Table of Contents
April Dunford's systematic approach to positioning transforms struggling B2B products into market winners through differentiated value and laser-focused targeting.
Key Takeaways
- Positioning defines how your product is the best in the world at delivering value that a well-defined set of companies care deeply about
- Start with competitive alternatives (what you must beat to win deals) rather than features when developing positioning strategy
- Most positioning problems stem from team misalignment rather than fundamentally wrong positioning approaches
- The champion persona (internal advocate who researches and drives purchase decisions) matters more than all other buyer personas combined
- Early-stage companies should keep positioning loose initially to let market patterns emerge before tightening focus
- Differentiation is essential - customers need clear reasons why your solution is better than alternatives for their specific situation
- Strong positioning feels obvious to target customers, making them think "of course we need this" rather than requiring extensive explanation
- Sales call confusion (customers asking to "start over" or saying "I don't understand why anyone would pay for this") indicates weak positioning
- Positioning must be developed as team effort including sales, marketing, product, and leadership to ensure organizational alignment
Timeline Overview
- Career Foundation (Early 2000s) — April starts as engineer, moves to product marketing at startup, experiences positioning transformation that drives massive product success
- VP Marketing Era (2000s-2010s) — Serves as repeat VP of marketing at seven startups, with six acquisitions, developing positioning expertise across multiple B2B companies
- Methodology Development (2010s) — Recognizes lack of systematic positioning approaches, develops framework through practical application across diverse tech companies
- Consulting Transition (2017-2018) — Switches to full-time positioning consulting, works with 200+ B2B tech companies refining methodology
- "Obviously Awesome" Publication (2019) — Codifies positioning framework in industry-standard book, making methodology accessible to broader audience
- Modern Applications (2020-Present) — Continues refining approach with growth-stage startups and large enterprises, handling complex positioning challenges
Understanding What Positioning Actually Means
Positioning represents one of the most misunderstood concepts in business strategy, with even experienced marketing professionals offering different definitions. April Dunford's framework cuts through this confusion with remarkable clarity: positioning defines how your product is the best in the world at delivering some value that a well-defined set of companies care a lot about.
This definition encompasses several critical components that many companies overlook. First, it requires identifying alternatives to your solution - not just direct competitors, but everything customers might choose instead, including maintaining the status quo. Second, it demands articulating specific differentiated value that only your product can deliver. Third, it necessitates defining precisely who cares most about that unique value.
The positioning framework also encompasses market category definition - the context in which you position your product so that your differentiated value becomes obvious to target customers. This holistic approach prevents the common mistake of starting with market categories and backing into positioning, which often leads to generic messaging that fails to resonate.
Most positioning failures occur not because companies lack good products, but because they cannot clearly articulate why their solution is uniquely valuable for specific customer segments. This communication breakdown happens throughout the sales process, from initial marketing attraction through final purchase decisions.
The distinction between positioning and other marketing concepts proves crucial for implementation success. Positioning serves as the fundamental input to messaging, branding, and sales strategies rather than being synonymous with them. Without clear positioning, all downstream marketing efforts suffer from lack of direction and clarity.
Strong positioning feels effortless and obvious to target customers. When positioning works well, prospects immediately understand what the product is, why they need it, and how it differs from alternatives. This clarity eliminates the confusion that characterizes weak positioning, where customers require multiple explanations to grasp basic value propositions.
The Five-Step Positioning Framework
April's systematic approach begins with competitive alternatives rather than product features, a counterintuitive but crucial starting point. Understanding what you must beat to win deals includes both status quo solutions (spreadsheets, manual processes, existing tools) and other vendors who make customers' shortlists during purchase decisions.
The status quo competitor proves particularly dangerous because B2B companies lose approximately 40% of deals to "no decision" - customers who ultimately choose to continue with current approaches rather than implement new solutions. Positioning must therefore address why change is necessary, not just why your solution is better than other new options.
Once competitive alternatives are clearly defined, the framework moves to differentiated capabilities - what your product offers that alternatives cannot match. This analysis includes product features, company capabilities, pricing models, and service offerings that create unique value propositions for customers.
The capability-to-value translation process identifies why customers care about specific differentiators. Features mean nothing without clear value articulation, and this mapping exercise typically reveals two or three value themes that become the foundation for positioning strategy.
Target customer definition follows naturally from value theme analysis. Not every company with the relevant problem cares equally about your differentiated value, so identifying characteristics of organizations that prioritize your specific benefits enables focused go-to-market strategies.
