only product in Australia.

Next post will be about how we will align ourselves in the Social Media Space to get more business. This is going to be a tricky exercise because I can't be "social" if I don't know what my clients are looking for. Hmmmm :)

Heads down in research for podcasting revenues

I admit. I have been sloppy at posting the last little while. Lots of stuff on teh go and this has been the last thing on my mind.

Digital rights in the music industry is really starting to give me a head ache. With our music company we are pulling lots and lots of downloads. Our music is free so I'm not concerned about pirates per say.

What I am concerned about is the Ad revenues from episodes downloaded.

The CPM model with podcasts is (in my opinon) not feasible. So what is? How to do ensure an advertiser gets the biggest bang from advertising while we earn good ROI on our shows?

I might have an answer that I have based on the traditional radio model but I need to test it first. Hmmm... gotta love this social media stuff but the trick is to find the revenue model that works! lol

Marketing Planning - 8 Hot Tips

Marketing Planning - 8 Hot Tips


1. Research your customer


•How are your customers redefining value? Price elasticity is changing. Consumers are taking the time searching. They are willing to postpone purchases.

2. Focus on family values


•When times get harder we retreat to our villages (Home & Office). Look for home and family scenes to replace extreme sports, adventure, and individualism. Uncertainty prompts us to stay at home but connected with friends and family. They connect via the Internet. Ask yourself if you prepared to grab customers from the Internet?


Don't say - "Yes, I am prepared because I have a web site."


Do say - "How can I improve my current online presence to get more leads and sales?"

3. Maintain marketing spending


•This is the time not to cut advertising! ** A McGraw Hill study researched over 600 businesses during 81-82 slowdown and findings showed that businesses that increased their advertising spending had higher sales growth during slow times – of those companies that maintained or increased advertising had an increase of 256% more sales.


•If you have to cut marketing just maintain frequency. If you do TV ads, go from 30 seconds to 15 seconds or go to a smaller ads, just maintain a regular presence.


If you are online, do it smarter.

4. Adjust product portfolios


•Consumers want brands that are associated with quality and longevity.


•Consumers will favour multi function over specialized products and services.


•Weaker product lines should be eliminated.


•Industrial consumers will want products unbundled and priced separately.


•Gimmicks are out but you should still do some "schwag" like t-shirts and pens.


•New products should still be put out, but advertising should stress price and performance. Your advertising should be thru profitable channels. Don't confuse this with "What has worked in the past will work again". Expand, test and measure.

5. Support Distributors


•Offer early buy allowances.


•Offer extended financing and generous return policies (especially true for new unproven products).


•Drop weaker distributors and expand your sales force.
6. Adjust pricing tactics


•Customers are shopping for best prices.


•Offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively. Be creative. Be smart.


•Offer special discounts to offer temporary lower pricing.

7. Stress Market Share


•Know your cost structure – any cut backs should never impact the customer.


•Companies with strong positions and productive cost structures can expect to gain market share.


•Maybe its time to acquire competition?

8. Emphasize Core Value


•Team Leaders, Managers and especially CEO's should cement loyalty with employees by assuring them that the company has survived tough times before and that maintaining quality rather than cutting corners is most important.


•CEO's must spend more time with employees and customers.

SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES DO NOT ABANDON THEIR MARKETING STRATEGIES -

THEY ADAPT THEM.

In the next issue you will learn ground breaking growth strategies, why the old ways of marketing no longer work and how to adopt the “new” way of selling.


Until then, stay tuned, stay hot.

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Online Marketing Tips for 2010

1. Digital Moms

Razorfish and CafeMom recently teamed up to publish a two-part article that explores the online behaviors of mothers. Here is what you need to know:

a. Moms are fully embracing Social Media and Web 2.0. They email, text message, chat, Facebook, play games and are active searchers on the web.

b. Tailor your content to help them communicate with you.

c. Understand that a “One-size-fits-all” approach may not work. Each mom has different needs depending on how old their children are.

d. Learn more about the challenges these moms face. Address them. Make it easier for them to get information to help their children.

e. Take part of the chatter. Join in the conversations. Listen. Have the right tools to tune in and target your products to better serve the immediate need.

f. Each mom has different buying behaviour. They are in different places along the purchase cycle. Address each person on a personal level rather than mass-communicate.



2. Virtual Coupons.

Very similar to eCards online and virtual coupon is a gift that is sent online. It is becoming very big in Japan and starting to make its way to North America as well. How it works and what you need to know:

a. Create discount coupons and distribute them thru the right channels.

b. Have different coupons for different customer demo- and psychographics.

c. Have fun with the coupons. Create a coupon that you – yourself would use.

d. Measure and track everything.

e. Target holidays and major events.

f. Don’t be afraid to test various ideas.

g. Give away freebies too.

h. Don’t be too much of a cheesy sales guy. Everything you do online is transparent.


