When you embrace your negative, your claim about the positive becomes more convincing.
And here's the thing.
Good positioning always brings obvious weaknesses.
Because positioning is not about being perfect.
That's impossible.
Positioning is about building preference.
Being the right option for a certain type of client, who'd like to solve a certain problem, in a certain way.
That means choosing competitive factors where you'll be strong and different.
And leaving others where you'll be intentionally weak.
Just like Listerine.
But most B2B brands do the opposite.
They pretend they don't have any weaknesses.
They claim to be the best at everything with all-in-one and end-to-end solutions.
Even though they don't have the same quality at every service.
They claim to serve a wide range of client types equally well.
Even when their value fits specific businesses.
Guess what happens when they message being the best at everything, for everyone?
They lose their believability.
Because when everything seems too perfect, buyers get suspicious.
Nobody believes a lawyer who says he can handle property, tax, and trademark cases for both individuals and multinational companies.
But you'd believe the one who says he only handles trademark disputes for multinational companies and nothing else.
Because faking perfection creates suspicion.
Buyers would like to know the downsides of a purchase, together with the benefits.
Listerine kills bacteria.
Downside?
It tastes like medicine.
Fair enough.
It's not perfect, but it's the right one for the job.
It's a different option with clear tradeoffs.
So use these questions to test your positioning and find opportunities to strengthen your differentiation:
"What obvious weaknesses do buyers see in our positioning?" (Note: If your positioning doesn't bring any perceived weaknesses, you're probably not different. You are offering parity.)
"Which of these could make our strengths more believable?
