Today, I’m going to share some insights with you on “positioning strategies” – loosely defined as being how others see you in relation to every other seller in your market.

Now, I say this is related to the numbers game simply because if you get your positioning right it’s easy for you to cream off the top 20% of buyers in your market and leave the bottom 80% for your clueless competitors.

In business, as in every other area of life, people will treat you exactly how you let them. This applies just as much to clients and customers as it does to spouses, lovers, friends, family and even your kids and pets.

I find it amusing how virtually everyone realises they have to set boundaries for their kids and pets, but assume everyone else can do exactly as they like.

And, of course, they can and WILL… But…

ONLY IF you let them

Trouble is, most business owners are so focused on making sales, panicking about the EVENT of each individual one rather than thinking in broader terms about the PROCESS of the numbers game, they’ll suffer almost any indignity and insult because they “need the money”.

And no, you don’t.

Well, let me put that a little more accurately: you might need the money… but you need the respect of and decent treatment from your clients and customers even more.

Why?

Because I know from bitter experience NO amount of money is worth the emotional and “psychic” trauma of putting up with bad treatment.

Let me just add here not everyone – maybe not even most – treat you badly because they’re bad people.

No, they’re just doing it out of habit.

This is “how it’s done in business”, so that’s how they do it.

And this is why in, say, my industry, prospective clients will call copywriters up, quiz them, have them running around like blue-arsed flies unearthing all kinds of research and information and then disappearing with what amounts to an entire marketing plan to find another copywriter who’ll do it for less.

And they can do this ONLY because the copywriters let them

A while ago I had an email from a lady who spotted a typo in my blog – and then offered to proof-read it for a fee.

All well and good. no harm or foul and a fair exchange is no robbery.

But in the very next paragraph she’s asking me for free advice, because she wants to take up a career as a Direct Response Copywriter.

I’m sure she means no harm and I wish her well in her endeavours, but one of the best pieces of advice I can give her is to remind her NO ONE in their right mind works for free – she clearly isn’t going to… so why would she expect ME to?

So I told her for a fee she could book some consulting time with me.

But, I digress… where was I?

Oh yeah… the best way to stop people trying it on is to have a set of rules, and make sure people know what they are – be upfront and explicit about what’s acceptable and what’s not.

I do it all the time.

Clients appreciate strong positioning strategies

No, really, they do.

Yes, you MAY drive some people away – but that’s a good thing. Think about it – why WOULDN’T you want to discourage people who don’t like the idea they can’t push you around?

Duh.

Fact is, anyone can do this and everyone probably SHOULD – but most won’t.

Why?

Because they’re afraid of losing business.

Believe me – having bad clients and customers is far, far worse than having none at all.

I can tell you than from experience.

Tagged as: copywriting, positioning, premium pricing