I was recently lucky enough to go to the first business conference held at The Vox in 18 months and together with 150 other business owners we looked at how Positioning and Publicity can really help your business be more profitable, organised by the Entrepreneurs’ Circle.
I spent two days at the event, but thought for my lovely list I would pop it into a nutshell for you and pass on some the ideas and strategies that were discussed.
How do others see and perceive you?
The truth is that it doesn’t matter what you do, it is your customer who does the positioning… it is how they perceive you that counts. That said what you need to do therefore is influence them for the good.
Does positioning really matter?
Yes.
You see, your positioning affects who you attract…..
Your positioning affects what you can charge
Your prices affect your profits … and let’s be honest your profits affect most things in your life!
So how do you raise your position?
To raise your position what you need to do is become recognised as an expert in your field…
you know your stuff, you tell your customers about what you know – you just need to do it more overtly so you begin to be recognised for it.
Look at the pyramid and let’s consider a profession such as gardening… starting at the bottom up:
- A generalist garden might mow your lawn and sweep up leaves, maybe even do some weeding and a bit of pruning.
- A specialist might be someone who advises you about plants to put into your garden, how and where to position the plants you buy or perhaps will be a tree surgeon or similar.
- An authority will be someone who will landscape your garden, dealing with plants and trees to best effect for the soil and sun that you have. He may be known in your locality as an expert in his field and a go-to person for a beautiful garden.
- But a celebrity is someone who writes in the paper or magazine, is seen on tv or radio – they may not even get their hands dirty anymore but they will definitely know what and how your garden should be created.
So how do you move up the pyramid?
To move up the pyramid you need to think about what you know that is useful to your customers and share it. And to do that properly you need to get to know your customers better than anyone else, you need to get closer to them than anyone else and that way they will emotionally connect with you like no one else. They will trust you, accept what you say and become ‘sticky’ to you
Then the more your customers see you as the expert in your field and talk about you in that way the more people will listen.
The easiest way to share that and get traction with it is through reviews…
So the plan should be to be ultra helpful…. to add value to your offering by adding value not to the product or service you have but the means in which you deliver it, the help and support you wrap it up in.
And then when they are happy – ask them for a review. That way your position will rise, whether in the rankings on Google, the starts on Tripadvisor and in turn, in the mind of your prospective customers.
What can you do – practically to get this started?
Little things matter – find ways to make your customers feel special, a card or a note, a phone call to see how they are getting on, some friendly helpful advice without asking for anything in return…
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel. Maya Angelou.
The answer is to make them feel special.
So my advice this week is that you have a think about what you could do to make your customers feel special.. to make them talk about you at their dinner table with their family. Because if people talk positively about you your journey up the pyramid will begin and you will begin to improve your positioning which in time will affect your price, your profits and your life.
If you would like to watch the event in full, you can sign up to Entrepreneurs Circle free of charge for three months by clicking the LINK. Alternatively if you would like to chat about your positioning just drop me an email and let’s arrange a call.
Written by : Jacquie Hale
As a coach I use the same kind of method, in that I will support you as you implement a range of tried and tested marketing pillars which will definitely increase your sales leads and enquiries, ultimately gaining new customers and increased profits for you and your business.
