I talk to small business owners every week who tell me the same thing:
“We just need more sales.”
So they hire a new rep. Or they start a campaign. Or they ask me to build them an inbound funnel.
And sometimes that helps. But more often, the problem isn’t sales. It’s not traffic. It’s not awareness.
It’s positioning.
Editor’s Note:
This is the fourth post in our Inbound for SMBs series. If you missed the earlier ones, you can start with:
- What Inbound Really Means for SMBs
- Why Sales Alone Won’t Save You Without Inbound Support
- What Sales Enablement Really Means (And Why SMBs Can’t Ignore It)
What Positioning Really Means (And Why It Comes First)
Positioning is your answer to three questions:
- Why now?
- Why you?
- Why not them?
If you can’t answer those clearly, your sales team is flying blind, your website is generic, and your inbound content doesn’t land.
Positioning isn’t just branding. It’s not taglines or color palettes.
It’s the clarity that underpins how you talk about your business, who you serve, what problems you solve, and why you do it better.
Without it, sales and marketing become a guessing game.
Signs You Have a Positioning Problem
You don’t need a focus group to figure this out. Just ask yourself:
- Does your homepage sound like every competitor in your market?
- Do your salespeople say different things on every call?
- Are you targeting everyone with the same message?
- Are prospects confused about what you actually do?
- Do you rely on features instead of outcomes?
- Are you struggling to create content that connects?
If you’re nodding yes to any of these, you don’t need more leads. You need more clarity.
How Poor Positioning Kills Inbound
Inbound marketing only works when it’s relevant. And relevance starts with positioning.
If your value prop is vague, your SEO is vague. If your target audience is everyone, your content resonates with no one. If your offer is unclear, your ads won’t convert.
I’ve seen companies pour time and money into blogs, funnels, and paid ads without stopping to ask:
“Are we actually saying anything different?”
Without positioning, inbound turns into noise. With positioning, inbound becomes a magnet.
Your Best Customers Already Know Your Positioning
If you’re stuck, ask your favorite customers:
- Why did you choose us?
- What almost kept you from buying?
- What made the difference?
Then listen. Closely.
You’ll hear the seeds of your positioning in their words.
- Speed? Service? Simplicity?
- Specialized knowledge?
- Results they couldn’t get anywhere else?
Use that language to rebuild how you show up.
What Good Positioning Unlocks
When you have strong positioning, everything else gets easier:
- Sales enablement: Clear messaging, battlecards, talk tracks
- Inbound strategy: Targeted content themes, specific pain points, compelling offers
- PPC & SEO: Better ad copy, more relevant landing pages, higher conversion rates
- Hiring: Clear culture and purpose
- Referrals: You become easier to refer because people actually understand what you do
Positioning isn’t just a marketing exercise. It’s a business advantage.
Final Thoughts
If you’re stuck in a sales plateau, don’t just throw another rep at the problem. Don’t dump money into a campaign that doesn’t stand for anything.
Start by getting clear on what makes you different—and why your best-fit customer should care.
Your inbound system is only as strong as your positioning.
In our next post, we’ll talk about how to build an inbound system even if you don’t have a marketing team (or much of a budget). Because clarity scales better than noise.
Stay tuned.