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THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF POWER POSITIONING
Magical Marketing Strategies for Creating an Endless Stream of New,
Repeat, and Referral Business
Copyright © 1998 Michel Fortin, Ph.D.
COMMANDMENT #3
THOU SHALL MAKE THE ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY
So, now you've got a unique name, possibly a tagline, and you're the
first or leader in your unique category. What about the service or
product you offer? Do you offer an extraordinary product or service, or
do you offer an ordinary one? You see, even if the service you provide
is customary, most likely traditional, and probably offered by your
competition, you should make it "look" unique just as well.
Remember that perception is more powerful than truth. You don't need to
emphasize that your product or service is unique or the best. Trying to
do so or declaring that it is can sometimes be worse than not saying
anything at all, and the reason for that is that it makes you appear as
if you are bluffing or exaggerating at best. For instance, if you told
people that your product or service is #1 in the marketplace, your
clients will probably either laugh at you or in the very least question
your statement. But if you put a name on your product or service, even a
trademark if possible, you will indirectly cast an aura of exclusivity
and superiority and do so without utterly flaunting it.
By the way, please note that trademarks don't need to be registered,
unless you are looking for financial compensation if someone ever copies
you. In that case, you must go through a trademark lawyer to register
your name or names. I am not a lawyer and please do not consider this as
legal advice. I strongly recommend that you see a trademark or corporate
lawyer for assistance in this area, especially if you're seeking to
completely prevent any form of piracy. However, after registering your
trademark, you will be able to use the "®" (registered trademark) symbol
rather than the "TM" in all your
communications, and keep copycats at bay
or even sue them should they ever use your names or taglines.
Nevertheless, remember that perception is powerful. When it comes to the
perception of a product or service – and especially service – it will
generally fall into either one of 3 categories. The first one is a
customary service, the second is an assumed service, and the third is a
unique service. Let's take a look at each element in more detail.
A Customary Service
You might be a bookkeeper offering an income tax service as part of your
portfolio, a service that is also widely offered by most bookkeepers
these days. However, don't just leave it like that. Say, "Ask us about
our special Total Tax TranquillityTM service." If you're a dry-cleaner
offering a tie cleaning service (as most dry-cleaners do), don't just
call it a "tie cleaning service," call it a special name, as in "Bring
your ties out of retirement with our Re-TIE-rement ReversalTM process."
I know what you may be thinking right now. You're probably thinking that
you are a professional representing a high class, high quality product
or service, and that this type of strategy doesn't apply to you. As a
business development consultant specializing in medical practices, I
deal with a very professional clientele and hear this all the time.
However, I still say that it is possible for you to use this technique,
even in these circumstances.
For example, I often go through the yellow pages (in the doctor and
dentist sections) to find potential clients. I was immediately struck by
an ad from a dentist who specializes in pain and anxiety management. She
has an anesthetist on staff and uses intravenous and general sedation
for her patients, in order to make the process of dental work a more
comfortable experience. What did her ad say? The headline is made up of
two simple words: "Dream DentistryTM" Now that's good!
In essence, even if your service is customary or your competition offers
the same thing you do, by putting a name on an often-nameless service,
you cast an aura of uniqueness and superiority instantaneously, without
having to state it outright. As one of my mentors used to say,
"Implication is more powerful than specification!" The resulting effect
is that not only does the name keep you in the back of the minds of your
prospects, it also creates curiosity, arouses interest, and enhances
desire. By and large, if people had to choose between a general product
or service and one that, through its name, implies a better or more
unique kind of product or service, more than likely they will go for the
second option.
For instance, if you owned an imported car that needed a brake job, whom
would you choose: A general mechanic? Or one who specializes in imported
cars by marketing its service as "Are your brakes screaming in a
different language? Come and see us for your Quicker-than-CustomsTM
foreign car brake inspection"? You get the picture. (Whoops! I'm getting
ahead of myself again, since this example also reflects Commandment #4,
which is the power of specialization. But I guess you're getting used to
me by now, right? 'Nuff said.)
An Assumed Service
Speaking of mechanics, are you a mechanic and, as normal practice, offer
free estimates? If you are a mechanic, you most likely do. Everybody
expects free estimates from mechanics or garages these days. However, as
simple as it may sound, if you specify that which is usually taken for
granted, you make your name stick! For example, you might call your free
estimate "The Hassle Freedom FormulaTM" or the "No Greater than Guesstimate EstimateTM" Either that or the tagline could simply be
"Where Smiles and Estimates are Free!TM"
You see, it might sound silly but the attractiveness of this process is
so simple. People may or may not know that garages offer free estimates
and, more often than not, they only assume that they do. But with a
service name in which people are told that their estimates are free,
they are now assured that that particular garage offers free estimates.
In other words, you're turning an assumed service into an assured
service in the minds of people. And in this day and age where people no
longer have the time to shop around, when they'll need the services of a
mechanic your name will pop into their minds instantaneously. This
technique is indeed remarkably effective.
As shown in the previous example, making the ordinary extraordinary is
like turning the assumed into the assured. In fact, there is an immense
power behind guarantees, and I love marketing on this remarkable
concept. Some people think that guarantees are outdated, overused, and
ineffective. I know for a fact that that's not true.
People not only love guarantees, but as I said earlier, in today's
hypercompetitive marketplace you need to stand out like a sore thumb.
And a good way to do this is by offering a guarantee in one form or
another so that, when placed side-by-side with a competitor, you will be
the one who's chosen. Guarantees sometimes frighten businesspeople
because it involves taking a great risk on the part of the entrepreneur.
The possible loss of revenue is indeed a frightening idea for many
people. But if you have a good product, have had good experience with
it, and believe in it wholeheartedly, guarantees can become powerful
weapons in building your business.
However, if you still feel that you can not offer guarantees or if your
type of work stops you from doing so (as, for instance, in the case of
cosmetic surgeons who are legally prohibited to guarantee their work),
there are 3 key areas here you may want to consider. First, does your
product or service provide a measurable result? Second, can your product
or service be easily replaced? And third, do you offer additional
services outside your core portfolio? If you're not prepared to give a
full-money back guarantee, you might want to consider adding or
subtracting something instead.
Let me give you some examples. You're a sales training consultant
offering seminars on sales productivity. You might want to offer a
guarantee that promises an increase in your client's sales results by,
say, 25% following your seminar. If your client's salesforce doesn't
meet this goal within a specific period of time, you could offer an
additional seminar or one-on-one consulting (perhaps telephone
consulting) free of charge.
You may be a marketing consultant compensated on a percentage of the
client's sales. As a name for your guarantee, you may want to call it
"Doubling the Profits by Dividing the RiskTM guarantee." Additionally,
you might give an additional product or service free of charge as a way
to thank your client for his or her business. In this case, don't just
offer it as a standard part of your package; market it in the form of a
guarantee.
If, for instance, you are a project management consultant in the
computer field, you could add a bonus-training seminar to be conducted
after your consulting contract is completed in order to guarantee that
people implement and maintain your work effectively. You can call it
"The After-Project AssuranceTM plan" or the "Perfect Project PlusTM guarantee."
In essence, the idea is to guarantee, in the minds of prospects, that
which is a generally assumed part of your business. If the prospect
perceives that doing business with you has some added value, even if
that which you offer is identical to your competition or included in a
total package, you will be able to destroy your competition easily!
Often, the problem not only lies with what prospects perceive but also
with what businesspeople perceive. They too wrongfully assume that parts
of their product or service are not important or, as one doctor-client
of mine once said, that "it all comes with the territory." I'm sure
you've heard the old joke about what happens when you assume... Well, you
get the picture.
By the way, that client of mine removes stitches from and follows up
with his patients after surgery and doesn't bill them for these
seemingly "ordinary" services. In fact, these additional small steps are
common practice throughout the entire medical community. I asked him to
put a name on it. He now calls it his "Patient ProgressTM program."
Remember, if you turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, you will turn
ordinary marketing into extraordinary results.
A Unique Service
Above all, you may still be offering some very special or unique service
that your competition doesn't offer at all. That's great! However, the
same rule applies here. Don't just leave it to a vague title or
description. Put a name on it and christen your unique service. If, for
instance, you're a management consultant offering seminars on how to get
the most out of a particular software program you've customized and the
software programmer or company endorses your efforts, call it the
"(Software Company) Certified Software Seminar," or the "(Software)
Approved Preferred Client Course."
While having a unique product or service beats the previous two
categories in creating top-of-mind awareness, it doesn't have to be an
entirely new thing. It can be copied and customized in such a way that
it appears unique or new. Many people have made fortunes by simply
improving a current product or service by merely 10% yet packaged it in
an entirely different way. Remember the "pet rock"?
This goes back to the issue of perception. Once, on an Oprah Winfrey
Show, Oprah had conducted an apple juice taste test in malls across the
United States. I believe the program was related to how people could be
mislead through marketing. (However, she was focusing on companies using
false or misleading advertising, but the test revealed some interesting
facts nonetheless.) She had two bottles of apple juice. One was a plain,
white plastic container with a label donning a picture of an apple. The
second bottle, however, was an intricately shaped glass bottle carrying
a red label with the picture of a woman preparing apple juice in her
kitchen. When people were asked which apple juice tasted better, over
72% said that the juice from the glass bottle with the red label tasted
better. The surprise came when she announced to her audience that the
juices from both bottles were exactly the same!
Not bad, isn't it? But it didn't stop there. When she asked her
participants why they chose the juice from the red labeled bottle, their
answers were astonishing. They said, "It tastes really good, much better
than the other one." Or, "it's sweeter tasting, it has more flavor." Or,
"It has to be better, the picture on the bottle with the lady preparing
the juice indicates to me that more care and attention was given into
making it."
It all boils down to the fact that perceived truth is indeed more
powerful than truth itself. So, when it comes to your unique product or
service, pay close attention to how you package it, or in other words to
the name and description you put on it. This is how brand names have
become generic in the minds of people. However, it is difficult for me
to give you specific examples at this point since the uniqueness of your
service will determine your entire approach.
The key is to market your "original" product or service in such a way so
that, if it is ever copied, your product or service's name remains
firmly fixed in the marketplace and that your competitor's attempt to
copy you will only but remind your prospects of you. If you can, add a
guarantee or a tagline to your product or service, such as "Flat-Rate
Fashion Facials.TM Flat Out Fantastic!" Ultimately, make your product or
service outstanding by making it stand out!
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Go to Commandments:
Intro
#1
#2
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
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