Creating a Market Dominating position

You might be unique, but it won’t matter to your prospects unless it’s a hot-button issue for them. A Market Dominating Position is basically a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) or distinctive advantage targeting the hot buttons of your market. This is the foundational element of marketing.

1. What benefit(s) do you offer to your target market that separates you from all of your competitors?
2. Are those benefits based on the “hot buttons” of your prospects – the problem they have and don’t want and the result they want but don’t have?
3. If I were to walk through your business and ask your employees what your Market Dominating Position or USP is, to what degree would I get the same answer?
4. If we could articulate your unique benefit in a single sentence and have you and your staff use it when speaking with prospects, by what percent would that impact your business?

So now ask yourself what, if anything, makes your business different from your competitors as perceived by your targeted prospects and customers? For the vast majority of businesses that answer is price

The key to adding value is determining what your customers and target market perceive as valuable. You must understand their needs, wants, troubles and inconveniences in order to entice them with solutions through added value products or services. Adding value will also add to your profits, but if you don’t focus on genuinely helping your clients you’ll have a difficult time attracting them.

CREATING A MARKET DOMINATING POSITION INVOLVES A FIVE STEP PROCESS. Step number one, determine your strategic position in the market.

What specific niche market or segment of the marketplace should your business focus on? Determining this involves combining the skills your business has with the unmet needs of your targeted prospects and then designing your product or service to fulfill those needs.

Step number two, determine your primary market dominating position. This is the most dominating advantage that separates you from your competitors

Step number three, determine your supporting business model. How will you specifically deliver what your strategic position and primary market dominating position promises? What changes, if any do you need to consider making to your business to ensure you deliver consistently on your position and your promise?

Step number four, determine your secondary market dominating position. What additional competitive advantages does your business offer that your customers will perceive as being different from your competition? Domino’s secondary benefits might include special pricing, assorted sizes, a much broader selection of toppings or additional menu items.

Step number five, create your market dominating position statement or elevator pitch. This is a simple statement you can create by combining steps one through four. This helps you to state unequivocally what differentiates you from your competitors to your targeted prospects and customers.