Perceptions are created both naturally and intentionally.
Every interaction a person has with your company shapes how they see your business. Any interaction big or small in a way, is crucial. From visiting your website and using your product to simply hearing about your brand, each moment adds to the overall impression people form about you.
This is true for all kinds of companies. For example, Stripe, the payment platform company, focuses on smooth payment experience for its customers, whereas Volvo has a very strong focus across its sustainable transport and infrastructure solutions.
But what truly shapes how people remember a business is positioning. Positioning is intentional. It’s the story you choose to tell repeatedly, the value you highlight, and the way you build a connection with your audience.
If you look closely, with positioning at its core, though Stripe processes payments, yet it became known for making integrations simple and developer-friendly. Volvo builds cars on the outset, but for decades it has stood for safety and trust.
Why positioning matters
Positioning is more than branding, marketing and advertising. It’s the strategic backbone of your business. It’s how your company shows up in the world and how customers recognize your value. Your positioning answers questions like –
- How can you be different from your competitors?
- How should your visitors feel when they interact with your brand?
- Where do you stand in your market?
For SaaS companies, logistics firms, manufacturing companies, cybersecurity providers, automotive companies, and even B2B commerce and DTC brands along with others, positioning plays a pivotal role in growth. It determines whether you are seen as a premium, innovative solution or a more accessible, reliable alternative.
The role of experience design in shaping positioning
Positioning doesn’t stop with words. It comes to life through the experiences you create for your customers. Every interaction, whether it’s online, in-person, or somewhere in between, shapes how people see your brand, your positioning in fact. This includes when we talk about a smooth onboarding flow on a SaaS platform, an easy to use B2B website, or a simple checkout process for an online store, all can strengthen that perception. Poor experiences can weaken it just as quickly.
For example, Stripe doesn’t just offer payment tools. Its documentation is built to feel clear, simple, and helpful for developers. Volvo doesn’t only talk about safety through its cars, but through its messaging, services, and customer support as well.
At Openthrive, we believe that every interaction should align with your desired positioning. When your experiences consistently deliver on your promise, it builds trust and credibility.
Look at working or reworking your positioning as an act of knitting where you have different threads involved, a few being the thoughts that should come to customers’ minds when they see your product or brand presence in any form.
Small shifts make better experiences
Changing how people see your business takes time and intention, both actually. Nothing changes overnight. Better experiences are created through small, intentional and thoughtful improvements over time.
It’s not about rushing through or forcing your ideas onto your audience either. It’s more about identifying key areas like it can be your website, your product, your content strategy or maybe your customer journey, keenly observing and listening to how people see you, or talk about your offering, services or the company as a whole, and making deliberate and relevant improvements with time.
The good thing is, perception can evolve. People evolve, markets evolve and definitely perceptions. With time and intention, you can shape how people see your business, refine it and even change it when needed to. Here’s how.
Step 1: Start with your current positioning
Before starting to change anything, understand your present positioning in the industry. Perception of your business can’t be changed, if you don’t understand your business properly.
Ask yourself these questions
- What do people like about our company or products?
- Why would customers choose us or why not?
- How do we compare with competitors?
Actionable tip
- Look for details like what they value, why they trust you, and what needs improvement. Talk to them wherever and whenever possible.
- You can have quick surveys or get in a short conversation with your customers about what they love or hate about you and get their insights to refine your business more.
- Listening to customer call recordings from different stages of their journey can also help you better understand how people experience your brand.
- Read heatmaps set on your website.
Step 2: Define what your business wants to stand for
How do you want people to remember you? Is it your reliability? Innovation? Exceptional customer experience?
Example
Companies like Stripe, Volvo or like Apple, and Nike are remembered not just for what products they sell, but for what people associate with them, what people love about them. Stripe is known for making payments simple and easy for developers, Volvo built its recognition around safety and trust. Apple is loved for its clear design, easy user experiences that are thoughtful and intuitive, and high data security. Nike has connected with people through motivation, ambition, and stories around achievement for common people, not just professional athletes. So what’s your focus?
Actionable tip
Write a simple and short statement that clearly explains how you want people to see your business. For example, “We make logistics faster and more reliable” or “We help banks and NBFCs simplify their workflows.”
Use this as a guide when making decisions about your brand, product, and customer experience.
Step 3: Match your actions to your words
Changing perception isn’t just about saying the right things, it’s about delivering on them consistently. Look for signals about what your customers look up to you for. Improvise when you can and where you can.
Where to focus
- Customer experience – Is your website easy to navigate and understand for the kind of audience you want to engage with? Are your emails clear and helpful?
- Product/Service – When people use your product or service do they get what they were expecting from it?
- Communication – The way you communicate with people 1:1 or through your digital experiences, does it give the right message about your brand?
Example
If you want your business to be seen as innovative, the experience people have with your brand should reflect that, from your product and website to the way you communicate and share ideas.
Actionable tip
Define your business positioning by taking one step at a time like identifying one crucial customer touchpoint, maybe your website, or onboarding experience or customer support or customer checkout journey, and improve it in a way that will reflect your standpoint, your positioning in the market.
Step 4: Build credibility with real customer experiences
People usually trust what other people say about a company rather than what the company says about itself.
What to do
- Show what real customers have to say about your business on your website through customer testimonials or case studies, to strengthen your position and why they would choose your business over others.
- Share stories about your company. Tell people about the values of your company, how you work and what you can do to help them. This will give them an idea of what your company is all about and what you can do for them.
Example
A cybersecurity company that wants to build trust can share a customer story about how it helped a client avoid a potential data breach and strengthen security.
Actionable tip
Add a customer testimonial or success story to your website or LinkedIn this week. Pick one that highlights the qualities you want people to associate with your business.
Step 5: Listen, learn, and adjust over time
How people see your business doesn’t change overnight. In short, business perception takes time. Lots of hardwork, consistent efforts, small but thoughtful improvements and the experiences you create everyday are the factors that make a business acceptable and engaging to its audience.
How to track progress
- Listen and make time regularly to understand customers’ feedback, what they want.
- Pay close attention to reviews, social media conversations or mentions, and conversations circulating about your business in the industry circle.
- Try different ways of sharing your message and notice what resonates most with your audience.
Actionable tip
Create a simple way for customers to share feedback, such as a short survey every few months or quarter or through a feedback form on your website.
Final thoughts
The way people think about your business today does not have to be the way they think about your business tomorrow. Change happens and it should happen. Your business can evolve with time and so would how people will look at it.
A clear positioning through thoughtful engagement-first experiences and understanding market emotion can help you create greater connections with people who value your brand and who can be your loyal customers and voice. If you want to strengthen your positioning and create experiences that resonate, Openthrive is here to help.