how customers buy:1- somebody VP of sales get a CRM it sucks. 2- John is tasked to do it. 3- then he googles 90K companies 4- they figure out to make a shortlist, and have a justification. 5- you have to help the customer with step 4, if they can not they will go back to the status quo, the thing that sucks stays. that excel sheet stays.

Segmentation versus personas: Confusion comes from B2b versus B2C. Consumer it is similar: segments are people so that is like a persona.

Great positioning will feel obvious. "Of course, that is what it is. What else could it be? " feeling.

Positioning and branding are different too. Positioning inputs into branding.

Personas are people, sales reps who are the end-user, Eric the IT person, and Janet the sales rep, John the champion in the account (the most important).

After positioning is done, then it does not finish. the next is telling the story, so sales can use it.

Capabilities comparison (features, capabilities of the company, capabilities of the product )is important. the differentiator value ones, in which there will be two or three themes.

I wish there was a KPI for this but weird positioning affects you in all the areas. Like all the metrics might be bad. Your sales might be great but still, all metrics might suck.

Steps of positioning: - scope competitive alternatives: status quo and shortlist - chart out differentiating capabilities- translate them into values: so what - theme/bucket the values 2 or 3 - chart the characteristics target account- what market category or context I am in