---
aliases: ["Product Positioning Doc"]
tags: [pm-skills, skill]
skill: product-positioning-doc
description: "Write a product positioning document and messaging framework. Use when asked to define product positioning, write a positioning statement, build a messaging framework, or create a messaging hierarchy. Produces a complete positioning doc with category definition, target customer, differentiation, proof points, messaging pillars, and persona-specific messaging."
---

# Product Positioning Doc Skill

This skill produces a complete product positioning document following the April Dunford positioning methodology. Output covers category definition, target customer, unique attributes, proof points, and a messaging hierarchy — ready to align GTM, marketing, sales, and product teams.

## Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:
- **Product name** and what it does
- **Target customer** — who is it for? (role, company type, size)
- **Problem it solves** — what pain or goal does it address?
- **Key alternatives** — what do customers use today instead? (not just direct competitors — include status quo, spreadsheets, DIY)
- **Differentiation** — what does this product do that alternatives cannot? (not features — capabilities that produce different outcomes)
- **Proof points** — any customer data, case studies, metrics, or validation?
- **Business goal** — is positioning for a new category, expansion into new segment, or repositioning away from a declining category?

## Output Structure

---

# Positioning Document: [Product Name]

**Version:** [1.0]
**Owner:** [PMM / Founder / Marketing lead]
**Date:** [Date]
**Status:** [Draft / Reviewed / Approved]
**Approved by:** [Names — this document must be signed off by product, marketing, and sales leadership before use]

---

## 1. Background & Context

[2–3 sentences describing why positioning is being done now. Is this a new product, a pivot, a segment expansion, or a rebrand? What triggered this work?]

**Positioning objective:** [e.g. Move from being perceived as a reporting tool to being the category leader in revenue intelligence for mid-market SaaS]

---

## 2. Market Category

**What category does this product compete in?**

This is the frame of reference your customer uses to understand what the product is. Choose the wrong category and everything downstream — competitors, value, messaging — is wrong.

**Category:** [e.g. Customer data platform / Revenue intelligence / No-code automation / Modern data stack]

**Why this category, not [alternative category]?**
[1–2 sentences on why this framing serves the customer's understanding better than adjacent categories]

**Category maturity:**
- [ ] New category (we are creating it — high education burden, high upside if it works)
- [ ] Growing category (fast-growing segment — compete on differentiation)
- [ ] Mature category (well-understood — must disrupt with clear superiority or narrower niche)

---

## 3. Target Customer

**Be precise. Vague targeting produces vague positioning.**

| Dimension | Description |
|---|---|
| **Primary buyer / decision-maker** | [e.g. VP of Revenue Operations at B2B SaaS companies with 100–500 employees] |
| **Primary user** | [e.g. Revenue operations analysts and sales ops managers] |
| **Company profile** | [Industry, size, growth stage, technology stack] |
| **Business context** | [What is happening in their world that makes them a buyer right now?] |
| **Trigger event** | [What just happened that makes them start looking for a solution? — e.g. Sales team grew past 20 reps, forecast accuracy became a board question] |

**Who this is NOT for:**
[Be explicit about who to exclude — this sharpens the positioning for those who are a fit]

---

## 4. Competitive Alternatives

What do buyers use today when they don't have your product? List all real alternatives — not just direct competitors.

| Alternative | Who uses it | Why buyers choose it | What they sacrifice |
|---|---|---|---|
| **[Direct competitor — e.g. Gong]** | [Enterprise sales teams] | [Market leader, strong brand, sales coaching features] | [Price, complexity, implementation time] |
| **[Adjacent tool — e.g. Salesforce reports]** | [CRM-native users] | [Already have it, no additional cost] | [No AI analysis, manual reporting, siloed data] |
| **[Status quo — e.g. spreadsheets + manual tracking]** | [SMB, early-stage] | [Free, flexible, no change management] | [Time-consuming, error-prone, not scalable] |
| **[Build in-house]** | [Tech companies with data teams] | [Custom to their exact needs] | [Engineering cost, maintenance burden, 12+ month timeline] |

**Key insight:** [What does this competitive landscape tell you about what your positioning must emphasise? e.g. "Every alternative either costs too much or requires too much manual work — positioning must nail 'fast time to value' and 'right-sized for mid-market'"]

---

## 5. Unique Differentiated Attributes

These are the features or capabilities your product has that alternatives genuinely cannot match — or cannot match at the same level. Do not list features that competitors also have.

| Attribute | What it is | What it enables (outcome) | Why competitors can't match it |
|---|---|---|---|
| [e.g. Real-time CRM sync] | [Bidirectional sync with any CRM in <5 min] | [Reps see clean data in the tools they already use — no toggle between systems] | [Legacy competitors require 3-month integration projects; Salesforce-native tools only work in SFDC] |
| [e.g. Natural language querying] | [Ask questions in plain English, get data visualisations] | [Anyone on the revenue team can answer their own questions without SQL or waiting for an analyst] | [BI tools require analyst training; direct competitors have rigid dashboards] |
| [...] | [...] | [...] | [...] |

**The core differentiation thesis:**
[1–2 sentences that unite the above attributes into a single "why we win" statement — this is internal language, not customer-facing yet]

