“We’re customer-centric!”
Every company says it.
Few actually are.

Here’s why there are four levels of customer focus, and most companies never get past level one:

LEVEL 1: SAYING IT

• Creating ads about customer focus
• Training support to sound friendly
• Writing mission statements
• Measuring message effectiveness
  Cost: Marketing budget

This is where most companies stop. It’s easy. It’s cheap. It’s just talk.

LEVEL 2: PROVING IT

• Sharing customer satisfaction scores
• Highlighting service examples
• Publishing testimonials
• Demonstrating customer results
  Cost: Time and effort

Better, but still just evidence of claims. Not fundamental change.

LEVEL 3: BEING IT

• Jeff Bezos leaving empty chair in meetings for ‘the customer’
• Costco CEO threatening to kill successor if they raise hot dog prices
• Amazon losing money on Prime for years
• Patagonia turning down billion-dollar orders that conflict with values
  Cost: Real money and opportunities

This is where positioning starts in expensive business decisions that demonstrate what you fundamentally are. These decisions affect everything:

• How you develop products
• Who you hire
• Which partnerships you choose
• Where you invest resources

But there’s an even deeper level:

LEVEL 4: OWNING IT

• Amazon doesn’t compete in retail they own CONVENIENCE itself
• Tesla doesn’t compete in cars they own THE FUTURE
• Apple doesn’t compete in tech they own EXPERIENCE
  Cost: Your entire business model

This is where positioning lives. It’s not about being better in a category it’s about owning mental territory that makes competition irrelevant.

The difference compounds over time:
Level 1 gets you attention
Level 2 gets you credibility
Level 3 gets you loyalty
Level 4 gets you category ownership

Want to know your real position?
Don’t look at your marketing.
Don’t look at your proof points.
Don’t even look at your expensive decisions.

Look at what concept you’re willing to build your entire business around.

What territory are you willing to own?
What category are you willing to create?
What position are you willing to embody – not just communicate?

That’s your real position.

Everything else is just marketing.

P.S. Next time someone suggests “improving our messaging,” ask them what expensive business decisions they’re willing to make instead. Then ask what concept they’re willing to build the entire business around. That’s where positioning lives.