The importance of positioning

Introduction

These are personal reflections from reading The Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Enns.

This book is not for everyone. It’s clearly targeted at people running creative agencies, and it’s strongly opinionated. To me, the tone bordered on arrogant at times, and the read across from creative agencies to my own technology consulting and training business wasn’t perfect. But despite these caveats, I found much that was thought-provoking and genuinely useful. I listened to the audiobook, which is a compact 2.5 hours in length.

Specialisation

One of the key messages is captured in the first of the book’s Twelve Proclamations: “We will specialise.” Enns argues that service providers must choose to position themselves either as a generalists or specialists.

• A generalist positioning attempts to be all things to all people. This makes it hard to credibly claim that what you offer is differentiated compared to other providers, and invites clients to view you as a commodity and encourages price-based comparisons with competitors. You will likely have a much stronger offering in some niche areas, but this positioning undermines your ability to capitalise on this.

• A specialist positioning clearly states that while you don’t do everything, you excel at what you focus on. This is more believable and more achievable. It reduces your theoretically addressable market, but it greatly improves your chances of winning against competition in your specialist area.

Enns talks about the need to resist the personal allure of the generalist positioning based on the greater potential variety of the work. He suggests that while it might seem fun to keep throwing yourself into new, unfamiliar areas, it isn’t the basis for a sound business strategy that best serves your clients.

I have certainly felt this tension and the temptation to take the generalist path. But honestly, I know there is a more specific target that is where our experience and skills are strongest — helping technology leaders boost the productivity, engagement and growth of their teams — and this is a good reminder to use that specialist expertise as an advantage.

Expertise

“Expertise is the only valid basis for differentiating ourselves from the competition. Not personality. Not process. Not price.”

A commitment to specialise should be based on a base of expertise in this area, but Enns points out that continuous investment in professional development is needed to maintain and strengthen that expertise. His proclamation on this is “We will build expertise rapidly”, and I absolutely agree on this focus. The main justification for charging a premium is the depth of this expertise, and doing so enables you to fund the required ongoing investment.

Enns emphasises that writing is an important means to continuing to develop expertise and a significant factor in establishing and demonstrating that expertise. He states, succinctly, “Experts write,” and again, I agree wholeheartedly.

Conversation over pitching

“selling, when done properly, has nothing to do with persuading. It is not our job to talk people into things.”

Enns’ thinking is influenced heavily by the common practice of clients expecting agencies to pitch for work. I have seen a similar dynamic in consulting engagements at times, where clients provide a standardised and usually quite scant information pack to several prospective suppliers and then select a supplier based on their pitch.

He claims that pitching does not serve the client or the expert supplier well. He says that this process encourages the client to see suppliers as interchangeable and leads to price being a primary selection criterion. I’ve seen this happen, but in my experience, price is only one criterion of many, and it is often weighted less than skills and cultural fit.

But his other point is that conversation leads to better outcomes than pitching for both the client and the supplier, and here I certainly agree.

• Pitching is the process of trying to convince the client that you are the best supplier for this project.

• Conversation is an open dialogue to determine whether there is a good fit between what the client needs and what the supplier has to offer. And if there isn’t, you part ways on good terms. Having a specialist position makes this a lot easier to do.

“Presenting is a tool of swaying, while conversing is a tool of weighing. Through the former we try to convince people to hire us. Through the latter we try to determine if both parties would be well served by working together.”

Power and control

One claim that Enns makes that I am not convinced by relates to what he describes as the power dynamic between client and supplier. This uncomfortable quote states his views starkly:

“Power in the client-agency relationship usually rests with the client. His power comes from the alternatives that he sees to hiring us. When the client has few alternatives to our expertise then we can dictate pricing, we can set the terms of the engagement and we can take control in a manner that better ensures that our ideas and advice have the desired impact.”

To me, this framing is objectionable and wrong, and it certainly does not describe the mutually beneficial and respectful relationships I’ve often seen.

He goes on to say:

“For us to do our best work we need to leverage our outside perspective. We need to be allowed to lead the engagement. We need to take control.”

There is a grain of truth to this. Some clients can be their own worst enemies, bringing in external experts but not having the confidence to follow through on the changes they need to make. But suppliers need to be wary of arrogance and assuming they know best. A collaborative and open relationship is what I think we want to achieve.

Enns’ next words are again contrary to my experience:

“Our ability to control the engagement diminishes with time. Sometimes we lose control slowly and other times quickly, but we always lose it.”

In general, I’ve seen exactly the opposite pattern. Clients bring you in based on their impression of your expertise, but their confidence grows as you prove you can apply that expertise fruitfully in their organisation. And with that increased confidence comes a greater level of trust that leads to you gaining more control. In my opinion, control should be earned, not forced.

Conclusion

Enns’ manifesto offers valuable insights for service providers, particularly around the strategic advantages of specialisation and the power of expertise-driven positioning. His emphasis on building deep knowledge through continuous learning and writing resonates strongly, as does his preference for genuine conversation over performative pitching.

However, his framing of client relationships through a lens of power and control feels both outdated and counterproductive. The most successful consulting relationships I’ve experienced have been built on mutual respect and earned trust rather than imposed authority. While external expertise should indeed be leveraged effectively, the goal should be collaborative problem-solving rather than control.

The book’s core message remains sound: choose your specialist area, invest relentlessly in becoming genuinely expert within it, and engage with potential clients as equals seeking mutual fit rather than supplicants competing on price. These principles can strengthen any professional service business, even if you reject some of the more confrontational aspects of Enns’ approach.