Distinctive positioning in 7 steps

Every organization wants to position itself distinctively. It makes selling your product or service easier, and your employees more easily act as ambassadors of your brand. But what if your current positioning does not differentiate you? We present 7 steps to arrive at a positioning that truly sets your brand or organization apart from your competition.

Evaluate current positioning – Use the Merkelijkheid matrix to map the tension between your organization and the market and thus assess the current positioning. Reflect on what type of organization you are and what function the positioning should fulfill. This matrix shows at a glance whether your perception of the organization matches the market’s perception.

Know the market – Familiar territory for many and often standard in every sales plan, so most of this knowledge is probably already available. It is important to extract the most significant changes and movements for you here.

Know your competitors – Study your competitors without judging from your own market knowledge. In the article about the Merkelijkheid Positioning Matrix we discuss the considerations and questions that allow you to place all competitors in one matrix.

Find and recognize stories – What customer and work stories live within your organization? This may seem like a very “soft” activity, but as humans, we are programmed to remember stories, not missions and visions. The stories your employees and colleagues tell often reveal more about the true nature of your organization than any statement from a director. Collect the best and most engaging stories and share them within the organization around the question: “Is this us?”

Draft directions – In this phase, use all the knowledge and stories from within the organization to arrive at several positioning directions. The behavior of the organization should also be evident from these strategic stories. These stories are therefore placed in the competition matrix to see if these are distinctive directions in the market.

Choose positioning – Choose the best direction(s) and present them to the organization and market. For example, ask your three best customers or contacts to listen to your stories and tell you which they think fits best and why. You will notice that both your own people and your customers can give a very clear answer!

Load positioning – The final step is to make the new positioning known in the market. The strategic story you have developed also indicates which resources and efforts fit the communication of your new positioning. This is not only a marketing activity; it is essential that sales also communicate this new message. By gradually introducing the new positioning, you receive valuable feedback that you can integrate back into your stories and methods.

This process naturally depends on the openness and creativity with which you approach it, but everyone experiences blindness regarding their own organization. Therefore, it is often advisable to involve an external advisor or party in this process. However, you can also use this process purely as a test or validation to determine if you are on the right track. It does not always have to lead to drastic changes. The links in this article support you in this process.