strategic position

I ran across a really interesting story the other day. It’s a story of a new company in the aluminium business; one with a clear view on how to improve customer service and reduce prices based on greater productivity.

Faced with responding to depressed demand and strong competition, Coventry based Jack Aluminium, a systems supplier, has strengthened its market positioning with a greater offer of value for its customers and is set to raise sales throughput even further!

Essentially Jack has created a business model to match demands of small scale high street and commercial users for specific and affordable window systems delivered within hours! It is the operational element that gives the edge.

Operating with aggressive sales and marketing and great products is vital and has brought success but it is the move to localised cutting and painting to specification, buffer stocks and fast delivery that will give Jack a clear and sustainable edge over rivals.

Here, indeed, is a business whose strategic positioning truly supports the claim; “Fast and Affordable Aluminium Window and Shop Front Systems”

Here is the nutshell:

Jack Aluminium Strategic Positioning

WHO:  The Customer Nationwide small scale high street and commercial users.

WHAT:  The Offer Superior vlaue shop front and office products at affordable (competitive prices), delivered in hours.

HOW:  The game plan Local cutting and painting to spec locally to meet local demands for finished product quickly. A number of small efficient paint shops in dense areas of demand around the country able to stock and deliver within hours. Sections cut to spec to meet specific requests, off cuts held in stock which are topped up. Targeted marketing and sales. Avoid large systems suppliers and build sales in smaller end.

For the full Monty go to Jack Aluminium site

Best wishes Andrew,

If you’ve been following my earlier posts on business strategy you might be asking how strategic innovators achieve the results they do.

I believe there is only ONE system to formulate a superior strategy and implement it. It’s not “my” system, it is THE system. Many use the same basic system. Some do it better than others. Some understand it better than others. But, at the end of the day, it’s the
same system.

I call the system the “The Complete Purpose Driven Strategy System”, a SEVEN Step Guide to Creating a UNIQUE STRATEGIC POSITION for Your Business.

I’m going to explain this system to you over the next few posts. And along the way, I’ll present each part of the system and share some insights that are exclusively my own.

Each post will show you why creativity and innovation is more important in strategy formulation than analysis and process. And if you’re serious about differentiating your business they will reveal how to invent fresh strategic positions and leverage more success from your current strategies.

A fuller account of the ‘SEVEN Step Guide to Creating a UNIQUE STRATEGIC POSITION for Your Business‘ is being offered as a free e-Book download for a limited period from andrew@real-results.org

Best wishes

Andrew Pearson

For further information download FREE “How to Create and Exploit a UNIQUE STRATEGIC POSITION for Your Business”

What allows strategic innovators to predict the future is their reliance on measures of BOTH ‘strategic’ health AND ‘financial’ health of their businesses.

By adding strategic measures people it’s possible to get a couple of really powerful indicators:

1. An early warning system that allows them to question things before a crisis occurs, AND
2. A means of identifying new unique strategic positions to sustain growth.

The list of strategic health measures is long, they may include; customer satisfaction, market share, changes in the industry and the company’s fit with the changing environment, distributor and supplier feedback, employees morale, strength of company culture, innovation and new products in the pipe line.

Now if we are in agreement that these pretty fundamental measures tell us a lot about business survival and success, a simple question remains to be answered, namely; what tools do we have that can help us do the job of finding superior strategies – and if we want to go further with this – how good are they anyway?

I’ll tell you in my next post

Best wishes