Market category selection provides the final positioning element - the context that makes your differentiated value obvious to target customers. Rather than choosing categories first and forcing products to fit, this approach ensures category selection reinforces value positioning for specific customer segments.
Help Scout's Positioning Transformation
Help Scout's positioning journey illustrates how the framework transforms commodity market positioning into differentiated value propositions. Operating in the crowded customer support software market dominated by Zendesk, Help Scout faced the classic challenge of differentiating against established competitors.
The competitive alternatives analysis revealed Help Scout competed not only against Zendesk and similar platforms but also against basic email management and shared inbox solutions used by smaller businesses. This broader competitive landscape provided opportunities for differentiation beyond feature-to-feature comparisons.
Help Scout's differentiated capabilities centered on delivering exceptional customer service experiences rather than just managing support tickets efficiently. Their shared inbox prioritized personal relationships over ticket numbers, integrated features appeared only when human agents were available, and the overall philosophy emphasized treating customers as people rather than problems to solve.
The value translation focused on deepening customer relationships through superior service experiences, particularly valuable for direct-to-consumer and e-commerce businesses where customer service represents a primary customer touchpoint and growth driver.
Target customer identification revealed that not all businesses prioritize customer service as a relationship-building tool. Companies viewing support as a cost center to minimize showed less interest in Help Scout's differentiated value, while businesses treating customer service as a competitive advantage and growth driver became ideal prospects.
The market category positioning emphasized customer service as a growth strategy rather than a cost center, with supporting data demonstrating how exceptional service drives customer loyalty, repeat purchases, and business growth. This context made Help Scout's differentiated value obvious to target customers.
The resulting sales narrative began with the premise that modern e-commerce companies view customer service as a growth driver, contrasted this with alternatives that treat customers like numbers, and positioned Help Scout as the solution for businesses serious about using service to drive growth.
Identifying Positioning Problems
Positioning problems manifest throughout the sales pipeline rather than in single metrics, making them difficult to diagnose through traditional analytics. Weak positioning creates sluggish marketing response, extended sales cycles, and higher churn rates as customers realize products don't match their expectations.
Sales call interactions provide the clearest positioning problem indicators. When prospects ask salespeople to "start over" or "explain that again," it suggests the initial positioning isn't resonating. Even worse, when customers say "I totally understand what you do, I just don't see why anyone would pay for that," it indicates positioning that fails to communicate value effectively.
The confusion typically occurs when customers think they understand what the product is but categorize it incorrectly. Comments like "Oh, you're just like Salesforce" when you're not a CRM, or "I can do that in a spreadsheet" when discussing sophisticated software solutions, reveal positioning that doesn't clarify differentiated value.
Internal alignment problems often masquerade as positioning issues. In many companies, founders understand positioning intuitively but struggle to communicate it consistently across growing teams. Different departments develop slightly different interpretations, creating messaging confusion that compounds over time.
The opposite situation occurs when markets evolve faster than internal understanding. Founders who once had deep market knowledge find their positioning assumptions outdated while new team members recognize market changes but lack authority to drive positioning updates.
Strong positioning eliminates these confusion points through clarity that feels obvious to target customers. When positioning works well, prospects immediately understand what the product is, why they need it specifically, and how it differs from alternatives they've considered.
The Critical Role of Differentiation
Differentiation serves as the foundation for customer decision-making in B2B purchases, where buyers must justify their choices to bosses and colleagues. Without clear differentiation, customers default to "no decision" because they cannot articulate why change is necessary or why one solution is superior to others.
The typical B2B buying process illustrates why differentiation matters so much. A VP recognizes a problem, delegates research to a subordinate, who then faces overwhelming options without clear decision criteria. The researcher must ultimately justify their recommendation, requiring clear explanations of why one solution is better than alternatives.
Effective differentiation doesn't require being objectively better in all areas - it requires being demonstrably better for specific customer segments with particular needs. A solution might be better because it's simpler for small companies or more comprehensive for enterprise customers, but the "better" definition must align with target customer priorities.
The differentiation must be defensible and relevant to customer purchase decisions. Technical superiority means nothing if customers can't understand or don't care about the advantages. Similarly, being different in ways that don't matter to customers creates noise rather than competitive advantage.
Customers need help understanding how to evaluate alternatives and make decisions. The best positioning provides this framework by explaining how the market breaks down, what different approaches optimize for, and why specific solutions work better for particular customer types.