3. Eco communities

a. Use “green” or environmentally friendly products and ingredients – tell people you do

b. Help with social commitments and support a “Green lifestyle”.

c. Create online communities that support your products and help your users and give them value. Tag along other online communities that you think your users will appreciate.


4. Helping rather than selling

a. Become a business that people want to do business with. Give away value. Give away information. Be different and honest.

b. Don’t always look for that immediate sale. Think long term.

c. Do be careful of how much information you give. Be mindful there are always people who will nickel and dime you.

d. Use your website and other networking tools to engage your users. LinkedIn is a great way to help people but don’t be a cheesy sales guy. Remember that transparency is everything online. Help people where you know 100% that your advice is truly helpful.



5. ROI before Branding

a. Ensure your web site is optimized to the fullest extent. Every user you get should get maximum attention to convert them.

b. Use multivariable testing strategies to ensure your site and landing pages are effective

c. Leverage SEM to the latest tactics to drive the right traffic, at the right cost to the right product sales page.

d. Calculate everything to find out the ROI.

e. Hire the right people. Just like you don’t want your customers to nickel and dime your business, you shouldn’t nickel and dime your own business. Hire the right people and you will see great results.

Social Media Marketing 2010 Outlook

We have all heard of the 4 Ps of marketing but as we saw in 2008 and 2009 the 4Ps of marketing was changed to the 4Cs of marketing. Companies that did not embrace this shift was left behind.

2010 is all about ROI and as our Social Media breakfast series revealed, 2010 is all about integrating Social Marketing into your Marketing Mix.

I saw first hand (for my photo site) in 2003 and especially in 2004-06 that shifting my focus from the 4Ps of marketing to the 4Cs drastically increased our traffic and advertising revenues.

Social Media in 2009 - what happened and what's next for Social media strategies 2010

In the closing days of 2009 Pepsi decided against hiring Justin Timberlake, Cindy Crawford or even Britney Spears to speak for them during the 2010 Super Bowl. They would instead take the $20 million and use it to speak directly with -- and to listen to -- their consumers through the web. It was the final and perhaps the most significant signpost marking 2009 as a year when emerging social media technologies mandated new strategies for anyone who deals with the public.

No organization seemed unaffected.

Pope Benedict XVI launched his Facebook app in May. In June the US State Department asked Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance because of the role it was playing during civil unrest in Iran.

People I have spoken to indicated that they were eager to develop new strategies and tactics for engaging their markets.

The outlook for 2010 - the best ways to measure ROI, the relationship with the bottom line.

Their response exceeded our expectations by a wide margin on all accounts. You won't find any ironclad rules or spreadsheet formulas but if you read their words with a critical eye it should help you to refine and justify your own social media style.

http://www.whosbloggingwhat.com/collective_wisdom.php

Cheers
Chris

2009 online holiday shopping looks a little better than 2008.

I saw this email from Chase and thought I'd be one of those people who regurgitates information. But! Only because it's a good post. :)


This Year's Outlook: Better than Last Year's 'Awful'


Larry Chase: ComScore is projecting a 3% increase year-over-year for the November-December holiday season for '09?


Andrew Lipsman: That's right. Starting the first three weeks of the season so far, we've seen about 2% growth. We do anticipate it accelerating slightly to 3% as we go throughout the season.


Last year during the holiday season, the bottom really fell out of consumer spending behavior. The comparisons to a year ago are simply more favorable.


Shoppers Want Sellers to Cover Shipping


LC: I noticed in the dataset that people are actually using coupons a little less than last year.


AL: They're not actually using them less, but they are looking at all the deals available to them.


Free shipping is certainly one that we have highlighted as being particularly important. Consumers have come to expect it. The average consumer wants to feel as if they're getting a deal on most transactions.


It can also work out well for retailers because if they have a specific minimum spending threshold that can get the consumer to spend more, this can help offset any margin attrition.


LC: So, if they get to the end of the shopping-cart process and they find out that they are still going to get dinged for shopping, is that a dealbreaker?


AL: It's definitely a risk, but so many retailers are offering free shipping that if you aren't, consumers will look elsewhere if they don't get the deals they are expecting.


More Shoppers Spending Less


LC: Are more people spending less money over fewer visits this year?


AL: The average spending per buyer is down pretty substantially. There are more people online, but they are going to be more cautious before they make an actual purchase. The underlying trend for ecommerce over the past year is that we are definitely seeing almost 20% growth in new buyers to the channel.


That has helped prop up the growth rate even though we have been marginally negative. Had we not been bringing new buyers into the channel, we'd probably be seeing significant negative growth rate.


