April Dunford on product positioning, segmentation, and optimizing your sales process
April Dunford, best-selling author of "Obviously Awesome" and a leading expert in B2B product positioning, shares her methodology for defining and implementing effective positioning. She discusses how to identify positioning problems, the critical steps to develop strong positioning, and common pitfalls for startups and established companies.
Deep Dive Analysis
16 Topic Outline
April Dunford's Journey to Product Positioning Expertise
Recognizing Weak Product Positioning in Your Company
Defining Product Positioning and Its Core Components
Importance of Cross-Functional Alignment in Positioning
Characteristics of Strong and Effective Product Positioning
The Five-Step Process for Developing Product Positioning
Case Study: Positioning Strategy for Help Scout
Translating Positioning into a Sales Narrative and Pitch
The Critical Role of Differentiation in Customer Buying Decisions
Distinguishing Between Positioning, Messaging, and Branding
Examples of Products with Initial Positioning Challenges
When to Engage a Positioning Expert vs. DIY Approach
Navigating Positioning for Early-Stage Startups and Products
Understanding the Shift from Loose to Tight Positioning
Clarifying the Difference Between Market Segmentation and Personas
The Most Critical Persona in B2B Sales: The Champion
9 Key Concepts
Product Positioning
Positioning defines how your product is the best in the world at delivering specific value that a well-defined set of companies care deeply about. It encompasses understanding alternatives, differentiation, unique value, target audience, and the market category you aim to win.
Competitive Alternatives
This refers to what a product must 'beat' to win a deal, including both the 'status quo' (what customers are currently doing, even if inefficient) and other products on a customer's shortlist. Many deals are lost to 'no decision' because companies fail to position against the status quo.
Differentiated Value
This is the unique value a product can deliver that no other product on the market can. It's derived by identifying capabilities that alternatives lack and translating those into concrete benefits and 'so what' for the customer, often forming 2-3 core value themes.
Best Fit Customers
These are the specific characteristics of target accounts that make them care significantly about the differentiated value your product offers. Identifying these characteristics helps define who to target for maximum impact and sales success.
Market Category
The context in which a product is positioned to make its differentiated value obvious to its target customers. It's the market segment a company intends to win, chosen strategically after understanding value and target customers, not as a starting point.
Positioning Thesis
For early-stage products, this is an initial, documented set of assumptions about competitive alternatives, differentiation, value, target customers, and market category. It's expected to be partially incorrect and should be kept somewhat loose to allow market feedback to refine it.
Market Segmentation
The process of dividing a broad market into smaller, distinct groups of customers with similar needs or characteristics. In B2B, this often involves firmographics (company size, revenue, geography) or specific attributes like technology stack or team structure, used to define actionable target lists.
Persona
A detailed profile representing a particular type of buyer, capturing their characteristics, hopes, dreams, and pain points. In B2B, while multiple personas may be involved in a deal, the 'champion' persona is most critical as they drive internal consensus and advocate for the purchase.
The Champion (B2B Sales)
In a B2B purchase process, this is the most important persona within a target account, typically the individual tasked with researching and shortlisting solutions. Their role is to build internal consensus and advocate for the chosen product, making it crucial for positioning to resonate strongly with them.
7 Questions Answered
Signs of weak positioning include customer confusion during sales calls (asking you to repeat the pitch), misidentifying your product (thinking you're like a different, unrelated company), or understanding what you do but not perceiving its value (e.g., 'why would anyone pay for that?').
Weak positioning often stems from misalignment where different departments (marketing, sales, product) have slightly different understandings of the product's positioning. Achieving alignment across these teams, including the CEO, ensures everyone is 'singing the same song' and executing consistently.
The primary goal is to clearly define how your product is the best solution in the world for a specific problem, delivering unique value to a well-defined set of customers. This clarity helps customers understand why they should choose your product over alternatives.
Yes, differentiation is essential because customers need a clear reason to choose your product over alternatives, including the status quo. Without a compelling differentiator, customers often default to 'no decision' or choose a competitor, as they cannot justify the purchase.
Positioning is a foundational input that defines who the message is for and what value is offered against competitors. Messaging is the output, referring to the actual text and communication used on a homepage, in pitches, or other marketing materials, which flows from the established positioning.
In the super early days, it's okay to keep positioning a bit loose, operating with a 'positioning thesis' and allowing the market to pull the product in certain directions. You should start tightening positioning once a clear pattern emerges in who loves your product and why, indicating sufficient market signal.
In B2B, market segmentation typically uses firmographics (company size, revenue, geography) or specific operational characteristics (e.g., tech stack, team structure) to define target companies. This contrasts with consumer segmentation, which often focuses on demographics and psychographics of individual buyers.