This educational approach builds trust while establishing your solution as the best choice for target customers. Rather than claiming general superiority, effective positioning acknowledges that different solutions serve different needs while clearly articulating why your approach is optimal for specific segments.
Early-Stage Positioning Strategy
Early-stage companies face unique positioning challenges because they lack sufficient customer data to validate positioning hypotheses. The framework recommends starting with positioning theses rather than rigid positioning statements, allowing market feedback to guide refinement over time.
The "fishing net" analogy illustrates this approach effectively. If you design a net specifically for tuna, you can market it exclusively for tuna fishing, but failure means complete failure. Alternatively, marketing it for "big fish" allows market testing that might reveal superior performance for grouper, opening unexpected opportunities.
Early-stage positioning should remain loose enough to capture market signals about unexpected use cases, customer segments, or value propositions. Premature positioning tightening can blind companies to better opportunities that emerge through customer interactions.
The transition from loose to tight positioning occurs when clear patterns emerge from customer interactions. Instead of random customer types with various use cases, successful companies begin recognizing consistent threads connecting their best customers and most successful sales conversations.
Pattern recognition indicators include consistent customer characteristics (company size, industry, existing tool usage), predictable sales conversation outcomes based on prospect profiles, and clear value propositions that resonate repeatedly with specific customer types.
Once patterns solidify, companies can confidently tighten positioning and accelerate growth by focusing exclusively on proven customer segments and value propositions. This approach maximizes learning while minimizing risk of premature optimization.
Positioning vs. Messaging vs. Branding
The relationship between positioning, messaging, and branding represents a crucial hierarchy that many companies misunderstand. Positioning serves as the foundational input to both messaging and branding, while messaging and branding are outputs that flow from positioning decisions.
Positioning defines strategic choices about differentiation, target customers, and market category. Messaging translates these strategic choices into specific language and communications that appear on websites, in sales presentations, and marketing materials. Branding encompasses visual identity, tone, and emotional associations that support positioning and messaging.
The common mistake involves treating these concepts as interchangeable or attempting to develop them simultaneously. Without clear positioning, messaging becomes generic and branding lacks strategic direction. Companies often request "messaging help" when they actually need positioning clarity.
Effective messaging requires understanding who the message targets, what differentiated value it communicates, and how it positions the product relative to alternatives. These questions cannot be answered through copywriting alone - they require the strategic foundation that positioning provides.
Branding decisions similarly depend on positioning clarity. Visual identity, tone of voice, and brand personality should reinforce positioning choices rather than operate independently. A premium positioning requires different branding than a value positioning, and technical buyers need different brand approaches than business buyers.
The sequential development process ensures consistency across all customer touchpoints. When positioning drives messaging and branding decisions, organizations avoid the common problem of disconnected communications that confuse rather than clarify customer understanding.
Champion Persona Focus
The champion persona represents the most critical stakeholder in B2B purchase decisions, yet many companies dilute their focus by creating detailed personas for every decision participant. Understanding the champion's unique role streamlines positioning and sales strategy development.
Champions are typically mid-level employees tasked with researching solutions and building internal consensus for purchase decisions. They conduct initial research, evaluate alternatives, coordinate with other stakeholders, and ultimately recommend solutions to economic buyers who approve budgets.
The champion's gatekeeper role makes them the primary positioning target. If positioning doesn't resonate with champions, companies never reach shortlists or engage with other decision stakeholders. Strong positioning must therefore prioritize champion needs and communication preferences.
Champions need positioning that helps them understand alternatives, justify decisions to bosses, and coordinate with other stakeholders. They require educational content that explains market dynamics, evaluation criteria, and recommendations for different customer types.
Other personas matter during later sales process stages, but primarily as stakeholders the champion must convince. Rather than developing detailed personas for IT, purchasing, legal, and end users, companies should focus on arming champions with materials to address these stakeholder concerns.
The champion-centric approach simplifies positioning development while increasing effectiveness. Instead of trying to resonate with multiple personas simultaneously, companies can optimize positioning for the single most important stakeholder and provide tools for champion-led internal selling.
Team Alignment and Implementation
Successful positioning requires organizational alignment across all customer-facing functions. Marketing, sales, product, and leadership must share consistent understanding of competitive alternatives, differentiated value, target customers, and market positioning to avoid customer confusion.
