April Dunford on product positioning, segmentation, and optimizing your sales process

The way it starts - the founder has an idea, the marketing is a little bit different. Sales a little bit different and product managers are a little bit different. Duh! Not aligned! it is a group work - positioning exercise. The majority of the issues are misalignments.

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

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.

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.

Positi on ing:  how  your  product  is  the  best  in  the  world  to  deliver  some  value  that  a  certain  well  defined  set  of  customers  cares  a  lot  about.  What  value  can y ou  deliver 

... See more

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

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

"Positioning seems to be important folks, if wrong everything sucks, if get it right we make a bunch of money "

Positioning: How your product is the best in the world delivering some value that well-defined companies care a lot about. How are you different? what value you can deliver that no one in the market can. And what market you are in?

It is dynamic - the markets change and you need to check in on it in time.