Why positioning comes next
In Level 1 you picked a beachhead, which is one narrow group of buyers you can win first. Positioning is the next decision. It sets the context a buyer uses to judge your product: what they compare you to, what they expect to pay, and why you are worth the change.
Running case: ClearCheck, an AI compliance tool for UK SMEs. Suppose our beachhead is UK accountancy practices with 10–50 staff. They handle client personal data and have to keep their UK GDPR records, policies and staff training up to date.
This lesson follows the method from April Dunford's book Obviously Awesome. Positioning is built from five parts: competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value, target customers and market category. Work through them in that order, because each part depends on the one before it.
Task 1: List the real competitive alternatives
A competitive alternative is what the buyer would do if your product did not exist. That is not the same as a list of companies building similar software. Buyers rarely compare you to a startup they have never heard of. They compare you to what they already do.
For ClearCheck's beachhead, the real alternatives are:
- Doing nothing. The partner keeps compliance "on the list" and deals with it after an incident or a client query.
- Spreadsheets and templates. A practice manager keeps a data register in Excel, using free guidance from the ICO's small business hub.
- Consultants. An outside data protection consultant runs an audit once a year and leaves a binder of policies behind.
- Established compliance software. Broad governance, risk and compliance (GRC) platforms built for larger firms, often with long setup times.
- General-purpose AI assistants. Someone in the office asks ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to draft a privacy policy.
DO:
- Ask 5–10 of your happiest early users: "Before us, how did you handle this?"
- Write down every answer, including "nothing".
- Group the answers into 3–5 alternatives like the list above.
Doing nothing is often your biggest competitor. Treat it as a real option the buyer is choosing, not as the absence of competition.
Task 2: Identify your unique attributes
Unique attributes are the capabilities you have that the alternatives do not. Compare yourself with each alternative one at a time, not with "the market" in general.
| Alternative | What ClearCheck has that it lacks |
|---|---|
| Doing nothing | A guided starting point that takes 30 minutes |
| Spreadsheets | Reminders that track changes over time, plus an audit trail |
| Consultants | Continuous monitoring instead of a once-a-year snapshot |
| GRC platforms | Ready-made templates for UK accountancy practices; no implementation project |
| AI assistants | Outputs tied to the firm's own data map, with every change logged and reviewable |
DO: Make this table for your own product. Remove any attribute that every alternative also has. "Uses AI" is not unique when the buyer already has ChatGPT open in another tab.
Task 3: Translate attributes into value
An attribute is a feature. Value is what that feature does for this particular buyer. Value counts most when you can prove it with customer results, measured time savings or a third-party check.
- Take each unique attribute.
- Ask "So what?" until you reach an outcome the buyer cares about.
- Group similar outcomes into 2–3 value themes.
Example chain: Continuous monitoring → so what? → Gaps are flagged when they appear, not months later → so what? → The practice can answer a client's or regulator's data question on the same day.
ClearCheck's value themes might be:
- Always audit-ready without paying for a yearly consultant.
- Hours back for the practice manager each month compared with spreadsheets.
- AI drafting you can defend, because every output is traceable, unlike a one-off chatbot answer.
Task 4: Confirm who cares most
Some buyers care a lot about your value themes and others hardly at all. Look for the segment that cares most. It should match your Level 1 beachhead. If it doesn't, either your value themes are wrong or your beachhead needs revisiting.
DO: For each value theme, name the trigger that makes a buyer care, such as a new data-sharing client, a breach scare, or a consultant's renewal invoice.
Task 5: Choose the market category
The market category is the box buyers put you in. It sets their assumptions about price, features and which competitors you're compared with. If you call ClearCheck "GRC software", buyers compare it with enterprise platforms and expect a long setup project. If you call it an "AI writing assistant", they compare it with free chatbots and expect it to cost nothing.
Pick the category that makes your strengths look obvious. Think of it like shelf placement in a shop: the same product looks very different depending on which aisle it sits in. For ClearCheck, "data protection compliance software for small UK firms" puts the strengths up front: built for SMEs, UK-specific and continuous.
DO: Write 2–3 candidate categories. For each one, write what a buyer would assume about it. Pick the category where those assumptions work in your favour.
Task 6: Write the positioning statement
Combine the five parts using Geoffrey Moore's template from Crossing the Chasm:
For [target customer] who [need], [product] is a [market category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [primary alternative], our product [main differentiator].
ClearCheck example:
For UK accountancy practices with 10–50 staff who must keep client data handling compliant, ClearCheck is data protection compliance software for small firms that keeps you audit-ready all year. Unlike an annual consultant review, ClearCheck monitors continuously and logs every change, so gaps are fixed when they appear.
The statement is an internal tool for aligning your team. It is not a slogan for your website. Turning it into customer-facing copy is a later step.
Your asset to produce: a one-page positioning document containing your alternatives list, the attribute table, 2–3 value themes, your chosen category and your positioning statement.
Key takeaways
- Competitive alternatives are what buyers would do without you, and that includes doing nothing.
- Unique attributes only count if the alternatives lack them. "Uses AI" rarely qualifies.
- Turn attributes into value by asking "So what?", then group the results into 2–3 themes you can prove.
- The market category sets buyer expectations, so choose the category that makes your strengths obvious.
- Work in order: alternatives → attributes → value → customers → category → statement.