Unlocking Revenue: Why Positioning Is Often the Root Cause of Sales and Marketing Challenges

When it comes to driving revenue, many businesses focus on tactics, such as unlocking new channels or using the latest martech tool. However, the root cause of slowing sales and marketing efforts is often a positioning problem. In fact, changing product roadmap, ideal customer profile, pricing/packaging, and how a company talks about what it does can be a ton of work, and there's a lot of feelings and opinions involved.

But don't just blame sales and marketing teams and ask them to do more. Positioning is a whole company issue. That's why, with the reality of budget cuts, less headcount, and mounting pressure to hit targets, now is the time to take a hard look at your company's positioning.

The solution is not buying intent data from a new vendor, doing new field events, or hammering on outbound. Those things won't work without the right company story and positioning.

So, what is positioning, exactly?

Positioning is knowing the value your product or service delivers that no other product on the market can for your ideal customer. It's what sets you apart from the competition.

Here are some actionable tips to improve your positioning:

Identify Your Ideal Customer

Start by identifying your ideal customer. Who are they? What are their pain points? What do they value most? By answering these questions, you can create a customer persona that guides your messaging and product development.

Here are some tips for identifying your ideal customer:

• Research your current customer base: Look at who is currently buying your product or service. What do they have in common? What pain points are you solving for them?
• Conduct surveys and interviews: Ask your current customers and prospects what they value most and what challenges they face.
• Use social media listening tools: See what people are saying about your industry and competitors on social media. What do they care about?

Once you've identified your ideal customer, create a customer persona that includes demographics, psychographics, and pain points. This will guide your messaging and product development.

Understand Your Competitive Landscape

Next, understand your competitive landscape. What sets your product or service apart from the competition? What unique value do you offer that no one else can? By understanding your competitors, you can find ways to differentiate yourself in the market.

Here are some tips for understanding your competitive landscape:

• Conduct a competitive analysis: Research your competitors' products or services, pricing, marketing messages, and distribution channels.
• Look for gaps in the market: Are there areas where your competitors aren't addressing your ideal customer's pain points?
• Identify your unique value proposition: What makes your product or service different and better than the competition? Make sure this is communicated clearly in your messaging.

Craft a Compelling Message

With your ideal customer and competitive landscape in mind, it's time to craft a compelling message that communicates your unique value. Use language that resonates with your ideal customer and clearly communicates what sets you apart from the competition.

Here are some tips for crafting a compelling message:

• Talk about the transformation: Avoid the temptation to talk about new features. Instead pick three complimentary transformations your service offers and pick one of them be the focal point and allow the others to support the primary. Weight the prioritization like this: Primary: 80%, Secondary: 15%, Tertiary 5%. 
• Use clear and concise language: Your messaging should be easy to understand and communicate your unique value proposition. Aim for a 6th grade reading level maximum for your marketing and sales messaging. Avoid buzzwords and jargon. Save the high level technical speak for the documentation. 
• Use emotional language: Emotions drive purchase decisions. Use language that resonates with your ideal customers’ pain points and desires.
• Be authentic: Don't make claims that you can't back up. Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses.

Update Your Website and Marketing Materials

Once you have a compelling message, update your website and marketing materials to reflect it. Make sure your messaging is consistent across all touchpoints.

Here are some tips for updating your website and marketing materials:

• Limit the scope: This is not an excuse to completely overhaul and rebuild or even redesign your website or marketing materials. Focus ONLY on the story you are telling. Often this will still fit within your current visual identity. Your identity is only in scope of this work if you completely pivot and the new is obviously in conflict with the old.
• Update your messaging: Make sure your website, social media profiles, and other marketing materials communicate your updated story. 
• Create distributable content: Visuals can help communicate your message more effectively. Don’t be afraid to create educational videos or text content for social. Don’t be afraid to give away the What and the How. Most people won’t ever do it themselves but will now trust you to do it for them. Remember the product isn’t the process, it’s the transformation it offers the customer.
• Make it easy to consume: You might be tempted to post everything only on your website, but you need to actually create content made for and distribute on the platforms your customers already consume their content on. 

Train Your Sales Team

Finally, train your sales team on the new positioning. They need to understand the messaging and be able to communicate it effectively to potential customers.

Here are some tips for training your sales team:

• Develop sales training materials: Create a sales playbook that includes your new messaging and key talking points.
• Role play: Practice different sales scenarios with your sales team to make sure they're comfortable communicating the new messaging.
• Provide ongoing training: Sales training shouldn't be a one-time event and this new message will evolve over time. Provide ongoing training to reinforce the messaging and keep your sales team up-to-date.
• Provide a feedback channel: Your sales team is on the front lines talking to the customer every day. This means they are a wealth of customer insights. Create a process that encourages and rewards feedback and data sharing from your front lines.

Remember, strong positioning is a whole company effort. By taking the time to improve your positioning, you can drive revenue and differentiate yourself from the competition, all without additional budget or new hires.