Competitors and Positioning
You’ve now got two powerful assets:
- Pain themes (Module 2) – what people are really struggling with
- A winnable market (Module 3) – who you help best, and who you avoid
This module is about turning those into true positioning.
Not branding.
Not taglines.
Not “we’re innovative and customer-focused”.
Positioning is simply: Why should someone choose you over the alternatives?
And if we get that right, you’ll waste far less time on opportunities you were never going to win – and win more of the ones you can win.
Why positioning matters
People don’t choose you because you say:
- “We care about our clients”
- “We go the extra mile”
- “We’re experts”
- “We’re innovative”
Those phrases don’t create trust.
They don’t create clarity.
And they don’t help a client decide.
Real positioning is about:
- Trust
- Relevance
- Clarity
- Confidence
It’s the feeling a client leaves with after meeting you.
Positioning is emotional, not performative
This isn’t about pretending:
- That you’re bigger than you are
- That you’re “the best in the world”
- That you’re the first, fastest, most premium, most whatever
Positioning is about being meaningfully different in a way that matters to the client.
The goal is for someone to read your website, your profile, or your message and think:
“They get it. They get me. I trust how they work.”
That’s tribal trust – and it’s what makes people lean in.
Your biggest competitor is “do nothing”
Most people don’t choose your competitor.
They choose:
- to delay
- to stay as they are
- to make small internal tweaks
- to wait until “things calm down”
- to revisit it “next quarter”
That’s not indecision.
It’s a decision for inaction.
And there are more people in that camp than in the direct-competitor camp.
If we understand why people do nothing – and what would make them move – your positioning becomes far more powerful.
The three types of competitors
When you look at your competitive landscape, include all three:
1) Direct competitors
They offer similar services to similar clients.
2) Indirect competitors
They solve the same problem, but in a different way
(e.g. software/AI vs a done-for-you service).
3) Do nothing / no change
They choose inaction, delay, or internal workarounds instead of buying.
Win themes and loss themes
We now want to define two things clearly:
Win themes
Why clients choose you.
This should rarely (if ever) be “price”.
More often it sounds like:
- “You understood me faster than anyone else.”
- “You made it simple.”
- “You didn’t pressure me.”
- “You felt trustworthy.”
- “You explained it clearly.”
Those are emotional reasons.
And they matter because services can be copied – but trust, clarity, and the experience of working with you are harder to copy.
Loss themes
Why clients don’t choose you.
Common examples:
- “It felt too complex.”
- “I didn’t understand what you do.”
- “I wasn’t sure it fit us.”
- “Someone else responded faster.”
- “I didn’t feel confident you could solve it.”
Underneath almost all of these is one thing:
Trust didn’t land.
And if we know what makes trust fail, we can either:
- fix it, or
- qualify it out early.
Envy and struggle are useful signals
This part is intentionally uncomfortable – but valuable.
Envy (your compass)
List competitors you envy and why.
Envy often points to things like:
- clarity
- confidence
- simplicity
- authority
- momentum
- social proof
- aspiration
It’s not about copying.
It’s about noticing what you believe good looks like.
Struggle (your warning signs)
Also list competitors you believe are struggling – and why.
Look for patterns like:
- unclear offerings
- generic messaging
- too many services
- discounting to win work
- reacting rather than leading
- trying to please everyone
These are lessons, not judgments.
They show you what you want to avoid.
Real positioning is one sentence
Positioning isn’t a paragraph.
It isn’t a pitch.
It’s a simple internal anchor:
“People choose us because…”
And it should create a clear feeling – calm, certainty, simplicity, confidence – not just information.
Examples:
- People choose us because we make complex tax feel simple, certain and stress-free.
- People choose us because we listen first, explain clearly, and guide without jargon.
- People choose us because we handle the details, communicate clearly, and make moving feel manageable.
Now, move onto the assignment to define this for your world.