Do You Have a Positioning Statement? Get One
One of the most important things I do for my clients is to create what I call a “positioning statement”. It is not the definition of what you do; it is not an elevator speech. It is shorter. It should be under ten seconds! I believe that if we are professional communicators, we should be able to convey what we do using an economy of words. (Hard sell to speakers!)
I define a positioning statement as the “concept and outcome of working with you”. Here is an example – mine! I work with organizations (borrow opening from the Mark LeBlanc) that want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes. Short, sweet and to the point.
My template is “I work with organizations that want to (fill in the concept of what you do) so that they can, or in order to be able to (outcome delivered)”.
It’s a hard thing to do. It’s also always a work in progress. As you grow your business and change, your positioning statement may change too. Constantly review to make sure it’s relevant to what you are currently offering. Everything you do should be directly connected to your statement. If it doesn’t fit in, it’s not a fit for your business. I think it’s the key to a successful business!
Where to use it? In a word, everywhere! Use it:
- When networking or making outbound marketing calls as your introduction
- Use it as a part of your signature when sending emails
- At the bottom of any article or blog post, you should include your statement along with contact info (see below)
- It’s perfect when leaving a voice mail! We all have to leave great voice mail messages. Begin yours with your positioning statement
- Should be prominently displayed on your website and all marketing material
- Can be put on the back of a business card
I’m sure you can think of many more.
I think a great positioning statement is the key to a successful business. Whenever people tell me that they are reluctant to make sales calls, I ask why. Inevitably they say “I’m not sure what to say.” If you have a great positioning statement, you always know what to say. Every time to everyone!
Do yourself a big favor and work on your statement right now! You can thank me later.
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Lois works with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes! She can be reached in the following ways:
Lois@BookMoreBusiness.com
Phone: 314.822.8225
Twitter: @loiscreamer
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/loiscreamer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/loiscreamer
For more information on Lois’ business check out http://www.bookmorebusiness.com as well as http://www.bookmorebusiness.tv!
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