The cross-functional workshop approach ensures all perspectives contribute to positioning development. Sales teams understand customer objections and competitive dynamics, product teams know technical capabilities and roadmap priorities, marketing understands messaging and campaign performance, and leadership provides strategic context.
Positioning development cannot be delegated to single departments because it requires input from all customer-facing functions. Marketing-only positioning often lacks sales reality, while sales-only positioning may miss market opportunities or product capabilities.
The workshop format encourages debate and refinement that improves positioning quality. Different perspectives reveal assumptions and blind spots that individual departments might miss, leading to more robust positioning that withstands market testing.
Documentation and narrative development provide the foundation for implementation across all functions. The positioning framework must be translated into sales presentations, marketing campaigns, product messaging, and leadership communications to ensure consistency.
Post-workshop implementation includes testing positioning with qualified prospects to validate effectiveness. Real customer reactions reveal whether positioning resonates as intended and highlight areas requiring refinement before full organizational rollout.
When to Seek Professional Help
Most companies can execute positioning projects internally using systematic frameworks, but certain situations benefit from external expertise. Complex organizational dynamics, high-stakes launches, or repeated internal failures may warrant professional positioning assistance.
Executive team alignment challenges often benefit from external facilitation. When strong-willed leaders hold different positioning views, neutral experts can guide productive discussions and drive consensus around evidence-based positioning decisions.
Companies preparing for major investments in sales hiring, marketing campaigns, or product launches may want positioning validation before committing resources. Professional expertise can identify potential issues and optimize positioning for maximum impact.
Previous positioning failures don't necessarily require external help but may indicate need for better methodology or facilitation. Companies that have attempted positioning exercises without success often benefit from structured frameworks and experienced guidance.
The decision criteria should focus on organizational capability rather than positioning complexity. Companies with strong cross-functional collaboration and systematic approaches can handle sophisticated positioning challenges, while organizations struggling with alignment or methodology may need external support.
Professional positioning work typically involves week-long sprints with preparation and follow-up phases. The process includes stakeholder interviews, competitive analysis, customer research, cross-functional workshops, and positioning validation with target customers.
April Dunford's positioning framework provides a systematic approach to one of business strategy's most challenging problems. By starting with competitive alternatives, identifying differentiated capabilities, translating features to value, defining target customers, and selecting appropriate market categories, companies can develop positioning that drives sustainable competitive advantage. The framework's emphasis on team alignment, champion persona focus, and market-driven refinement ensures positioning that resonates with customers and supports long-term business success.
Conclusion
Effective positioning transforms struggling products into market winners by creating clarity around differentiated value for specific customer segments. April Dunford's systematic framework provides the structure and methodology needed to develop positioning that feels obvious to target customers while distinguishing products from alternatives. Success requires organizational alignment, market validation, and continuous refinement as products and markets evolve.
Practical Implications
- Start with competitive alternatives mapping - List everything customers might choose instead of your product, including status quo solutions and direct competitors
- Focus on differentiated capabilities first - Identify what your product offers that no alternative can match before developing value propositions
- Translate features into customer value - Map each differentiator to specific benefits that matter to target customers rather than listing technical specifications
- Define target customers by value priority - Identify companies that care most about your differentiated value rather than using generic demographic criteria
- Choose market categories strategically - Select contexts that make your differentiated value obvious to target customers rather than forcing products into popular categories
- Prioritize champion persona development - Focus positioning on the internal advocate who researches and drives purchase decisions rather than all buying committee members
- Ensure cross-functional alignment - Include sales, marketing, product, and leadership in positioning development to prevent organizational misalignment
- Test positioning with real prospects - Validate positioning effectiveness through customer conversations rather than internal opinions or focus groups
- Keep early-stage positioning loose - Allow market feedback to guide positioning refinement rather than committing to rigid positioning too early
- Document positioning systematically - Create clear frameworks that can be translated into sales presentations, marketing campaigns, and product communications
- Monitor sales conversation quality - Listen for customer confusion, repeated explanations, or requests to "start over" as indicators of weak positioning
- Address status quo competition directly - Position against current customer approaches and inertia, not just other vendors on shortlists
- Develop champion-enabling materials - Create resources that help internal advocates sell to other stakeholders rather than trying to reach everyone directly
- Review positioning regularly - Schedule periodic positioning assessment as markets, products, and competition evolve over time
- Use positioning to drive messaging and branding - Ensure all communications flow from positioning decisions rather than operating independently