Expertise Builds Value Tools and Resources -Business
...solve thorny business challenges in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea
What if your ideal customers already wanted to buy from you - even before YOU knew THEIR name?
All of the information below is taken from or based on The Win Without Pitching Manifesto, by Blair Enns
@Freepik
Most business owners already know, deep down, that being a generalist is holding them back. It shows up in the awkward pitches, the constant price comparisons, and the customers who don’t really value what you do.
In The Win Without Pitching Manifesto, Blair Enns puts a name to that problem and offers a way out. Simple in theory, tough in practice.
The way out is expert positioning: choosing to be the obvious answer to a very specific problem for a very specific kind of customer. It’s not something you ‘grow into’. It’s a decision you make and then back up with consistent action.
These tools can help you do exactly that. They turn the idea into habits, frameworks, and daily moves you can apply. Go through it step by step and use the exercises. The people who get results treat this as an ongoing practice, not as a one-off project.
But before any of that, there’s one question to ask yourself. It’s the question at the core of Enns’ thinking, and it’s what separates the businesses that make this shift from the ones that stay stuck
STOP thinking that being a generalist is the safest and easiest option
START positioning yourself as an expert
The one ‘BREAKTHROUGH QUESTION’ you must ask to help yourself…
“Positioning is not a discovery. You don't wait for a niche to emerge organically over the years. You choose one. Deliberately. And then you go and build it." - Blair Enns, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
This question matters because expert positioning is rarely a knowledge problem. Most business owners already know enough to specialise. They already have a cluster of customers they most enjoy serving. They already have a specialism they feel quietly proud of. What stops them is fear – the fear of turning others away, of missing out, of claiming something they're not yet certain they've fully earned.
The answer to the above question – the specific, honest, slightly-nervous-making answer – is usually the start of your positioning statement.
The sentence that makes you slightly nervous to commit to is usually the right one. Conviction is a competitive advantage. Ambiguity is invisible.
How to use this question:
Step 1 – Find 20 minutes to be quiet. Write your answer without editing. Don't show anyone yet.
Step 2 – Turn it into a full sentence: 'We are the only business that [specific thing] for [specific customer].'
Step 3 – Write five versions. Make each one more specific than the last.
Step 4 – The version that makes you slightly uncomfortable is usually the most powerful. That is your starting point.
The expert positioning framework – from generalist to sought-after expert
“Expertise is the only valid basis for differentiating ourselves… Not personality. Not process. Not price.” - – Blair Enns, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
Blair Enns built his entire Manifesto around a single, powerful idea: the expert does not audition. The expert is the prize, not the contestant.
Getting from where most businesses are today – generalists competing on price – to where they want to be – sought-after specialists – follows a clear progression.
The framework below maps that journey in six stages. Each stage builds directly on the one before. Most businesses stall between Stages 2 and 3, precisely because the leap from choosing to claiming requires public commitment.
Taken from Blair Enns’ book, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
Taken from Blair Enns’ book, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
Where are you on the journey?
Most business owners reading this are somewhere between Stages 1 and 3.
They have a sense of where they want to specialise but they haven't made the public commitment, or they've made it quietly but haven't yet built the credibility that makes it visible to the outside world.
If it sounds like you… | You are probably at… |
|---|---|
You take on almost any customer who can pay | Stage 1: Generalist – time to decide |
You prefer certain customers, but serve anyone | Stage 1–2: Transition – make the choice |
You've chosen your niche but haven't announced it | Stage 2–3: Bridge – claim it publicly now |
You've announced it, but have limited niche content | Stage 3–4: Building – publish and speak |
You're known in your niche but not yet sought out | Stage 4–5: Growing – deepen and demonstrate |
Ideal customers seek you out by reputation | Stage 5–6: Arrived – protect and compound it |
You do not need to have earned the right to call yourself a specialist before you claim the position.
You choose the position first. Then you build the expertise and reputation to back it up.
Choose your positioning axis – the 5 ways to specialise
“We will specialise. Not we will discover our specialism in time. A decision. Made today.” - Blair Enns, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
Blair Enns identifies five distinct axes on which a business can position itself. Most businesses try to be everything to everyone. The expert picks one or combines two or three and builds on it.
The table below maps each axis, what it means, and how it looks in practice.
Positioning axis | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
By Sector / Vertical | You serve one industry. You know the language, the pressures, the cycles. Customers feel immediately understood. | Accountant who only works with healthcare businesses |