06/04/2026
Can you get clients without selling?
It only works if you position yourself in a niche people actually relate to.
Here's the problem: Most will just skip the positioning foundation and jump straight to "our value", "what we offer" or "why we're great." That's backwards.
You can't define what makes you different or valuable until you understand what you're being compared against.
According to April Dunford, the first step of positioning is:
👉 Define your 'competitive alternatives'
Think about if for a second.
In simple terms: What do you have to beat for a client to choose you? Is the alternative really just other competitors?
Positioning is relative, not absolute. Customers always evaluate you against something else. Until you know what that something is, you're left guessing.
What counts as competitive alternatives?
• Status quo ( do the same, the biggest one—40% of deals are lost to "no decision" on their part)
• What customers do today (busy work, content, spreadsheets, manual processes, doing nothing)
• Other seemingly viable or effective solutions on their shortlist
• Direct competitors
• Alternative approaches/tools
If you haven't mapped your real competitive alternatives, your positioning is built on opinion, not strategy.
Once you define this, everything else becomes grounded:
→ Your differentiation = what you have that alternatives don't
→ Your value = why those differences matter
→ Your target customer = who cares most about that value
→ Your category = context that makes your value obvious
At Fernanz, we rebuild your positioning from the ground up, then engineer conversion-optimized systems that turn inbound traffic into clients—without you having to sell. Because when you're positioned right, people come looking for you.
We install a predictive growth systems that increase your appeal in days, not months. And it all starts with positioning.
Let's map your competitive alternatives and rebuild your positioning together.
