Overview: First you need to define where you play in the market, because this changes your competitor set and impacts each subsequent stage of strategy work. Your positioning is the combination of target client + service category.

Target client: You’ll define and understand your target client; their business, demographics, and mindset. Because you need to position your agency to attract these specific clients. They will sit at the centre of every strategic decision going forward.

Service category: You’ll discuss and define the best service mix to offer these target clients. These will meet the criteria of being enjoyable, profitable, and scalable. You’ll then agree the overarching service category that describes this service mix as this positions you in a pre-existing competitor set.

Overview: Now you know where you play and who you compete with, you need to define a strategic reason to choose you over the others. This work will be based on the outcomes of the positioning stage, and you’ll need to discuss and define these key differentiation areas:

Client problem: You’ll dig deep into your target clients challenges, fears and frustrations. You’ll need to analyse their commercial, rational, operational, emotional and experiential problems to find their big burning issue.

Unique solution: You’ll then need to define or design your unique solution to you target client’s problem, exploring areas to differentiate on such as your process, approach, perspective, software, technology, guiding principle, cultural insight and more.

Overview: Now you solve a specific client’s specific problem, you need to find the best way to sell the benefits of it. Because prospects don’t care about what you do, they care about what’s in it for them.

Client value: You’ll map all the functional, commercial and personal benefits of your unique solution. Then you’ll need to hone in on the best hook to excite prospects.

Proof points: Big claims are easy but hard to believe. That’s why you’ll need to substantiate the client benefits with evidence such as stats, results, case studies, testimonials, reports or whatever’s needed.

Overview: your new proposition has to give you clear space from your closest competitors, otherwise you’re just more noise. You’ll sense check your proposition against others to make sure it’s unique and unused.

Closest competitors: your competitor set may change as you work through the canvas, so you’ll need to ensure you’re aware of the trends, patterns and cliches in the right group before moving forward.

Client weakness: if everyone else solves the same problem, it’s not unique or useful. By honing in on why others can’t solve this problem, you’l set the scene for choosing your agency as the only viable choice.

Overview: now you need to bring everything together into one strategic statement that clarifies why you’re the only agency to helps solve a specific client’s specific problem.

Statement: by filling in each box, you’ll create an internal proposition that will strategically help you stand out and land clients. At this stage, it may sound clunky but it’s vital it says the right thing rather than sounding nice. That comes later.