(Ken’s note: This blog is part of a series of blogs on Viewpoint. After reading this introduction, you may want to check out my step by step guide on developing your Viewpoint, a 3 part series of blogs called – AIM STEEP to Build Breakthrough Viewpoint.)
As I’ve blogged extensively about, today’s information rich and overloaded environment, combined with independent buyers, make getting noticed harder than ever. Customers live in their world, not the vendors. When organizations struggle with filling the top of the funnel with engaged prospects, it is almost always a lack of getting themselves noticed.
My Viewpoint framework, shown below and developed over the last 4 years in helping clients reach new speed and success in building top line growth and filling the top of the funnel, is based on the simple yet powerful observation that buyers notice when you align your context or Viewpoint with theirs. This can be seen on the KJR 2×2 Viewpoint matrix here:
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| KJR’s Viewpoint Framework Aligns Your Solution With The Customer’s Reality |
To create a compelling context for our marketing message to breakthrough, we must articultate a Viewpoint, a top of funnel message, that aligns with the customers world, by placing our bet on on of the four locations on the matrix, labeled below as A, B, C and D. Let’s take a look at each of these Viewpoint types, label them, and look at the characteristics of and an example of each.
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| There are Four Types of Viewpoints that Can be Effective |
Viewpoint Type A: Trendspotting. This articulation of a Viewpoint is powerful in that it names and frames a environmental shift that is either keeping the customer up at night or creating great opportunities for them. Zuora coined “The Subscription Economy” effectively owning the name of the megatrend that was engulfing the business world, and have built a highly effective go to market strategy around this articulation.
Viewpoint Type B: All Pain No Gain: This articulation focuses on the pain of trying to solve today’s big problems with yesterday’s solutions. This works great when the pain is large enough to induce action, and is well recognized and acknowledged, yet unaddressed. FireEye talks about the Advanced Malware Threats and the resultant risk to create a compelling context for a discussion of their solution. They have experience explosive growth and are poised for an IPO according to their CEO.
Viewpoint Type C: A Better Mousetrap: If you know you have a problem, and are spending money to fix it, but either have not eliminated the problem, this positioning leads with, “Hey, what you have sucks and I’ve got a better solution here.” This Viewpoint works great in replacement markets. For Example, Palo Alto Networks took their “Next Generation Firewall” viewpoint to the bank to the tune of a $3+B IPO right around the backs of Checkpoint, Fortinet and others. And while arguably those others have caught up with feature sets, Palo Alto is still viewed as the gold standard of the next generation of firewalls.
Viewpoint Type D: A Brave New World: This type of Viewpoint describes the promised new state that the customer can arrive at if they implement your solution. It is powerful because it talks about the intersection of the customer’s world and the providers unique solution. KJR client DMTI Spatial has established a new Viewpoint called “Location Economics”. DMTI is challenging their customers to find new opportunities to build business and reduce risk by recognizing the power of tapping into today’s Mobile Society with DMTI’s powerful transaction enablement services, re-awakening a staid and conservative data oriented market.
All four of these types of Viewpoints can make you stand out and get noticed, creating excellent context for your Go to market and content marketing activities.
NEXT STEP: For step by step guide on developing your Viewpoint, see my 3 part series of blogs called – AIM STEEP to Build Breakthrough Viewpoint.