Lenny's Podcast · Jan 22How to nail your product positioning | April Dunford (Obviously Awesome)
April runs positioning as a week-long sprint with cross-functional teams, mostly for post-Series A or B startups at about $5 million to $10 million in revenue. Her method follows five steps from competitive alternatives to market category.
Tips
- Start positioning by listing what you must beat to win a deal▶ 24:26In B2B about 40% of deals are lost to "no decision", which really means losing to the status quo.
- Follow the five-step order: alternatives, capabilities, value, best-fit customers, market category▶ 27:16Mapping capabilities to value this way often yields different value themes than asking the team why everyone loves the product.
- Derive value from capabilities alternatives lack, not from team opinions▶ 26:04
- Run positioning as a cross-functional workshop, not a marketing deliverable▶ 13:40Dunford says misalignment is the cause in the majority of the companies she sees.
- Turn positioning into a sales narrative and test it with qualified prospects▶ 34:51Help Scout's story opens with customer success as a growth driver, then contrasts alternatives that treat customers like a number and a cost center.
- Spot weak positioning by listening to early sales calls▶ 10:56
- Help the buyer justify their choice by explaining why you beat the alternatives▶ 37:50About 40% of the time the outcome is no decision.
- Say how you are better and for whom, not just "better"▶ 39:34
- Define best-fit customers by company traits, not demographic personas▶ 56:57
- Nail the champion persona first and arm them to sell internally▶ 1:01:49A typical B2B purchase involves between five and seven people in the decision.
- Don't build one-page personas for every person in the deal▶ 1:02:15
- Keep positioning loose for a brand-new product until a pattern emerges▶ 50:55Dunford says in her experience the early thesis is partially incorrect 100% of the time.
- Finish positioning before writing messaging or building a brand▶ 41:17
- Revisit positioning periodically because products and markets shift▶ 19:03
- Block out two days to a week for the positioning workshop▶ 49:12
