THE ADVISORY / POSITIONING

The sentence at the top of a website is only the visible result. The real work is deciding what the right people should understand and remember, what evidence supports it, and what the company will stop trying to be.

A small operations consultancy describes itself as “a full-service business transformation partner.” The phrase sounds broad and capable, but buyers cannot tell when to call, what problem the firm sees especially well, or how it differs from hiring an internal project manager.

This example demonstrates how the pieces connect. It is not a universal positioning formula.

01 / ADVISORY WORK

A category helps the buyer place the business before the company explains how it is different.

Use language the intended buyer recognizes. Inventiveness is not useful if the buyer cannot place the work.

For example: The firm chooses “operations advisory” instead of “business transformation ecosystem.”

Write this in your notes: Write the simplest recognized category, then note what that category explains well and what it leaves unclear.

02 / ADVISORY WORK

An audience is more useful when it includes the situation that makes the work relevant.

Go beyond title, industry, or company size.

For example: Owner-led service firms that have grown beyond informal processes and are now losing decisions between people.

Write this in your notes: Record the buyer, the stage or situation, and who should not assume the work is for them.

03 / ADVISORY WORK

The right buyer needs to recognize the condition before they can value the perspective.

Begin with their language, then explain what may be underneath it.

For example: The owner says, “Everything still comes back to me, and projects keep stalling between meetings.”

Write this in your notes: Capture the sentence the buyer uses and the business consequence attached to it.

04 / ADVISORY WORK

A perspective is useful when it changes the diagnosis or the work.

The firm does not treat the condition as a productivity problem. It sees an ownership and decision-design problem: work stalls because authority, handoffs, and decision rights were never made explicit.

That perspective changes the recommendation. The answer is not another task-management tool. It is clearer operating ownership.

MICHELLE'S NOTE

A distinct perspective is not a louder opinion. It is a useful way of seeing the problem that changes what the business notices, recommends, or does.

05 / ADVISORY WORK

The buyer may choose another provider, an internal hire, software, delay, or doing nothing.

Project-management software: organizes work but does not decide who has authority.

Internal project manager: may improve coordination but can inherit unclear decision rights.

Large transformation firm: offers scale but may be more than the company needs.

Do nothing: avoids immediate cost while preserving founder dependency.

06 / ADVISORY WORK

Evidence should make the specific position more believable.

Use proof connected to the recognized problem and distinct perspective.

For example: The consultancy shows anonymized decision maps, examples of reduced approval layers, and leaders who can explain how ownership changed.

Write this in your notes: Choose evidence that supports the diagnosis, method, and credible change. State what the evidence does not guarantee.

07 / ADVISORY WORK

Positioning becomes stronger when it includes a boundary.

Known for: helping owner-led firms clarify decision rights, operating ownership, and handoffs when growth has made informal processes unreliable.

No longer trying to be: a full-service transformation firm, productivity coach, software implementer, or general source of business help.

08 / ADVISORY WORK

The words should help the right buyer recognize the problem and repeat the explanation.

Prefer plain, precise language over vague claims such as innovative, holistic, strategic, or results-driven.

For example: Decision rights, operating ownership, handoffs, founder dependency, and work that stalls between people.

Write this in your notes: List five phrases buyers already understand and three category clichés the company will remove.

09 / ADVISORY WORK

A broad statement can feel safer internally while making the business less memorable externally.

Name the audience, claim, category, or identity the company will stop stretching toward.

For example: The firm will not describe itself as the answer to strategy, culture, systems, growth, and execution for every small business.

Write this in your notes: Write the boundary and explain how it protects relevance for the intended buyer.

A USEFUL CAUTION

Specificity is not about excluding recklessly. It is about making the right people understand why the work is relevant without asking them to translate.

MICHELLE'S NOTE

If the internal team explains the business five different ways, the market is not the only place where positioning work is needed.

10 / ADVISORY WORK

The sentence should reflect decisions already made; it should not be asked to make those decisions for you.

We provide operations advisory for owner-led service firms whose growth has made informal decision-making unreliable, helping leaders clarify decision rights, ownership, and handoffs so work no longer stalls between people.

The sentence connects the category, intended buyer, recognized problem, distinct perspective, and useful change. Proof and alternatives belong nearby, not inside every sentence.

Category: The recognized place the buyer puts the work.

Intended buyer: The person or organization and relevant situation.

Recognized problem: The condition they can already see.

Distinct perspective: What you see that changes the diagnosis.

Current alternative: What they use, hire, delay, or tolerate now.

Proof: Evidence that supports the specific claim.

Known for: What the right people should remember.

Not trying to be: The boundary that protects the position.

Final statement: One clear sentence connecting the decisions above.

Return when the next issue needs a clearer frame.

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