A Checklist for Positioning
14 years ago when we founded Isolta, we faced more challenges than expected. We knew everything about software development, but when it came to how to position ourselves, grow sales or how to approach customers and manage our administration, we were in uncharted territory.
We learned step by step, through small and big mistakes. We want to pass this knowledge on to you in our “From founder to founder” series. We provide the important tips for you and share our little secrets.
There are always issues to solve
One mistake many entrepreneurs make is that they try to solve every issue immediately. You need to focus! This is a problem, because a young entrepreneur is always short of money and time. The pressure weighs on the shoulders and entrepreneurs hope for big success: rapid rise and big profit.
Positioning is often forgotten
But why is it so important? Always remember economy is made by people and for people. Therefore target group consists not only of facts and figures, but of real persons with needs. You have to get to know them.
Therefore, it is all the more important for you to make your target group curious and then answer their questions. The most important point is not to confuse the target group. If you offer solutions that promise customers to “solve all their problems”, they become skeptical. Do you know that feeling when something seems too good to be true? Usually people tend to start looking for flaws. You should not start external communication before you have positioned yourself. This confuses and disrupts the confidence that you want from your potential customers.
A little checklist
Are the core values clear to both, founders and employees? Or not? Here is a small checklist to help you in positioning.
- What is the target group for our product?
- What forms your target group (age, gender, educational level, social class, life situation, family status, etc.)?
- What is the problem of our target group?
- How do we solve the problem?
- How does the target group benefit from our product?
- How can we solve the problem better than the competitors? What are our core competences?
- What problems could our target group have, which we can’t solve? Does our competitors solve these problems?
- What is the purpose of our company?
When discussing these questions as a team, you should ensure that you all understand your businesses core values. For your employees, values such as “fair prices” or “reliability” can mean something quite different compared to you. If you want to communicate clearly, you must first ensure that you are all on the same page.
Once you have positioned yourself, corporate communications and product sales are instantaneous and easier in the long run. You will find out how to start the sales phase correctly in the next article.