LC: Is that at the expense of brick and mortar?


AL: Online as a retail channel has absolutely gained share. Brick-and-mortar stores were seeing pretty significant negative growth rates, maybe an 8% decline, compared with 1% or 2% for online.


We estimate that online now represents about 8% of corresponding retail categories, those where you would purchase online as well as offline. We exclude food, gas and auto because those typically aren't purchased online.


Smackdown: Amazon vs. Wal-Mart


LC: Do you think this slugfest between Wal-Mart and Amazon is going to suck all the oxygen out of the room at the expense of other online retailers?


AL: I think Amazon and Wal-Mart are going to benefit from the perception that they are cost leaders. Not all of their success may come at the expense of other retailers, however. Some retailers have been pushed out of the market in this downturn. The spending that used to occur at those retailers is now consumed by Amazon or Wal-Mart.


Buyers Use Amazon as Shopping Search Engine


LC: Are people using comparison-shopping engines, or are they going directly to their destination sites?


AL: The comparative search engines have been pulling back a bit in their spending on paid search. Comparison sites are relatively flat, which seems counterintuitive. You'd think you'd see significant growth.


What's interesting about Amazon is that it is becoming [consumers'] first search engine when they know they're in the purchase funnel.


LC: So they use Amazon almost like a baseline?


AL: Yes, Amazon is becoming a default option. Consumers know that the experience is good; they're probably going to get a pretty good price, so they may start their shopping process there.


Deal or No Deal?


LC: In your panel of 2 million opt-in participants, do you get the sense that online shoppers are being conditioned to expect deals before they'll pull the trigger on a purchase?


AL: Absolutely.


LC: Is that happening earlier in the holiday shopping season?


AL: We actually have data from our friends at ShopLocal.com that show the number of deals from retailers throughout the season. We are seeing consistently higher rates week by week for the number of deals per retailer.


It gets more and more competitive earlier and earlier in the season. That may even be more pronounced during an economic downturn when there's more competition for those finite dollars.


Invitation-Only Sales Move Online


LC: One tactic that I find fascinating is the exclusive invitation-only luxury site. Is the closed sale, only open to invited guests, a trend you're seeing on your radar screen?


AL: It's something that serves a particular niche, which has disposable income.


I don't know if they'll become as mainstream as other retail sites, but they are dealing with significantly higher-end luxury goods. They're still very expensive but represent a great deal.


Gilt Groupe, ideeli and RueLaLa are three of the luxury goods retailers that are beginning to see traction in this space.


(See resource list at end.)


Smartphone as Credit Card


LC: In your report, it said the iPhone was significantly responsible for boosting m-commerce, correct?


AL: M-commerce is not yet taking hold strongly. The future is really as a payment system. It's not too far off where we can use our mobile devices as credit cards.


LC: Payment system in real space or cyberspace?


AL: I'm thinking of this as being applied in the offline environment.


PayPal Increases Share of Wallet


LC: You're seeing an increase in PayPal transactions. Why?


AL: PayPal offered some unique incentives in the last holiday season. Consumers really respond to deals; so this showed absolutely that if you give them the right incentives, people will change their behavior.


These discounts at several major retail sites made PayPal more attractive. We saw a big jump in PayPal's share of wallet during last year's holiday season. PayPal wasn't able to sustain those huge spikes, but it was able to sustain a pretty high share of wallet afterwards.


Six-Figure Baby Boomers Tighten Up


LC: I also found interesting in your report that the age 45-plus demographic making over $100,000 is spending less because their portfolios are so wounded.


AL: There's been a lot of wealth destroyed in the past year. So, we do see a higher level of savings among older consumers. There's a pretty stark disparity between the under-45 crowd and the 45-and-older crowd in the $100,000-plus segment.


Those who are under 45 and in the high-income bracket are actually spending more and growing spending online, but we are seeing a decline in the older consumer. They are more reserved and restrained.


Resources


Andrew Lipsman is Director of Industry Analysis for comScore.


Websites for the invitation-only sales Andrew mentioned are Gilt Groupe, ideeli and RueLaLa.


This interview was edited and condensed by Sr. Editor Janet Roberts.

7 critical steps to turn your business into a top revenue producer.

7 critical steps to turn your business into a top revenue producer.
Whether you’ve been in the business 2 years or 20 years your success is contingent on your ability to capitalize on the 7 steps to turning your business into a top producer. As you read the 7 steps you’ll quickly notice how each step directly impacts the challenges you face developing a top producing business.

