ROADBLOCK: Refining a Positioning Strategy

I had a roadblock that I summarized as follows:

I am interested in any thoughts you have on how to refine a positioning strategy/positioning statement/unique selling proposition and then turn it into an action plan for generating leads and converting those leads into customers. I guess I am stuck at the point of not knowing when to move on from drafts of those documents and then how to develop an action plan around it.

I understood my goal to be the following:

Goal: Determine my preferential difference in the marketplace for the products I sell and effectively communicate to prospects in order to convert them into long-term customers.

Here is a summary of feedback I received from reaching out to my network to answer this question.

Refinement:

• Probe ideal customers.  Ask questions of your target market to discover what the relevant differences are for them.
• Identify Benefits of product/service and incorporate into messaging. Sell BENEFITS (to user) not FEATURES (of your product/service). Benefits are sometimes rational (i.e. costs less, does more) or emotional (working with this firm is prestigious). 
• Customer Centered Messaging.  Determine the key messages of the product/service and make sure they are’customer value’ centric, not ‘product/you’ centric.
• Incorporate information used by prospect in their purchase decision process.  In your messaging use key terms that customer will be looking for.

Actions after Refinement:

• Make a list.  Develop a List of Prospects and track them via your pipeline through the use of a CRM tool. 
• Create a lead generation strategy. Social Media has shown itself to be effective for this, and which vehicle to use to create lead generation depends on where your target market is, and putting your product, your marketing materials and your sales team all there at the same time. Also, events and contests might be helpful. Events that involve the target market. By nature an event creates a crowd, expectation is already there, you are just capitalizing on it, so then it becomes whether or not how you introduce yourselves is effective. In the alternative, you could create some sort of contest affiliated with this event, a talk or seminar, with social media getting the word out about it in advance for the attention. Use each to create momentum for the Close. Test which ones work for your company.
• Creativity is needed in developing a lead generation strategy. In particular, the interpretation of your key messages, “translated” for your audience, in a way that will get the right kind of attention, distinguish your brand from the competition, and communicate compelling reasons for your audience to remember you. Creativity can be applied to refresh your key messages while continuing to reinforce them.
• Identify where prospects receive their information. The product itself can give you a lot of clues as to where you need to be “present” for any communication to be effective, which also involves the writing and designing of your communications, and any symbols that can express how you’ve positioned yourselves to be different. For specific individuals or businesses identified as prospects, run them on LinkedIn. Otherwise try to find a way to get introduced or introduce yourself.
• Messages. Burnish a small set of messages (3) and pound them relentlessly but when you can creatively – ie with a little bit of a twist, or a surprise or a grin. Repitition and consistency are the key. Three is a magic number, you’ll find that not even the biggest marketers can support more then that. Try to choose tactics that synergize and work together. Also, Need to get these messages into the minds of your sales team and make sure they are trained, positioned and ready to be in front of prospects.
• For professional services firms, awareness advertising can be thought of as the equivalent of yellow pages listings. You have to be there so that when your services are needed, your potential clients recall your ad, your firm and can easily find you. 
• Collaboration. Consider developing partnerships that allow you to tap into your audience or new audiences by leveraging different partner networks and providing new ways that you can provide value to new clients 
• Significance of Word of Mouth. When it comes to choosing tactics, attempt to drive to Word of Mouth, because personal recommendations, whether in the B2C or B2B space, are much more powerful than any ad or promotion can be. Choose tactics that have a proven track record in your field, which you can partially glean from what successful competitors are doing. But don’t be afraid to experiment with new ways of breaking through the clutter. Just don’t jeopardize your positioning by using tactics that undermine your desired brand image (i.e. handing out flyers on the street for a law firm). 
• Marketing messages are given out in all aspects of Businesses Operations. That is, look at all the different things that make up your brand. We hear a lot about consumer touchpoints but few realise any interaction between the brand and consumer or rather any ‘meeting’ between the consumer and the brand can be used to stand out or to leave a bad impression. Remember employees are also touchpoints and no fancy 360 campaign is complete if they are not motivated to market the brand.From the people you hire and who answers your phones, to your involvement in industry AND client groups, associations, conferences and issues all have a powerful impact on your marketing success. Then layer in the advertising, PR, and promotional activities. Investment in white papers which are then distributed to prospective clients or used to get meetings are used with a lot of success in professional services industries. Every marketing tactic used, needs to speak to your customers’ needs/wants, whether its a brochure, radio commercial or blog, and it needs to be consistent in look, tone, etc. 
• Need to Measure. Make sure you try to build some success metrics into your plan as well, so you can understand what is really working and change anything if it isn’t. This means building some kind of tracking mechanism into each activity, especially promotional offers. Adjustments will need to be made, because these are hardly “one time events” to be checked off then forgotten.  

If Execution is Not Achieving Results

• Check how your target market responds to the unique selling proposition. If it doesn’t work, avoid closing the mental conflict with excuses for WHY it doesn’t work. Simply change the proposition. 
• Try checking your niche market in other countries. If it doesn’t work in one culture – it may work in other cultures – and the world is big. You’ll be surprised.

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Key Considerations Summary

Source of Volume: What market is going to give you the the most volume and the most profitable return on your efforts?

Marketing Strategy:
a. Segmentation: For this product or service, how would you segment the market? What are the different kinds of consumers, and how are their needs or profiles different?
b. Targeting: How have your competitors already met the needs of the different consumers? Is there a consumer need not being met, and is there a particular type of consumer that is not being addressed? Where does your company fit into this mix and how can it distinguish itself according to unique offerings and/or unique needs or consumers being satisfied?
c. Positioning: What is that unique direction that your product/service will take the market and what makes it innovative? Which consumer segment will benefit, and how will you do it?

Execution (5 Ps):

a. Product: What exactly is your product (or service)? 

b. Price: What is the appropriate price for your product? (To find the most profitable price, you take into account the consumer’s willingness to pay and the potential volume that you could sell. (Price*Units Sold)-Cost = Profit. Is there a special discount or offer that would be appropriate to introduce your product to the market and build your base of customers? 

c. Promotion: How will you tell the consumer about your product? Advertisement, social networking, etc. 

d. Place: How will your product or service be distributed? Who will be selling the product to consumers? Where will these sales people be located?

e. Philanthropy: How will you communicate to your customer that you are generally interested in them or their community?  How do you demonstrate that you truly are a "corporate citizen"?