BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 284
positioning
the power of positioning • matt church
THE NINE INTRODUCTIONS
Now, let’s talk about the activity
Let’s talk about you
Examples – Low Energy
History – Low Energy
Choose an appropriate client case study, an example of
someone you have been working with lately. The risk
with this of course is that you choose an example that
bears absolutely no relevance to the person in front of
you, or one that may jeopardise your chances of working
with their organisation. For example, if you were selling
to a particular bank it may not help your case to discuss
the work you have done for a competitor.
This is kind of like a verbal résumé outlining where you
have been and what you have done. Be sure to edit out
the irrelevant stuff. We learn to write résumés when we
are young and before we’ve done anything. As a result
we tend to pad them out, making as much as possible
out of little. Now that you are a little older you can drop
the stuff that you did years ago, or at least just sketch
out the details. Only say that which is useful.
“I grew up in Newcastle, moved to Sydney to study,
graduated in the late eighties and went to work in
a prison. I then worked for the Australian Council
for Health and Lend Lease, wrote a few books and
ended up here on the corporate speaking circuit.”
Category – Medium Energy
This channel is intentionally lacking in creativity. This is
a black-and-white answer to the question. I often use
this one as a trial balloon to see how interested the
person asking the question is. You would answer with
a professional category.
“I am a chartered accountant in a boutique firm
with six partners.”
“I am the senior tax partner for a multinational
professional services firm.”
“I am a strategic communications consultant.”
“I run the IT department for a major bank.”
Obsession – High Energy
Here you get to talk about your passion. This is the
time to get fired up and rant a little about what it is
you believe.
“I know that CEOs should spend less time
preparing speeches and more time running
businesses. Too many great leaders fail to think
before they speak. If they simply got their ideas
down more effectively they would make a greater
impact when they spoke.”
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“One client we worked with recently had a problem
getting their internal sales team to move from a
product-based selling process into a relationshipbased environment. Over six months we moved the
incentive schemes and culture from having a focus on
transactions to having a focus on relationships. They
noticed a 40 per cent positive shift in client retention,
and this looks like impacting the profit positively by
another $250,000 this quarter alone.”
Analogy – Medium Energy
This channel is particularly useful if you sell an intangible
service or a new category of product or service. You
draw a comparison between an already established
concept and what you do.
“We are like a sports management company for
information experts.”
Uniqueness – High Energy
Here, you try to set yourself apart from others in your
field. This is where you get to state your unique selling
proposition and make a distinction between yourself and
others. Whatever the masses are doing, try to position
some part of what you do as contrary or opposed to this.
“While I am a lawyer, I am also a chartered accountant.
This means we can handle all parts of the deal for you.
We find this saves our clients time and money.”