1. Identify your ideal target market and lay claim to your niche 
2. Attract qualified prospects
3. Channel those qualified prospects into your sales funnel
4. Align the way you sell with the way your potential clients buy
5. Help your potential prospects make the best decision
6. Focus on the top 20% of your clients
7. Earn referrals

 
1. Identify your ideal target market and lay claim to your niche
When identifying your target market in let us say Vacuum cleaners, many people would say “Everyone who needs a better and high quality vacuum cleaner”.
This is not the best answer because you can’t please everyone. Not everyone will be your customer. So you need to find the right customer who would truly want to buy your vacuum cleaner. Your market has to be large enough to make a living but unique enough for your products or services to stand out. When you are solving a specific problem you become a trusted expert and no one will confuse you of a sales person again. 

2. Attract qualified prospects
Have you ever noticed that the more you chase your prospects the faster they run away? It probably has happened to all of us as the mistake we make is to sell them something rather than being a person they can talk to in order to solve their problems. When you chase your prospects you are pushing them away rather than to pull them to you. The secret to attracting people to you and your business is in the offer. 

A strategy that I use (which can be applied in any business) is to solve a problem before I call a potential customer. As I am writing this I am working on insurance Web 2.0 marketing problems. I have a solution to several online marketing and lead generation problems that most insurance companies struggle with. When I call the head of marketing I have my guns loaded with information how to solve their problem. I am offering something that they want and need at the right time. Be mindful that some companies are just not interested in the solution and this is ok because they are not the right prospect. Chasing after the prospects that are not interested will drain your resources so move on to the next one. Once you have filled up your lead list focus on the ones that are ready to buy and close that sale. 

3. Channel those qualified prospects into your sales funnel
Many of us, myself included, were trained to work with leads in a certain way. Hunt them down, call, and try and close them. This is not really relationship based selling. Many of those prospects that you call might be a customer down the road. Maybe they are interested but this is not the right time or they need more information and you need to earn their trust. To keep qualified prospects interested in you, there must be some value in continued contact with you. Build a stronger relationship. Keep them in the loop. Position yourself as the person they will call upon when they need expert advice.

Now you might be thinking; “I don’t have time to call and email all these potential customers.” “How to I maintain a relationship with all these people”

Here is how: Email service providers can work wonders. Customer management systems can keep track of your prospects. Your goal with maintaining a relationship is to get them thru your sales funnel. Secret tip. When is the last time you sent out a hand written letter thanking them for talking with you? Try it. I send out a personal note to everyone I talk with no matter what the outcome was. You’d be surprised about the response.

Your goal is to make it easy for your prospects to buy from you by giving them valuable information and service so when they are ready to buy you are there to close the sale.

4. Align the way you sell with the way your potential clients buy
Have you walked in another man’s shoes? Does your sales method match how your prospects like to buy? Sometimes we don’t know what it is like to be on the buyers’ side of the table. Especially if it’s a significant amount of money.

Step 1. Understand your buyer’s situation
Step 2. Be an advisor, not a pushy sales person. Don’t apply sales tactics or pressures.
Step 3. Objections are buying signals. Help them thru the objection.
Step 4. Don’t defend yourself thru an objection. Be open and honest.

5. Help your potential prospects make the best decision
Most people think we buy because it is based on a rational decision. People buy based on emotions first. This is somewhat easier with tangible products but it can be just as easy with services. When you are selling stuff that they can’t see, touch or feel you need to take a mental approach. Paint the picture in their mind. Ask them what are the pros and cons of not getting this. Guide them thru the options so they can clearly see it in their minds.

Throughout the sales process it should feel like two people discussing what is best to do. You as the sales person must have his or her interest top of mind. This process with eventually lead to trust and a relationship has been created. Dishonestly is a deal breaker every time. 

6. Focus on the top 20% of your clients
Sometime you need to weed out your client list. I call this “Dead weight”. When you have many clients you will get the clients who are responsive and easy to work with. You will also get the clients who constantly drag you down and your profit margins decline.

Look at your top 20% clients and focus on them. These are the guys that you love working with and represent the majority of revenues. Strengthen these relationships.

Help your bottom 20% find new partners or service providers. The remainder of your clients should be put in a separate bucket and use partners or employees to really investigate revenue opportunities for them. Reward business growth and in return these clients might actually become top revenue producers. 

7. Earn referrals
Who do you refer to friends and colleagues? 99% of times you refer sales people or companies once you know what they can do. The proof is in the pudding. So start by doing exactly what you said you would and do outstanding work. Exceed expectations and provide more value than they were expecting. 

Don’t let your prospects and clients forget about you. Keep in touch. Send an email, post cards and call if you think they would be interested in hearing about a conference or case study or anything that you know they will find useful. Have a system in place that makes it so easy for people to refer you that it is a no brainer.

Cheers!
Chris Bjorklund