---

## 6. Value Proof Points

Back up the differentiation claims with evidence:

| Claim | Proof point | Source |
|---|---|---|
| [Fastest time to value] | [Average customer is live in 4 hours vs 3 months for legacy alternatives] | [Customer data — average across [X] accounts] |
| [Better forecast accuracy] | [Customers achieve X% improvement in forecast accuracy within 90 days] | [Case study: [Company Name] — link] |
| [Loved by operators, not just managers] | [NPS of X among end users; 4.8/5 on G2 for ease of use] | [G2 reviews, internal NPS survey] |

**Proof gaps:** [Are there claims you're making that you don't yet have evidence for? List them — they are either research projects or risks to the positioning]

---

## 7. Positioning Statement

The classic positioning template — internal only, never used verbatim in marketing:

> **For** [target customer]
> **who** [trigger event or problem statement],
> **[Product name]** is a **[category]**
> **that** [primary differentiated value — the outcome, not the feature].
> **Unlike** [primary alternative],
> **[Product name]** [the key thing that makes you different and better].

**Draft positioning statement:**
> For [VP Revenue Ops at B2B SaaS companies with 50–500 reps] who [struggle to forecast accurately as the sales team scales], [Product Name] is a [revenue intelligence platform] that [gives every rep and manager accurate, real-time pipeline visibility without any analyst overhead]. Unlike [Salesforce dashboards and manual reporting], [Product Name] [syncs automatically, surfaces risks before they become missed quarters, and needs no configuration by IT or data teams].

---

## 8. Messaging Hierarchy

Translate the positioning into customer-facing language at three levels:

### Tagline (5–8 words)

[The simplest possible statement of what you do and for whom. Used in ads, hero sections, email signatures.]

Options to test:
1. [e.g. "Revenue intelligence for scaling sales teams"]
2. [e.g. "Forecast with confidence. Close with clarity."]
3. [e.g. "The revenue platform your whole team will actually use"]

### Value Proposition (1–2 sentences)

[Used in the hero section of the website, email subject lines, and sales decks. Must be instantly clear.]

> [e.g. "[Product Name] gives revenue teams real-time pipeline visibility and accurate forecasting — without spreadsheets, custom reports, or waiting for an analyst. Get live in 4 hours, not 4 months."]

### Full Description (3–5 sentences)

[Used in PR, partnership briefs, longer sales emails, and About Us pages.]

> [e.g. "[Product Name] is the revenue intelligence platform built for mid-market SaaS teams. Unlike legacy BI tools that require analyst configuration or CRM dashboards that only show what's already happened, [Product Name] automatically syncs your entire revenue stack, surfaces AI-driven risk signals, and lets any rep or manager ask questions in plain English. [X] customers use [Product Name] to call their quarters with confidence. Average time to live: 4 hours."]

---

## 9. Persona-Specific Messaging

The core positioning is the same, but different buyers care about different aspects:

| Persona | Their primary concern | Lead message | Proof point to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| **VP Revenue Operations** | Forecast accuracy, board credibility | "Call your quarter with confidence" | [X% improvement in forecast accuracy across N customers] |
| **Head of Sales** | Rep productivity, pipeline visibility | "Your reps close more, not admin more" | [X hours/week saved per rep] |
| **CEO / CFO** | Revenue predictability, cost | "Stop being surprised by quarters" | [ROI: £X saved vs X headcount required to replicate manually] |
| **Sales Rep** | Ease of use, not adding to workload | "It works in the tools you already use" | [Ease of use NPS, G2 reviews] |

---

## 10. Messaging Do's and Don'ts

**Do say:**
- [Specific, outcome-focused language — what the customer achieves]
- [Comparative language grounded in evidence]
- [Language your target buyer uses to describe their problem — not language you invented]

**Don't say:**
- ["Best-in-class", "innovative", "cutting-edge", "game-changing" — unless followed by evidence]
- [Feature lists without outcome context]
- [Jargon your buyer doesn't use themselves]
- [Claims your competitors could also make]

---

## 11. Distribution Plan

Positioning only works if it's implemented consistently:

| Team | What they need | Format | Owner | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Tagline, value prop, messaging hierarchy | This doc + messaging playbook | PMM | [Date] |
| Sales | Competitive positioning, objection responses | One-pager + deck | Sales enablement | [Date] |
| Product | Category definition, target customer | Shared doc + roadmap input | PMM + PM | [Date] |
| Leadership | Full positioning narrative | This doc | PMM | [Date] |

---

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Positioning statement has exactly one A — the product is accountable to exactly one primary differentiated claim
- [ ] Competitive alternatives include the status quo — not just named competitors
- [ ] Differentiated attributes describe outcomes, not features
- [ ] Every proof point cites a source — not "customers say…"
- [ ] Persona messaging uses the buyer's language, not the company's
- [ ] At least two people from product, marketing, and sales have reviewed and approved

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not write positioning that could describe any competitor — differentiation must be specific, provable, and hard to copy
- [ ] Do not mix category design with category entry — know whether you are creating a new category or competing in an existing one
- [ ] Do not create persona messaging that uses the same headline for all personas — each persona has different priorities
- [ ] Do not include proof points that are claims without evidence — every proof point needs a supporting data point or reference
- [ ] Do not skip the "not for" section — defining who this is not for sharpens targeting and prevents off-persona deals

## Example Trigger Phrases

- "Write a positioning document for [product]"
- "Build a messaging framework for our B2B SaaS tool"
- "Define our product positioning — who is this for and why should they care?"
- "Create a positioning statement and messaging hierarchy for [launch]"
- "Help me articulate our differentiation vs [Competitor]"

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