Selling To Market of One
In any tech market these days, there’s really first place, second place, maybe third and then the rest. Who wants to be rest? When you think about markets such as fast food, consumer, tech or business, what are the first names that come to your mind? McDonald, Uber, Apple, Microsoft? The seconds, thirds and the rest simply don’t exist. If you are the rest, it is so darn difficult to get attention, attract prospects and get them interested in what you do. Ideally, you want to create your own kingdom and own it. Don’t you? The point is there are only one or two names that will leap to mind in any category. They own the category. They are the category.
And that’s where you want to be with your business. But how can you get to be first?
The answer to being first is not to simply “become visible”. You want to be visible in a way that is trusted, sought after, highly paid, in demand and authoritative.
Your aim is to be visible with authority. So visibility isn’t enough.
But you have another, even bigger problem. The bitter truth is that most markets are really crowded. The leader in any category has often been established for years, if not decades and will be difficult to replace.
That’s the situation most of us find ourselves in.
But I have a simple solution.
Why not simply redefine the marketplace you’re in altogether? Invent a new category altogether that you can dominate and be Number One?
Here are tips of how to go about creating your Market of One:
1. Know your word or phrase (your category).
You should have one word that describes your category or niche. At most you should have two words that communicate one concept.
You could be a cloud service provider, a testing firm, an IT services company or a managed services company. You still need to nail a category.
Is your word leadership? One stop shop? Is it time management? Focus? Profits? Growth? If it is, unfortunately someone is already number one in all of those categories.
So you have to pick a smaller box to own. How about “leadership to offer great service to underserved customer in mid market eComm and retail sector?”
That’s definitely a smaller box, right? Who’s selling “to under served clients in mid-market eComm and retail industry in the USA”? Can’t think of anyone? Perfect. Your phrase shouldn’t bring anyone else to mind. There’s your opportunity to be number one.
2. Know 8 other words (your positioning).
So you’ve defined your category. Now it’s time to define your positioning.
Jay Conner Levinson wrote a great book called Guerilla Marketing. Where he delivers one compelling truth: if you can’t put your position into 8 words or less, you don’t have one.
Ouch, right? But it’s true.
You might not want to put your position in 8 words. You might be afraid that 8 words will narrow your position too much. That you’ll get pigeonholed. But that pigeonhole is EXACTLY where you want to be.
A pigeonhole will clarify exactly your point of difference and help you stand out.
3. Own your box
Let me share a weird theory with you.
Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes, had this idea that your mind is filled with a finite number of little boxes that get all filled up. For something new to come in, something else has to leave.
Imagine your prospects’ minds are like that.
They have all these little boxes and one thought or person or company owns each box.
You want your category and your positioning to own one of those little boxes.
You don’t need the entire mind – you just need one little box that is 100% yours.
And then you’ll be Number One.
And as Number One, guess what? You just won. Try it.
So go create your Market of One and start getting all the privileges—from more clients to more cash—that a leader inevitably enjoys.
Mag “Number One” Rajasekaran
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