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Positioning: The core of corporate communications

Written by: Neil Mahoney

Article Overview: Positioning is a lost art in Business Development today. It reached its zenith in the 1980s -- before "1-Minute Management" replaced in-depth analysis and planning. A truly good Positioning Statement will be 12 words or less, and in one forceful sentence state the proven strengths that give you dominance in the markets you want to sell in. Once you have it perfected you can easily develop highly effective Mission Statements, Elevator Pitches, Ad Campaigns, Publicity, Sales Materials and Websites.

Positioning: The core of corporate communications

Positioning Statements are short, powerful statements that separate your company and its products from the pack. Because they're short and forceful, they look easy to do. However, they require a lot of thought and analysis. Here are the steps you should take:

A. Identify your key markets -- those 3 or 4 that account for most of the industry's sales.

B. Identify the key prospects in those markets and define their primary wants and needs.

C. Prioritize those key markets and prospects in relation to their wants and needs.

D. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in relation to the prospects' needs -- and vs your competition. Take off any rose-colored glasses.

E. Determine your areas of superiority and weaknesses in relation to market wants and needs. Your list should be very short.

F. Develop your short, powerful Positioning Statement. The best ones will start with "The Only. . ." and contain no more than 12 words.

G. While one statement is best, adjust it as needed to suit various markets.

H. Use it everywhere you can -- Mission Statements, Elevator Pitches, Ad Campaigns, Publicity, Sales Materials, Direct Mail, Websites, etc.

As stated earlier, a strong Positioning Statement doesn't come quickly and easily. The first one you write will need improvement and fine tuning. So will the second and third, but you'll know it when you have it perfected. While it's a lot of work it saves time and money in the long run. Most importantly, it will really bring in sales.

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Article Tags: ad campaigns, colored glasses, direct mail, elevator pitches, mission statements, nbsp, positioning statement, prospects, publicity, s sales, sales materials, strengths and weaknesses, superiority, time and money



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