positioning-statement

SKILL.md

Purpose

Create a Geoffrey Moore-style positioning statement that clearly articulates who your product serves, what need it addresses, how it's categorized, what benefit it delivers, and how it differs from alternatives. Use this when you need to align stakeholders on product strategy, guide messaging, or test if your value proposition is crisp and defensible.

This is not a tagline or elevator pitch—it's a strategic clarity tool that forces you to make hard choices about target, need, and differentiation.

Key Concepts

The Geoffrey Moore Framework

From Crossing the Chasm, Moore's framework splits positioning into two parts:

Value Proposition:

For [target customer]

that need [underserved need]

[product name]

is a [product category]

that [benefit statement]

Differentiation Statement:

Unlike [primary competitor or competitive alternative]

[product name]

provides [unique differentiation]

Why This Structure Works

Forces specificity: You can't say "for everyone" or "unlike all competitors"

Exposes assumptions: If you can't fill in "unlike X," you may not have defensible differentiation

Focuses on outcomes, not features: "That reduces churn by 40%" beats "that has analytics"

Category anchors perception: Saying "is a CRM" vs. "is a workflow tool" changes how buyers evaluate you

Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)

Not a tagline: "Positioning" ≠ "Nike: Just Do It"

Not a feature list: Don't say "that provides AI, automation, and integrations"

Not generic: "For businesses that need efficiency" = positioning theater

Not aspirational fluff: "That revolutionizes productivity" without specifics is noise

When to Use This

Defining a new product or major pivot

Aligning exec/founder/PM/marketing on strategy

Testing if your differentiation is real or imagined

Before writing PRDs, launch plans, or sales collateral

When NOT to Use This

For internal tools with captive users (positioning is for markets)

When you're still in problem validation (position after you know the problem)

As a substitute for customer research (this synthesizes insights, doesn't create them)

Application

Use template.md for the full fill-in structure.

Step 1: Gather Context

Before drafting, ensure you have:

Target customer segment: Demographics, behaviors, role (not just "SMBs" or "developers")

Underserved need: Pains, gains, jobs-to-be-done (reference skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md if needed)

Product category: How buyers mentally file your solution (CRM, analytics platform, etc.)

Competitive landscape: Direct competitors AND substitute behaviors (e.g., "Excel" is often the real competitor)

If missing context: Use discovery interviews, market research, or customer interviews to fill gaps. Don't guess.

Step 2: Draft the Value Proposition

Fill in the template:

## Value Proposition

**For** [specific target customer/persona]
- **that need** [statement of underserved need—focus on pains, gains, JTBD]
- [product or service name]
- **is a** [product category]
- **that** [benefit statement—focus on outcomes, not features]

Quality checks:

Target specificity: Could you describe this person to a recruiter? If not, narrow it.

Need clarity: Does this need resonate emotionally? Or is it generic ("need efficiency")?

Category fit: Does this category help or hurt you? (Sometimes creating a new category is strategic, but risky.)

Outcome focus: Are you saying what the user gets, not what the product has?

Step 3: Draft the Differentiation Statement

Fill in the template:

## Differentiation Statement

- **Unlike** [primary competitor or competitive alternative]
- [product or service name]
- **provides** [unique differentiation—outcomes, not features]

Quality checks:

Competitor honesty: Is this the real alternative buyers consider? (Not just who you wish they compared you to.)

Differentiation substance: Could a competitor copy this in 6 months? If yes, it's not durable differentiation.

Outcome framing: Are you saying what users achieve differently, not just what you do differently?

Step 4: Stress-Test the Positioning

Ask these questions:

Would a customer recognize themselves? Read the "For [target]" aloud. Does it feel specific or generic?

Is the need defensible? Can you point to research, interviews, or data that validates this need?

Does the category help or hurt? Does it anchor you against the right competitors? Or does it box you in?

Is differentiation believable? Could you prove this claim with a demo, case study, or data?

Does this guide decisions? If someone asked "Should we build feature X?" would this positioning help answer it?

If any answer is "no" or "sort of," revise.

Step 5: Socialize and Iterate

Share with stakeholders: Founders, execs, product, marketing, sales

Test with customers: Read it aloud. Do they nod or look confused?

Refine ruthlessly: Positioning is never done on the first draft. Cut words, sharpen specificity, test alternatives.

Examples

See examples/sample.md for full positioning examples.

Mini example excerpt:

**For** software development teams
- **that need** to reduce email overload and improve real-time collaboration
- Slack
- **is a** team messaging platform
- **that** centralizes communication and makes conversations searchable

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: "For Everyone"

Symptom: "For businesses that want to grow" or "For anyone who uses software"

Consequence: No one feels like it's for them. Positioning becomes invisible.

Fix: Pick the first customer segment you'll serve. You can expand later, but positioning works when it's narrow.

Pitfall 2: Feature Creep in Benefit Statement

Symptom: "That provides AI, automation, analytics, and integrations"

Consequence: Sounds like a feature list, not a benefit. Buyers tune out.

Fix: Lead with the outcome: "That reduces churn by 30% through predictive analytics." The features are how, not why.

Pitfall 3: Imaginary Competitor

Symptom: "Unlike outdated legacy systems" or "Unlike traditional approaches"

Consequence: You're positioning against a straw man. Real buyers don't recognize this alternative.

Fix: Name the actual competitor or substitute behavior. If buyers use Excel, say "Unlike Excel." If they use a competitor, name them.

Pitfall 4: Differentiation Without Proof

Symptom: "Provides revolutionary AI" or "Delivers unmatched speed"

Consequence: Claims without evidence = marketing fluff. Buyers ignore it.

Fix: Make it falsifiable: "Provides 10x faster query performance than Snowflake on datasets under 1TB" (can be tested).

Pitfall 5: Category Confusion

Symptom: "Is a next-generation platform for digital transformation"

Consequence: Buyers don't know how to evaluate you. Category = mental shelf. No shelf = no sale.

Fix: Pick a category buyers already understand (CRM, analytics, messaging) OR commit to category creation (requires $$$ and time).

References

Related Skills

skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md — Defines the problem positioning addresses

skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md — Informs the "that need" statement

skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md — Defines the "For [target]" segment

skills/press-release/SKILL.md — Positioning informs press release messaging

External Frameworks

Geoffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm (1991) — Origin of this framework

April Dunford, Obviously Awesome (2019) — Modern positioning playbook

Al Ries & Jack Trout, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (1981) — Foundational positioning theory

Dean's Work

[Link to relevant Dean Peters' Substack articles if applicable]

Provenance

Adapted from prompts/positioning-statement.md in the https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-prompts repo.

Skill type: Component
Suggested filename: positioning-statement.md
Suggested placement: /skills/components/
Dependencies: References skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md, skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md, skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md