Positioning and messaging

Use this when the user names positioning, messaging, narrative, or value props, or hands over a draft to sharpen. Start from the product truth, the audience, the alternatives (including doing nothing), and the proof on hand. Where win-loss quotes or call excerpts exist — pasted, in a doc, or in Gong — read them first; they are the evidence every claim rests on.

The spine first

Set the five components in this order, one line each: the competitive alternatives, the unique attributes only you have, the value that lands, the target customer characteristics, and the market category you compete in. Derive it from best-fit customers only — filter bad-fit voices out first, because they distort the alternatives and pull in more bad-fit pipeline.

The narrative in three whys

Why change, why now, why us. Each why gets its proof or its gap flag — a why without proof is a draft, said plainly.

The message house

The one-line positioning roof, three messaging pillars, and the proof points under each. Then the claims you will never make, with the reason on each.

Per-persona variants

Where more than one buyer is served: same positioning, own language, proof points, and call to action, each cut by buying stage — awareness, consideration, decision — with the core message, proof point, and objection pre-handle per cell. Quote a customer line or a call excerpt under each variant where one exists.

Stress-test against substitutes

The competitor line they will hear, the objection it raises, and the counter in rep register. Two counters max per objection, each under 30 seconds spoken.

What you hand back

The positioning doc plus the message house per audience, shown in chat. Take one round of edits, then save it under positioning, one folder per audience with the doc and its variants. Messaging built on it later traces back here; rewrite it, do not append to it, when the strategy shifts.

Fallbacks

No proof means the claim stays out or ships flagged UNKNOWN. No named alternative means you draft against doing nothing and ask for the real one. Never claim a number, a customer, or a comparison you were not given. Nothing customer-facing ships without the owner's yes on the draft.