Repositioning for success

Excerpt from address delivered on Friday, 25th April, 2008, at Seminar hosted by British American Insurance (LTD), Frank George Agency.

Today is a defining moment in this business, and particularly so, since as we formally see the need to embrace the positive developmental changes currently churned from within, it is also inevitable that we pursue a quest to strategically reposition to succeed. In this regard, we must be attentive to the fact that presently, we are the very embodiment and leaders of a progressive change. Hence, we really ought to clinch to the ideals which will assist us in the management of this transition.{{more}}

Repositioning To Succeed

Companies that successfully position themselves to leverage their strategic competencies and stay exceptionally close to their customers do not only survive, but also thrive in these increasingly competitive times. Strategic repositioning focuses on expanding a company’s internal and external knowledge and capabilities to compete more successfully in today’s marketplace.

Five Keys to Strategic Repositioning that I have sought to outline and share with you this morning are as follows:

1. We ought to recognize that success involves change, and we must at all times be willing and ready to embrace the resultant implications which will naturally arise.

2. We must at all times understand that this company must do well.

3. Our job is to discover the unarticulated customer’s needs.

4. We must exploit our company’s strengths to meet our ever

changing customer’s needs and do so better than everyone else.

5. It is a necessity that a culture around market intelligence is created.

Why do companies seek to be repositioned?

Firstly, we must differentiate our company to compete on something other than price.

Although the company may think it is different and more valuable, the market views the company’s offerings as commodities with plenty of reasonable and available substitutes. How then do we separate ourselves? What makes us different?

Secondly, we must work to create clarity and alignment

A company with over generalized positioning will almost certainly suffer from disoriented staff members. In an organization suffering from poor positioning, you will get four to five different answers from the staff when they are asked what exactly is the objective of our company. If the staff members, who have constant contact with the organization, are unable to get it right, how can we expect to understand and value the company’s positioning? Proper positioning drives clarity-both inside the organization and in the marketplace. That clarity ensures that everyone in the company is moving in the same direction, and delivering on the promises of the brand of the British American Insurance.

Thirdly, to create new business opportunities you must reposition yourself.

To win more business, you simply need more chances to bat. Proper repositioning ensures that you get to the plate more often. What proper positioning does is that it ensures that the British American Insurance is always in the starting line up, perhaps the opening batsman-not some second stringer fighting in a crowd of equally talented players just to get noticed. Which do you want to be?

Fourthly, we must strive to win business with greater ease

Confidence and trust in the insurance industry is paramount, since it assists prospective consumers in making purchasing decisions. Through corporate repositioning, we help our clients earn recognition for their differentiated expertise, creating meaningful, valuable reasons for prospective consumers to choose us. If you are “on their radar” and properly positioned, you will be on the short list from the beginning, and you will be able to negotiate the sale before others even know there is an opportunity.

And finally, we must work harder to reduce selling costs

You might be fighting harder and harder for the same sales. You may have hired more people this year just to get the same level of sales you got last year. Many business leaders experiencing these pains think they have a problem with sales. However, in almost all cases, these problems are the direct result of the company’s positioning in the marketplace.

Proper corporate positioning can significantly reduce the average acquisition cost for new business. Proper positioning “sells” for you. The long and short of it is that as a company we must develop repositioning strategies that will make it easier for prospects to find us and choose us.

Conclusion

The reality is that the ability of a business to follow a sustainable developmental path is determined to a large extent by the capacity of its staff and the institution to critically address the prerequisites which guide financial and social profitability.

As we reposition ourselves, central to the process must be an empowerment of our human resource base. The solution lies in the development of the capacity of our staff to ensure that we can effectively and efficiently implement and strategically execute the fundamental principles and precepts which govern our business. The greater the challenges the harder we must work. The greater the challenges, the more we must make adjustments so that we can grapple with these changing times. I, therefore, encourage you to let us lift our game!

Saboto Caesar is a lawyer and Unity Labour Party Senator.