How true, your comment “The difference between success and failure is in how your target audience perceives you. That’s positioning.”

And so, I have found that it is a continual testing process-what works and what doesn’t work for the majority of your customers-to me, it’s kind of like continually tweaking headlines in your ads and split-testing them.

It’s hard work, but it truly is ‘the difference between success and failure’!

Thanks again for a though provoking article!

Kyrie Bridgewater

It’s obvious, but even big companies can make the mistake or a similar one… I worked for a company who refocused and re-branded their consulting firm for the dot com market, thus annoying existing real world customers just before the dot com collapse!

Timing can be soooo important!

Cheers,

Gregg

Even the best market research can’t predict exactly what is going to be successful: you need to follow the customers’ lead on how to take your business forward.

Even the best market research can’t predict exactly what is going to be successful: you need to follow the customers’ lead on how to progress your business.

It is an interesting take on the same idea about relationships. Perhaps that is why Egg, the Credit Card company in the UK, is coming in for a flack

And we both agree, people do like to buy. I like to buy however I hate it when someone is trying too hard, or tries to early in a relationship to sell me something.

An example would be as follows: I’m still in the “getting to know” phase (of the know==> like ==> trust ==> buy process) they think we are in the “about to buy” phase.

I very much like the articles here as they stimulate lots of discussion. great stuff.

Mike Ashworth
Business Coaching and Consultancy
Brighton and Hove, Sussex, UK

And people do like to buy. I think there’s a fine balance between selling and offering. You want to be very clear on how your product/service can solve their problems, yet you don’t want to force them into a buying situation. Though you do want them to ‘feel their pain’ a bit because it’s often what makes them take action.

Now, I’m sharing some of my secrets here…Thoughts.

What do people think of the notion that you should, as a routine process, get rid of 10-20% of your customers each year, either the ones who are most unprofitable, don’t generate enough referrals, take up too much time for the resulting profits etc.

Interested in what you think of the above?

Mike Ashworth
Business Coaching and Consultancy
Brighton and Hove, Sussex, UK

And I don’t care if I leave people out. As a matter of fact, I want to leave people out. It should be expected. It’s the only way to clearly find your niche, wouldn’t you agree?

First: I’m not a “more is more” kind of person. I believe in limiting one’s scope. So I try to do that, but sometimes I find that even a less is more kind of guy like me is starting to stray from my core expertise, goals, or market. Then I have to reign myself back in.

I guess what I’m saying is that proper positioning isn’t just a matter of clarity of focus, but also a self-limitation of focus. Attempting to be all things to all customers is usually contrary to profitable business growth.

Skip,
Or they manage it on luck.

What resources have you used to find greater clarity with your positioning?

Customers always buy from a retailer (or any other business) for a reason. But when the business doesn’t know what that reason is, they end up managing their business on automatic pilot. The problem is, automatic pilot only works if you know where you’re going, and if you don’t really know where you’re going, you’ll crash.

“…it’s how you position yourself that makes the difference between success and failure.” So true, Dawud.

I think marriages operate the same way. Some people spend 25 years with someone, and never really understand what made that person tick.

It certainly is. I feel the same way. What’s your favorite part of being self-employed?

Dining Room,
Simple…test. Do you best to meet think like your audience does, then put it out there. In short order you’ll find out how successful you are.

Adam,
I know what you mean. You do control how you position yourself. What you don’t control is how you’re perceived. That’s why I asked the question the way I did.

And you’re absolutely right – it is a constant process of testing and tweaking. Ultimately, that’s how you find your true niche.

I’m not advocating a control-based attitude, I was just pointing out that control is impossible. When you posited the question, “How are you positioning yourself?”, it sounded to me as if you were saying that controlling your positioning is actually something you can do.

That’s why I’m saying it’s about tweaking, testing, getting feedback, etc., because all of this is one big interplay between you/your business and a whole bunch of other people’s perceptions, filters, and assumptions.

To answer…”How are you positioning yourself?”

I continue to find niche markets and unique ways of doing things. I love the challenge of discovering new ways to re-position. That’s one of the things that I like about self-employment.

Mike,
Great tips. My experience is that web surveys often give only moderate feedback and often only have a small response.

What I’ve found to work best is having someone else do the questioning, one-on-one, with customers. You’ll often get more robust and honest responses that way.

If you have an opportunity to call them or speak face-to-face,even better. You could even instigate a process whereby each week you survey a specific segment of your Client base.

You may even wish to use this survey as a means to make an offer (to encourage participation as traditionally surveys do not get a great return rate)

keep surveys short, sometimes even asking three questions can be all you need to get an understanding of how your clients perceive us.

1. one thing you like about us, and we should carry on doing.

2. one thing you dislike, and would like us to stop.

3. one thing we do which we should change slightly.

I think “contact us” and “feedback” are exactly the right things to have on any site, too many organisations try to obfuscate these. They are great tools for advising about things relevant to your site, such as something that looks odd/not working or perhaps even a new idea/suggestion (get enough people saying it and it might be worth looking at)

Mike Ashworth
Business and Marketing Coach
Brighton and Hove, UK