Positioning and Choosing the One Line People Remember

Positioning is deciding where you sit in someone's mind

Positioning means deciding what people will remember you as, rather than changing the product itself. Al Ries and Jack Trout popularized the idea in their 1981 book Positioning, building on a 1969 article that introduced the term and a 1972 series of articles that spread it. If you cannot say in one sentence what you do, it is a useful place to start.

The starting point is overload

The authors began from the observation that people are flooded with information and cannot take in all of it. Memory has limited room. The question becomes how to fit into a slot that already exists, the "for this, I think of..." shelf, among many similar offers.

So the core argument is that finding a place within the impressions people already hold matters more than adding another strength. They stress looking for a position different from the ones established competitors already occupy.

Choosing your line

Work through these steps:

1. Who is it for? You cannot serve everyone. Pick one kind of customer you would most likely win first.
2. What does that customer compare you with? Customers weigh you against rivals, but also against doing it themselves or doing nothing.
3. What can you do that the alternatives cannot? Skills, background, range of work, speed, price, or the way you handle clients.
4. Say it in one sentence in the customer's words. Skip your own jargon.

"Good with taxes" is too wide. "I only take questions about annual filing for sole proprietors" shows both the customer and the scope, which makes it easier to remember.

Checking the wording

Test your line with these questions:

• Could someone who heard it once repeat what you do?
• Could a competitor say the same thing?
• Do you have real results or substance behind it?
• Is it so narrow that you would turn away the customers you already have?

The most reliable test is asking others to repeat it. Tell a friend only the line, then ask them a few days later what kind of person you are. If the words that come back differ from yours, the message did not land.

Limits and cautions

Positioning is not a one-time decision. Markets and competitors change, so revisit it every few years. Narrowing your scope usually means fewer customers but a stronger reason to be chosen, and the right balance depends on your size and situation.

Do not put something in your line that you cannot actually deliver. A gap between impression and substance costs trust.

Putting the line where people see it

Once you have a line, place it where customers look first: a business card, the first line of your introduction, the first screen of your site, your social media profile. If the wording differs from place to place, it is harder to remember.

Repetition matters too. You may tire of the phrase long before anyone else has absorbed it, since people need to see it several times. Avoid rewording it often, and change it only for a reason.

Also check whether you still sell anything that contradicts the line. Products that do not suit the narrowed audience blur the impression.

Choosing the line goes better when you use real customers' words as raw material instead of thinking alone. Gather how customers described you in past inquiries, reviews, and meetings. Phrases they used naturally are strong candidates for wording that other people will understand too.

The strengths you take for granted are often the ones customers find unusual. Borrow an outside view and ask what made them choose you.

What to do next

1. Write down the single type of customer you would most like to win.
2. List three things that customer does today instead of hiring you.
3. Write three things only you can say, then turn them into one sentence in the customer's words.
4. Tell that sentence to two or three acquaintances, and ask them days later to describe you.
5. Read what comes back and rewrite the sentence.