Market Dominating Position: The #1 Skill Every Business Coach Must Master

Let’s get right to it. If you want to build a wildly profitable business coaching practice, you need to master one strategy above all: installing a Market Dominating Position (MDP) in every single client you work with.

No fluff, no theories, no shiny objects, just a proven, street-smart operating system to differentiate your clients in crowded, price-driven markets.

What is it? Why does it matter? How do you actually DO it? Let’s roll up the sleeves and go deep.

What Is a Market Dominating Position?

Most coaches think “unique selling proposition” means coming up with some clever slogan or marketing gimmick. That’s bush league.

A real market dominating position goes way deeper. It’s about solving the BIGGEST, most PAINFUL problem your ideal client faces, and then saying it so clearly, so boldly, and so often that your business is the first (and only) call they make.

When you nail it, you make price irrelevant and flood your clients’ pipeline while competitors scratch their heads in confusion.

Example Time

Think of Domino’s back in the day: “Piping hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, or it’s free.”
That wasn’t just clever, it solved a burning problem. Hungry (often baked, let’s be honest) college students didn’t care about gourmet sauce. They wanted pizza fast. Domino’s market dominating position turned them into a household name.

Look at FedEx: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
Cut through the noise. If you had an urgent package, would you risk it anywhere else?

My own favorite, I built a multi-million dollar company off four words:
No Results, No Fee.
Every other marketer was pitching “we’re the best.” I removed risk, made a promise, put my money where my mouth was, and got paid accordingly.

Why Most Coaches (and Their Clients) Get This Wrong

Here’s the pain point: nearly every small business you meet will have a marketing “message” that boils down to “We’re good, we care, and we’re local.” That’s table stakes, not a market dominating position.

Ask a room full of daycares why parents choose them. You’ll hear “location and price.” That’s surface-level. The real hot button? Mom lies awake wondering if her kids are safe and happy. Solve for accountability and peace of mind, say, with live video feed access, and you leapfrog every other “me too” operation overnight.

MDPs aren’t about shouting louder. They’re about saying something no one else is willing or able to.

Where Coaches Go Off the Rails

Easy to talk theory. Harder to build one that actually works.

Coaches run into these classic blunders:

• Stopping at the obvious (location, price, quality)
• Promising what can’t be delivered 80%+ of the time (inviting disaster)
• Overcomplicating the message (long paragraphs, no “hook”)

Remember: your first stab WON’T be a grand slam. My “No Results, No Fee” started as two long-winded paragraphs. It took dozens of versions to boil down to four words with teeth.

Patience + repetition = breakthrough.

How To Install a Market Dominating Position

Let’s get tactical. Follow this map with your clients, and you’ll start seeing those “needle-mover” wins, the kind business owners actually pay for and refer you over.

1. Identify the True Hot Button

Forget the shallow answer. Peel the onion. Sit down with real clients (or their ideal prospects) and ask:

• What’s the biggest fear or frustration you have about making this purchase?
• If you could wave a magic wand and fix anything about this industry, what would it be?
• What’s the one thing every provider gets wrong?

Don’t settle for “price” or “location.” Dig deeper (in daycares: safety, missing their kids, accountability).

2. Build the Promise (and Make It Tangible)

This part sorts the pros from the amateurs. Make your promise ultra-specific, actionable, and bold.

• Daycare: “Watch your child play, learn & thrive from anywhere, live video, anytime.”
• Home cleaning: “Spotless five rooms in under two hours, every time, or it’s free.”
• Locksmith: “We’ll unlock any door in 15 minutes or you don’t pay a dime.”

It’s not about being better. It’s about being the only.

3. Systematize and Broadcast Relentlessly

A market dominating position can’t live in your “about” page. It must be glued to every touchpoint.

• Print it on the business card.
• Plaster it at the top of the website.
• Make it the first line when answering the phone.
• Arm your staff with the script.
• Lead every sales pitch with it.

If it’s not the heartbeat of all communication, it’ll die on the vine.

4. Handle the Gotchas and Deliver

Fear alert, what if you “promise” and sometimes miss the mark? Here’s the truth: clients cut you MORE slack, not less, as long as the offer is real and you’re trying. If you miss the two-hour cleaning window once but nail it eight times, the net gain is obvious.

Never promise what you can’t deliver most of the time, but don’t let perfection paralyze you either.

Problems and Solutions

• “But We Already Do That!”
  Great. Now put systems in place and SHOUT IT, from your website, ads, shirts, phone greeting, every-single-time.
• “What If Competitors Copy Us?”
  That’s called being a market leader. By the time they copy, you’ll already have improved it (and gobbled up market share).
• “I Can’t Find Our Hot Button!”
  Ask your favorite clients. Get out of your own head. If you can’t define the #1 pain, you don’t know your customers well enough.

Your Next Step

If you want to be the coach who actually moves the needle, who gets paid, referred, and remembered, make installing market dominating positions your superpower.

I created an operating system for small business that makes this process plug-and-play. Ready to jump off the plateau, guarantee real results, and make your clients unstoppable?

Book a call and let’s make it happen.