# Product positioning doc Human Guide

## What This Is For
This skill produces a complete product positioning document following the April Dunford positioning methodology. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for brand and messaging: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Product positioning doc agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for product positioning doc.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Product positioning doc guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **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?
- [ ] 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)
- [e.g. "Revenue intelligence for scaling sales teams"]
- [e.g. "Forecast with confidence. Close with clarity."]

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Required Inputs, Output Structure, Background & Context, Market Category, Target Customer, Competitive Alternatives, Unique Differentiated Attributes, Value Proof Points, Positioning Statement, Messaging Hierarchy.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **Approved by:** [Names — this document must be signed off by product, marketing, and sales leadership before use]
- [ ] Mature category (well-understood — must disrupt with clear superiority or narrower niche)
- What do buyers use today when they don't have your product? List all real alternatives — not just direct competitors.
- 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.
- **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]
- The classic positioning template — internal only, never used verbatim in marketing:
- [Used in the hero section of the website, email subject lines, and sales decks. Must be instantly clear.]
- | **CEO / CFO** | