Weak Positioning Has Clear Symptoms

Weak positioning leaves a trail of clear and identifiable symptoms within a business. Recognizing these signs is the first step toward diagnosing and fixing the underlying problem.

The most common symptoms of weak positioning include:

• Prospects are confused: New prospects struggle to understand what the product is, what it does, and who it's for. This leads to long, drawn-out sales conversations that focus on basic clarification rather than closing a deal.
• Long sales cycles and low close rates: When a product's value is not obvious, it takes longer for customers to make a purchasing decision. This results in a lengthy sales process and a high percentage of lost deals to competitors who are a better fit.
• High customer churn: Customers who purchase a product for the wrong reasons, due to a misunderstanding of its value, are likely to be dissatisfied and churn shortly after buying. They may also request features that are not on the product roadmap, leading to further frustration.
• Price pressure: In a crowded market, a product with weak positioning will be perceived as a commodity. This makes it difficult to justify a premium price, as customers will not see any significant difference between it and the competition.

Related Concepts:

• Positioning is the Foundation of Marketing and Sales
• Positioning is Context Setting
• Great Positioning is a Superpower