{"id":33831,"date":"2014-09-07t00:19:31","date_gmt":"2014-09-07t04:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=33831"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:50","slug":"the-delicate-art-of-positioning-your-firm-in-the-mind-of-the-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2014\/09\/07\/the-delicate-art-of-positioning-your-firm-in-the-mind-of-the-prospect\/","title":{"rendered":"the delicate art of positioning your firm in the mind of the prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"
and, it\u2019s not<\/em> a mission statement.<\/strong><\/p>\n by bruce w. marcus there is no great mystique to the marketing concept of positioning.<\/em> while it\u2019s not as simple as some would make it seem, nor as complex as others would have you believe, it\u2019s still very real.<\/p>\n 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research has uncovered the startling fact of the wide disparity between how accounting firm management perceives their own performance and how their clients see their performance. (join the survey; get the results.<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/strong>more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members:\u00a0 <\/strong>who\u2019s better at marketing?\u00a0<\/a> lawyers or cpas?<\/a> \u2022\u00a0 even a random disaster can be controlled with risk management<\/a>\u00a0 \u2022 \u00a0managing risk in client relations<\/a>\u00a0 \u2022 \u00a0your clients love you? what if you\u2019re wrong?<\/a>\u00a0 \u2022\u00a0 the three degrees of risk<\/a> \u2022 four essential habits for building client trust<\/a> \u2022 the nine hallmarks of a marketing culture<\/a> \u2022 the four cornerstones to building a marketing culture<\/a> \u2022 getting the client is only half the battle<\/a> \u2022 practice development: it\u2019s not rocket science<\/a> \u2022 nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm<\/a><\/em> like so many words used in marketing, positioning<\/em> has come to be shorthand for some ideas that have come a long way in the pursuit of sound marketing practice. first popularized by ries and trout in their 1981 book, <\/a>positioning<\/a>,<\/em> the concept took a basic advertising practice and codified it in a way that made it possible for other marketers to think differently about approaches to the market.<\/p>\n the basic idea of positioning is simple. or at least, simple to state.<\/p>\n if you think of marketing as a process to move goods and services to the consumer, there are two ways to view the process \u2014 either you sell people what they want, or you try to persuade people to want to buy what you want to sell. the second is an almost inevitably fruitless exercise in egocentric behavior. i can make you buy anything because i\u2019m a good salesman. <\/em>it\u2019s an uphill trudge, and yet, it seems to be the way to which most people gravitate.<\/p>\n selling people what they want is obviously the better way, although it\u2019s not without its rigors. how do you know what they want? how do they<\/em> know what they want? when nylon was invented in the 1940s, could you have asked women who had never heard of the stuff if they wanted nylon hose?<\/p>\n we do know that people buy what they need. they are sold<\/em> what they\u2019re persuaded they need. and if you have to persuade people that they need something, isn\u2019t that the same as selling what you want to sell?<\/p>\n not quite \u2014 if you can cast your product or service in a context that addresses the consumer\u2019s needs or concerns. dupont solved the nylon problem by asking, \u201cwould you be interested in hose that were as sheer or beautiful as silk hose, but wore like iron, and didn\u2019t cost any more than silk?\u201d<\/p>\n and that was positioning before the word was ever used. dupont, and other good marketers of their day, did three things:<\/p>\n from those three points they developed the marketing campaign that sold nylons. that\u2019s positioning.<\/p>\n and these three points, articulated by marketing consultant peter horowitz, define the clearest approach to positioning that might be used by an accounting, law or consulting firm today \u2014 no matter what the size of the firm.<\/p>\n but articulating a position is hardly a total marketing plan. a number of elements must be addressed to turn a position into a marketing plan.<\/p>\n a caveat: there is a distinct difference, too often ignored, between a position<\/em> and a mission<\/em>.<\/p>\n a mission <\/em>is a projection of objectives. it defines what the firm thinks its purpose is \u2014 where it would like to go in the business context \u2026 how it would like to serve its clients \u2026 how it would like to be perceived by the community it serves. it is, essentially, a wish list and a blueprint for the company. but a mission is the company\u2019s business, not the consumer\u2019s. i say to you, \u201ci would like you to be my friend and for you to love me.\u201d that\u2019s my mission. and you say to me, \u201cthat may be what you want, but what\u2019s that got to do with what i want? why should i be your friend, and what have you done for me that\u2019s lovable?\u201d<\/p>\n no, a mission statement is not a position.<\/p>\n nor is it a niche, in which you choose a specific capability, or a specific industry, and promote your capabilities or experience in that industry to a carefully defined audience. in fact, positioning enhances both niche and target marketing.<\/p>\n a position says, \u201ci understand what you want and need, and what concerns you most, and i\u2019m going to give it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n in practical terms, how does it work? nine more caveats:<\/p>\n given the defined position, three things must be kept in mind:<\/p>\n and, it\u2019s not a mission statement. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 there is no great mystique to the marketing concept of positioning. while it\u2019s not as simple as some would make it seem, nor as complex as … continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1340,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2271,5],"tags":[79],"class_list":["post-33831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marketing","category-outlook","tag-marketing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/em>professional services marketing 3.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
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