Positioning is everything.
Reading a post this week by Sally Marshall about having a network of trusted suppliers prompted me to look at my network, and funnily enough, there was a surprise.
The surprise was the people I know – sometimes very well – but could not place what they did exactly. Has that ever happened to you?
They are involved in several things, but there wasn’t a primary category or speciality I could place them in.
In their classic book, ‘Positioning, the Battle for your Mind,’ Al Ries and Jack Trout talk about ‘Cherchez le Creneau’, looking for the hole and filling it. The hole in your customer’s minds about what your brand does.
The key point is once that hole is filled, it is hard to shift that perception.
So, for example, Lexus will never be equivalent to Rolls Royce; no matter how much they are improved, this is because the hole in our minds – our perception – of both brands is already filled.
My work is about knowing your value – helping clients identify and communicate the difference their service makes, which is measured by increased confidence and fees, amongst other things.
What hole have you filled in your network’s mind? Are they clear about what you do?
