Landscape Management, October 2012
Quick tip One of the Àrst steps in positioning a company in target markets is understanding the position your brand occupies in the stakeholders mind This requires objectively assessing and evaluating your brand from their point of view not yours 37 OCTOBER 2012 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET When positioning your company its critical to know how to read the market Understanding and identifying market fads trends and market force de jure are important A fad is short lived a trend generally lasts a decade and a market force de jure can last decades The green and sustainable movement is an example of a market force de jure Another key market dynamic to read and understand is real estate Its also important to analyze demographics and psychographics why people buy as well as regulatory social and political issues Buyers dictate whats important and relevant to them so your positioning needs to be aligned with their world Is your position relevant to your key buyers Is your position different or are you simply another commodity claiming to be different Can you communicate and distinguish the differences If youre offering the same services and delivering them the same way at about the same price youve positioned yourself as a commodity in the eyes of the market One test is to ask yourself Can our position or differentiation be copied easily Common positioning errors include underpositioning in which the market has a vague idea of your service or product and its differentiation Conversely overpositioning occurs when only a small group of prospects can identify with your position The most common error in our industry is confused positioning which occurs when a company claims too many benefts or changes its communications too often Theres also doubtful positioning which takes place when stakeholders dont believe the claims a company is making about its service or product offering pricing team or value proposition To occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive position in your stakeholders minds focus on highlighting uniqueness attributes and benefts of product service team expertise operational effciencies and innovative equipment or technology Highlight and position the meaningful benefts relevant to the customer Dont claim youre the best at everything cite specifc applications or target groups where your people service or product are best Position and prove when youre better than the competition So what kind of position is your company in LM Guido is a Green Industry consultant with Guido Associates Contact her at jmguido@ sbcglobal net
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