Marketing Positioning Errors to Avoid No Customer

Marketing Positioning Errors to Avoid No customer likes to think that he or she is being taken advantage of. Nor do most customers, no matter how frugal, enjoy sifting through a plethora of special offers, reading the fine print, to discover which service company will provide them with the best deal.

Time is money, and money is time, and even for companies that find it as difficult to differentiate themselves as unique -- as service companies, for example -- it is important to avoid key positioning errors in the market that create an impression of distrust, or create a truly distrustful relationship between consumer and company.

Some common errors are not giving consumers adequate information, regarding rates, such as the phone companies often did during the 1980's, of slamming or switching consumers without clear notification, or encouraging consumers to pay online or make use of other new services before the company is adequately prepared for such a turn over. Sharing billing information and other data regarding consumers is also problematic, particularly for a service consumers must use, rather than one they can chose to use.

Question 2: New Features for Rickett's Service With the rising cost of oil, this new feature offers a unique benefit -- customers can easily economize, act in an environmentally and economically conscious fashion, and yet still come home to a warm home! (Forbes.com, 2004) Such market positioning in regards to service would be ideal for this company. It is not offering any additional new quality of product -- it will still keep the house just as warm as other, comparable companies.

Nor is it offering better servicing of equipment, or lower rates. However, if the consumer behaves responsibly, and uses this feature, the consumer can save on heating by not heating the house when he or she is.