The Power of Positioning in Business - Sun Tzu's Art Of ... Business Part 2

[Music] Hello and welcome back to all your leaders and strategy and welcome to another Patreon only episode. This is episode two in a new mini series especially for you all about the art of war by SunZoo as I mentioned last time we got a lot of feedback from the episode in season four asking if we could do more of a deep diet so here we go in today's episode we're going to look at winning the fight the power of positioning in business so most businesses think they lose opportunities because they won't good enough on the day they blame the pitch the price the proposal or the competition but in reality most opportunities are not one or lost in that meeting they're one or lost long before the moment ever happens in episode one we introduced the idea for SunZoo every battle is one before we fought today we're going to break that down and turn it into one of the most powerful concepts in modern business strategy repositioning because the strongest businesses don't just compete better they make competition easier before it even begins so let's start with a common belief that there is a single moment where the deals are won at the meeting the presentation the proposal the negotiation and if you perform well enough in that moment you win but think about your own experience how often if you walked away from a meeting already knowing you would win submitted a bid when the outcome felt obvious, choosing a supply before hearing the full pitch it happens all the time because the decisions are rarely made in the moment they're shaped before the conversation before the proposal before the comparison and that is exactly what SunZoo understood so what winning before you fight actually means SunZoo talks about winning before the fight he's not talking about luck he's talking about stacking the conditions in your favor in business that translates to being known for something specific being trusted before you engage being aligned to the right opportunities and having a clear advantage your competitive advantage before you commit resources so when you show up you're not convincing you are confirming that's the shift from persuasion effort and last minute performance through alignment preparation and strategic clarity but here's where most businesses struggle they don't have a positioning strategy they have a reaction strategy they go after too much try to be everything to everyone rely on capability instead of clarity and compete on effort instead of advantage so every opportunity becomes harder to win more resource intensive lower margin and less predictor group because they're constantly entering situations where they have no real edge and when you don't have an edge you're forced into price competition over delivering or trying to outperform others at their game at the last minute that is not strategy that is survival so now let's flip it what does strong businesses actually do differently they position themselves so that the right opportunities come to them they are already trusted before engagement they're compared less or differently and they stand out without needing to explain themselves repeatedly think about businesses you know that operate like this they don't chase everything they are clear on who they serve clear on what they win and discipline about what they ignore so when they show up they already feel like a natural choice and this is the key good positioning reduces the amount of convincing required so let's talk about that win strategy let's make it practical here's the simple tool we can use as I say I call it the win strategy before committing to any major opportunity ask what gamer we're trying to play is this aligned with our strengths and directions or are we chasing something because it's available whereas our advantage do we have credibility relationships or proof here or we starting from neutral or even worse why should we win this is there a clear reason we stand out or are we relying on effort and hope what would make this easier to win can we engage earlier can we shape the brief the requirements or the execution because the last point is critical the strongest businesses don't just respond to opportunities that influence before they fully formed so now let's bring that into real business scenarios in business development winning before the fight means building relationships before opportunities go live in bits and tenders it means understanding the client shaping their requirements and aligning early in sales it means attracting the right clients instead of chasing every lead and in leadership it means designing your business so you are not constantly reacting to external pressures across all of these the principle is the same reduce uncertainty before the moment that matters so this is your homework for today the strategic shift stop asking how do we win more and start asking how do we make this easier to win before we even begin because if an opportunity feels hard there's a good chance that the issue is not execution it's positioning now for ongoing support join our new Patreon community as 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retainer this tier is for leaders who want fewer blind spots and better decisions every day of the week so that's it for today and in summary we've taken one of the most powerful ideas from the art of war and turned it into practical business principle when before you fight and in the next episode we're going to build on this further we're going to look at another core idea knowing yourself and knowing the market because even the best positioning fails when it's based on the wrong assumptions hope you'll come back and join us and i'll see you then cheers