By Michael Gidlewski

Today’s workforce is not only “digitally native,” but it may be the most business-savvy ever.

Millennials and their parents endured the worst financial crisis in nearly a century. Now that they’re on the mend, they need to know that their employer intends to succeed. They need to know what their employer stands for and how they are uniquely positioned in the marketplace.

Your customers won’t even start down the path to buy your product unless they think you’re remarkably, distinctively, and meaningfully different. You don’t win the marketing battle with the best product or service. You win the marketing battle with Strategic Positioning.

A lot of leaders have a hard time defining their Strategic Positioning for one simple reason: It means taking some options off the table. That often strikes them as counterintuitive. If any industry can be disrupted, and if the whole point of strategic planning is to become more adaptive, then how can taking options off the table help?

This is an instance where leadership needs to be laser-focused so that its team can focus as well. Generalities work against you. “Best quality,” for example, is not Strategic Positioning. Your people are too business-savvy to accept that. It’s table stakes again, and it’s not enough to win in today’s market – or tomorrow’s.

Your Strategic Positioning shows how you are meaningfully different from your competitors. It’s your “X-factor.” Brands that stand for one thing generally win. Unfocused brands generally unravel.

What do you want people to think about when they hear your name? We make 95 percent of our decisions subconsciously, so the perception of value resides in the mind of the customer. They will believe what you believe, especially at first, but also as it’s reiterated over time. Defining what you believe, and inviting your team to adopt it, can have a tremendous impact on your growth.

Do this by identifying how you will become a market leader in some specific way. Find that aspect of your business that you want people to think about, and seek excellence there. Your best people want to be leaders, and they want to be excellent. It makes their work more satisfying. It will also help define your position in your market. Ultimately, you don’t win market share with products and services. You win it with better positioning.

Identify your strategic position by answering these two questions:

• In what area(s) could you be perceived as the leader of a category or niche in your industry?
• In what area(s) could you be perceived as being dramatically and meaningfully different from your competitors?

If you differentiate yourself as a leader by being meaningfully unique in some way, it can make an impression. Customers respond when your company can authentically and genuinely position itself as a leader. And when your staff thinks of itself as a leading team, they respond with advocacy.

If you want to build your competitive edge over your competition, click here to begin your free trial of ResultsBI’s One-Page Strategic Plan. There is no obligation and no risk, just a jumpstart on your journey to success!

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Michael Gidlewski is President of West Chester-based Achievement Unlimited, Inc., as well as a growth catalyst and motivational speaker. He works with motivated business owners and entrepreneurs to clearly define the elements of what they dearly want their businesses and lives to look like, then helps them connect all the moving parts that make up those visions to consistent action and habits. Michael can be reached at 610-793-6609 or via e-mail at michael@achievable.com.

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