10 Actionable Insights
1. Holistic Positioning Alignment
Ensure perfect alignment on positioning across the entire company (marketing, product, sales, customer success, CEO). Gather all key stakeholders in a room to build and agree upon positioning, fostering a shared understanding and consistent execution.
2. Systematic Positioning Process
Follow a structured process to define positioning: 1) Identify competitive alternatives (status quo and short-list competitors). 2) List differentiated capabilities. 3) Translate capabilities into unique value themes. 4) Define best-fit target customers who care deeply about that value. 5) Determine the market category that makes your value obvious to those customers.
3. Prioritize the Champion Persona
Focus marketing and sales efforts primarily on the ‘champion’ persona within an account, as they are the gatekeeper and consensus-builder. Arm this champion with the narrative and justification needed to sell internally to other stakeholders (IT, purchasing, economic buyer), rather than creating numerous detailed personas for every individual involved in a B2B deal.
4. Recognize Positioning Problems
Listen for specific cues in sales calls that indicate weak positioning: customers asking to ‘back up and pitch again’ due to confusion, customers misidentifying your product (e.g., ‘you’re just like Salesforce’), or customers understanding what you do but not why they should pay for it (e.g., ‘I can do that in a spreadsheet’).
5. Translate Positioning to Sales Narrative
After defining your positioning, transform it into a compelling sales narrative or story. This narrative should resonate with qualified prospects and provide the sales team with a clear, consistent pitch (e.g., a deck, demo, script) that everyone in the company can tell.
6. Define Differentiated Value
Articulate why your product is the ‘best kind of solution’ for a particular type of customer, not just ‘better’ generally. Clearly explain the specific value you deliver that no other company can, helping customers justify their purchase decision against alternatives.
7. Early-Stage Loose Positioning
For super early-stage products, keep positioning a ’thesis’ and allow it to be a bit loose. This enables the market to pull you in unexpected directions, gathering data on who truly loves your product and why before tightening up your positioning and accelerating growth.
8. Tighten Positioning with Market Signal
Transition from loose to tight positioning once a clear pattern emerges regarding who loves your product and why. When you consistently win deals under specific conditions (e.g., customer segment, existing tech stack), you’re ready to ‘smash your foot on the gas’ and target that market aggressively.
9. Positioning Precedes Messaging & Branding
Understand that positioning is a fundamental input to messaging and branding, not interchangeable with them. You cannot effectively write marketing messages or define your brand’s stance until you clearly understand your target buyer and your differentiation against market alternatives.
10. Regular Positioning Check-ins
Periodically check in on your product’s positioning, as it is not static. Products evolve, and markets shift, so good positioning can become outdated, necessitating a review process to ensure it remains optimal and effective.
5 Key Quotes
Positioning defines how your product is the best in the world, delivering some value that a well-defined set of companies care a lot about.
April Dunford
Really, really great positioning just feels like, yeah, it's so clear. It's so simple. It's of course, that's what it is. Of course. Like, of course we need one of those.
April Dunford
The true test of whether the positioning is working or not is if I'm sitting across from a qualified prospect and I tell the story, does the prospect get excited and want to buy something?
April Dunford
If you can't help the customer figure out how to justify this decision and make this decision and basically come back and say, I decided this was the right approach to the problem, and I picked this one for this reason, then you're not going to get the deal. Nobody's going to get the deal.
April Dunford
I think it is an utter waste of time for marketing to build these stupid little one-pager persona things for these 17 million personas and treat them like they're the same as the champion when the champion matters times a thousand.
April Dunford
2 Protocols
April Dunford's 5-Step Positioning Process
April Dunford- Identify Competitive Alternatives: Determine what you need to beat to win a deal, including the status quo and other products on a customer's shortlist.
- List Differentiated Capabilities: Document what features, functions, or company capabilities you possess that your competitive alternatives do not.
- Translate Capabilities into Value: For each differentiated capability, explain the 'so what' for the customer, identifying 2-3 core value themes that are unique to your offering.
- Define Best Fit Customers: Determine the characteristics of target accounts that make them care deeply about the unique value you can deliver.
- Choose Market Category: Select the context in which to position your product that makes its differentiated value obvious to your best-fit customers.
Developing a Sales Narrative from Positioning
April Dunford- Document the 5-piece positioning: Capture the agreed-upon competitive alternatives, differentiated capabilities, value, best-fit customers, and market category.
- Storyboard the sales narrative: Map the positioning into a coherent story that resonates with qualified prospects.
- Create an actual pitch: Develop a deck, demo, and script based on the storyboard, to be used by sales and other teams.
- Test the positioning: Use the pitch with qualified prospects to validate and refine the positioning.