Agile Positioning
A nephew of mine recently joined the Air Force and selected bomb demolition as his occupation. One of the trickier munitions he learned to defuse was based on smart weapons technology. These munitions are delivered to the vicinity of a target via a missile or other delivery vehicle, then smaller sub ordinances are released which perform the actual target sighting as well calculating aim points for maximal kill effect. This led me to think about an analogy with selling - how marketing organizations create programs to identify suspects then drop sales people in to engage with these potential customers, much in the same way that the missile gets the smart munitions into the battlefield for engagement with the suspected targets.
We know that good positioning statements allow prospects to self-identify and make themselves known to our companies. However, like the missile analogy above, these positioning statements get you into the battle, but they don’t win it. That’s why our best sales leaders are extremely adept at tweaking the positioning of their company and product on the fly in context of specific sales opportunities. They are masters at re-positioning our companies at the point of engagement. Just like smart munitions, once engaged they hone in on the prospect’s strategy, then determine how to appropriately position a product to show how it supports the strategic objectives of the prospect’s organization. Therefore in the product marketing process, we should build some agility into our positioning to assist the entire sales force in utilizing this agile selling technique.
To accomplish this, the positioning should be specific enough to attract the right buyer targets, but not so specific as to allow the buyer to self-eliminate our company or product as the best solution. For instance, FedEx used to use the tag line “when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight®.” No chance there for any uncertainty in the buyer’s mind as to what the FedEx service delivers. But what if I didn’t need overnight service? Maybe UPS is a better choice then? FedEx has since switched to more encompassing taglines such as “your single source for time-sensitive and time-deferred packages” and “the world on time.” This provides FedEx the ability to attract shippers that have time sensitive requirements, then secure customers by selling them an appropriate level of service that more finely fits their needs.
In summary, we want to design some positioning agility into our product marketing strategies for our sales teams to leverage at the point of sale. So the trick then is to craft the positioning statements targeted just enough to get our sales teams engaged with qualified prospects, while at the same time providing a set of flexible positioning and differentiation tactics that can be utilized as needed to zero in for the sale.
January 20th, 2011 at 13:33
In my experience, the relationship between marketing and sales is similar to the one described in this article. The only difference is that marketing does not guide sales to the target with a laser signal. It carpet bombs, saturating the landscape with as broad an awareness as possible.
This is a common fallacy of the new marketing mantra, that it’s all identifying as specific a target as possible, then going after it. Unfortunately, marketing tends to work best when the objective is to create the widest possible impact.
For instance, Volkswagen’s “Drivers Wanted” campaign was initially very successful because it targeted a fairly broad demographic of young urban professionals. It wasn’t focused on any particular type of individual, or ones with a previously-identified interest in either small cars or coffee. The target very generically defined – young urban professional, driven, energetic, hyper-caffeinated.
In contrast, one of the more spectacular failures was another campaign for the makers of Scion. Originally targeted at a narrow slice of young urban “club kids,” the car was rolled out exclusively trendy nightclubs in major U.S. cities. Unfortunately, it was later learned that the brand’s biggest consumer base was not “club kids,” but soccer moms.
So, to go back to the military analogy, it’s relatively simple. Marketing provides air cover while sales covers the ground. Marketing’s mission is to achieve air supremacy, while sales’ is to close enough deals to put the company into the win column. Pinpoint targeting is great if marketing has already accomplished its mission. If not, you’re going to war with weapons poorly aimed and only half-loaded.