Remarkable positioning in 7 Steps

– Use the Merkelijkheid matrix to map the tension between your organization and the market, and thus assess your current positioning. Consider what type of organization you are and what function the positioning must therefore fulfill. This matrix provides an overview of whether your perception of the organization aligns with the market’s perception.

Know the market – This is familiar ground for many and often a standard inclusion in every sales plan, so most of this knowledge is likely already available. It’s important to extract the most important changes and trends relevant to you.

Know your competitors – Study your competitors without judgment based on your own market knowledge. In the article on the Clarity Positioning Matrix, we discuss the considerations and questions that help you place all competitors in one matrix.

Find and recognize stories – What customer and work stories exist in 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 say more about the true nature of your organization than any statement from a CEO. Collect the best and most engaging stories and share them within the organization around the question: “Is this who we are?”

Develop directions – In this phase, use all the knowledge and stories from within the organization to come up with several positioning directions. These strategic stories should also reflect the behavior of the organization. Place these stories in the competition matrix to see if they represent distinctive directions in the market.

Choose positioning – Choose the best direction(s) and present them to the organization and the market. For example, ask your three best customers or contacts to listen to your stories and tell you which ones they feel best align with and why. You’ll find that both your own people and your customers can provide a very clear answer to this!

Implement positioning – The final step is to make the new positioning known in the market. The strategic story you’ve developed also indicates which resources and efforts are suitable for communicating your new positioning. This is not just an activity for marketing; it’s essential for sales to also communicate this new message. By gradually introducing the new positioning, you’ll receive valuable feedback that you can then integrate into your stories and methods.

This process depends on the openness and creativity with which you approach it, but everyone has blind spots about their own organization. Therefore, it’s often advisable to involve an external advisor or party in this process. However, you can also use this process purely as a test or assessment to determine if you’re on the right track. It doesn’t always have to result in drastic changes. The links in this article support you in this process.