Know-How Exchange : Strategy

All good advice, but like you said, your target views it as a commodity. Is is realistic and worth your time to try to "change their minds" via lengthy and time consuming study on the cost of the service? I think not.

While in theory it sounds great, it isn't very feasible. Playing on what you already know about them and exploiting their fears and/or motivations will get you back on track in a shorter amount of time. THEN, you can spend a few weeks chewing on your eraser trying to figure out how to make them NOT view your client as a commodity!

On the surface, the first thing I think is to ask yourself if your focus is correct. You wrote:

"Their current value proposition lies in providing better quality temporaries through more thorough screening, better service, greater attention to detail"

This is, in fact, not a value proposition--it's self aggrandisement. This is just more marketing hooey . . . and no doubt the same hooey their competition is shoveling. "We're better" is no position to take. (Look at Remedy Temp--"intelligent staffing" or Kelly -- "staffing the world" or any of the others -- one big mishmash of braggarts--yawn.)

You can take a lesson from other commodities here. The most accessible example for me is laundry detergent. Does Brand X say "we have stronger chemical agents in our formula?" Nope. They say "we get your clothes cleaner."

Sounds simplistic. But it is in fact a whole refocus.

A true value proposition--commodity or not--has at its core not quality of product but quality of life for the customer. So before you go and pick a position you have to ask a couple of critical questions:

How many types of people/segments are there in the marketplace? You've mentioned two, but can you drill those down at a more granular level?

What does each of those segments want? Is it really better quality temps--perhaps it is. But perhaps you'll find that they have other goals in mind, if you know how to litigate the question (what I call the "so what" drill which you can read about here: https://marketingprofs.com/2/fischler1.asp).

Maybe you end up with a set of potential positions like "peace of mind" or "meet committments" or "get home at a decent hour" or whatever it might be. (These might not be the right ones, but the principle is strong.)

One of the other respondents here used Nike as an example--a good one I think. Their position focuses on personal accomplishment--"Just Do It"--not on some product characteristic. Starbucks is the same: their positioning has more to do with the overall experience of Starbucks than it does with better triple-mocha-decaf-latte-grande-doubles.

Perhaps your half dozen ideas takes this into consideration. If not, I hope these thoughts will prove helpful.

I like the lists of problems and values you've put together.

You asked "So where would you go from here?"

It seems that, since customers perceive staffing as a commodity, that no staffing service in that market has taken the initiative to effectively differentiate its services.

I think a key lies in that term "differentiation". A lot of times, it's easy to get caught up in figuring out how to position in terms of doing things *better than* the competition (instead of differently from the competitors). This creates the uncomfortable situation of not being able to back up the positioning statement. This because saying you are better does not make it so.

Try focusing instead on how your client can do things *differently than* a typical staffing service. I'd get started on this by first brainstorming around some of the problems you've identified (#5 and #6 seem promising).

Forget about being a "staffing service" and think in broader terms, maybe "HR provider", "HR resource" or whatever. The idea is to get rid of the traditional shackles, piggyback your ideas, and see where it takes you.

Also, during the brainstorming session, try not to censor ideas. Brainstorming is about getting ideas, no matter how outlandish. If you refrain from thinking about whether it's possible to implement an idea, I think you'll come up with better results.

Afterward, screen down the list with a dose of reality, so you are left with the ideas that have potential. Hopefully, you will then have some gems around which to work an effective, believable positioning.

Good luck!

Bobette Kyle

Well, to add another chapter to the novel we are creating here, I thought I would throw in a few more cents....

One of my previous business partners started a temp agency several years ago. They primarily focused on laborers for construction etc. since there were so many larger agencies out there who had "cornered the market" on white collar staffing.

They used a unique and somewhat unorthodox approach: They charged the clients less and paid the employees more! In addition, they had t-shirts made for all the workers and visited them daily at the job sites to bring them cool drinks, snacks, etc. and check in on them.

Needless to say, this strategy attracted a lot of attention. Their client and employee base skyrocketed in record time and almost instantaneously attracted the media AND the Governor of Oklahoma...all of whom coined them as "The company who cares".

I'll let you decide if that little story has any merit to your project. See if you can pull anything out of their example.