Your income has plateaued. That proposal you sweated over barely got an acknowledgement. Business is okay but… just okay.
You know you’ve got what it takes to be doing better than this. You can see other firms who you know aren’t nearly as rigorous in their approach, don’t have the same experience and expertise as you do, and yet seem to be growing like an aggressive rash. And that’s incredibly frustrating (even though you’re far too professional to admit it).
Before sharpening up your marketing, hiring a new business person, or putting more into Google Ads… The one approach that’s more effective than any other is developing a strong positioning.
What are the benefits of adopting a strong positioning?
Oh, no reason really. It’ll only help you:
- Stand out in the market
- Offer more value to clients
- Charge more in light of that value
- And terrify prospective clients because they think you can read their ACTUAL mind.
What exactly is positioning for leadership, organisational development and coaching specialists?
Specialising. Focusing on a niche.
You can choose a niche in lots of different ways. The main two are:
Vertical: This is the sector. Or another way to think about it is tax codes. You might choose insurance companies. Or local government. Or clothing retailers.
Horizontal: This is about your expertise. You focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. Or coaching with CEOs. Or presenting skills. People naturally gravitate to this one first, because it means you can focus on what you love most.
There are some others that are used less often but when they work, they’re great.
Demographic: This tends to be more for soloist coaches. You might pick CEOs under 30. Or parents returning from maternity/paternity and are suffering from lack of confidence.
Psychographic: I’ve never actually advised anyone to focus on this. But it’d be focusing on someone by their values, attitudes, beliefs, interests. Maybe you help people who believe they’re not creative to release that side of themselves in their work.
You can choose a niche in lots of different ways. The main two are:
Vertical: This is the sector. Or another way to think about it is tax codes. You might choose insurance companies. Or local government. Or clothing retailers.
Horizontal: This is about your expertise. You focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. Or coaching with CEOs. Or presenting skills. People naturally gravitate to this one first, because it means you can focus on what you love most.
There are some others that are used less often but when they work, they’re great.
Demographic: This tends to be more for soloist coaches. You might pick CEOs under 30. Or parents returning from maternity/paternity and are suffering from lack of confidence.
Psychographic: I’ve never actually advised anyone to focus on this. But it’d be focusing on someone by their values, attitudes, beliefs, interests. Maybe you help people who believe they’re not creative to release that side of themselves in their work.
Then, for bonus points, you can combine two focuses.
So you might work with C-suite at insurance companies with turnover of over £1billion.
Or you coach presenting skills for introverted techies who need to sell their startup idea to get seed funding.
This way you can develop such a strong, tight positioning.
Or you coach presenting skills for introverted techies who need to sell their startup idea to get seed funding.
This way you can develop such a strong, tight positioning.
If it’s such a no-brainer, why doesn’t everyone do it?
It takes courage. It means turning your back on most of your potential audience and settling on one group.
Jonathan Stark (another great speaker on this subject) said it's like you're a fisherman and you’re turning your back on the three trillion fish in the ocean and focusing on a single lake.
But look at you. You’re one fisherman and you've got a fishing rod and that rowing boat. You don’t have a giant trawler with a whopping net.
That may be a single pond but it has 50 juicy carp. And all you want is a few prize-winning carp each year.
Leadership and organisational development specialists seem to struggle with this more than most. You are creative, entrepreneurial people, so the idea of limiting your options is anathema. But it's also perfect business sense.
Jonathan Stark (another great speaker on this subject) said it's like you're a fisherman and you’re turning your back on the three trillion fish in the ocean and focusing on a single lake.
But look at you. You’re one fisherman and you've got a fishing rod and that rowing boat. You don’t have a giant trawler with a whopping net.
That may be a single pond but it has 50 juicy carp. And all you want is a few prize-winning carp each year.
Leadership and organisational development specialists seem to struggle with this more than most. You are creative, entrepreneurial people, so the idea of limiting your options is anathema. But it's also perfect business sense.
The more you narrow down, the more options you have
Try this exercise. Write a blog about absolutely anything work related right now.
Ready? Or are you struggling to get started? After all, where do you start?
Now, try again but this time write it for your absolute favourite client, all about a very narrow expertise that you love within organisational development.
It’s a heck of a lot easier, right?
It’s counter intuitive, but the narrower you go, the more the possibilities and ideas open up.
It’s not dull when you have such expertise in a field that you can describe your clients problems better than they can. When you can bypass the pitch process because you’re one of the very few who does exactly what your client needs. When your content strategy basically writes itself, because you know exactly who you’re speaking to and where they hang out and what specific challenges they’re facing.
Expertise isn’t dull.
Ready? Or are you struggling to get started? After all, where do you start?
Now, try again but this time write it for your absolute favourite client, all about a very narrow expertise that you love within organisational development.
It’s a heck of a lot easier, right?
It’s counter intuitive, but the narrower you go, the more the possibilities and ideas open up.
It’s not dull when you have such expertise in a field that you can describe your clients problems better than they can. When you can bypass the pitch process because you’re one of the very few who does exactly what your client needs. When your content strategy basically writes itself, because you know exactly who you’re speaking to and where they hang out and what specific challenges they’re facing.
Expertise isn’t dull.
But the big firms aren’t specialising and they’re doing just fine thank you very much
I remember sharing these ideas at one firm. They liked it and saw the sense in what I was saying but it made them nervous. Then one of them said “But what about [Acme Consulting]? They consult with all kinds of companies in al kinds of ways and are enormously successful.”
First, I explained that yes, they can serve everyone because they’re massive. Sometimes a specialism is actually being massive – “We can provide this same in-person service to all your branches across the globe”.
Second, I also pointed out that sometimes, you just have a CEO or partner who just has that really annoying ability to get in front of decision makers and sell. They’re so annoyingly confident and erudite and inspiring. And they get referral after referral from satisfied clients. But for the rest of us mortals, we need a strong positioning.
Then they answered their own question better than either of those answers: “But actually, [Acme Consulting] started out offering recruitment of executives, then they grew from there.”
Second, I also pointed out that sometimes, you just have a CEO or partner who just has that really annoying ability to get in front of decision makers and sell. They’re so annoyingly confident and erudite and inspiring. And they get referral after referral from satisfied clients. But for the rest of us mortals, we need a strong positioning.
Then they answered their own question better than either of those answers: “But actually, [Acme Consulting] started out offering recruitment of executives, then they grew from there.”
Where should we start?
David C Baker’s book, The Business of Expertise really takes you through all the processes to get there. And his podcast with Blair Enns has some great episodes on the subject and is just generally a wonderful and hilarious listen.
If you’d like some help navigating the process, we can help you choose a niche and test the hypothesis.
There are some factors to consider – getting narrow enough but not too narrow. How you actually want some competition who are doing this. How to navigate from general to specialist without losing clients you love (not nearly as hard as people imagine). Plus, just having someone to give you the confidence to turn your back on 95% of your target audience.
Because it takes courage, which is why most business leaders don’t do it.
You?
If you’d like some help navigating the process, we can help you choose a niche and test the hypothesis.
There are some factors to consider – getting narrow enough but not too narrow. How you actually want some competition who are doing this. How to navigate from general to specialist without losing clients you love (not nearly as hard as people imagine). Plus, just having someone to give you the confidence to turn your back on 95% of your target audience.
Because it takes courage, which is why most business leaders don’t do it.
You?
