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:
- [e.g. "Revenue intelligence for scaling sales teams"]
- [e.g. "Forecast with confidence. Close with clarity."]
- [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]"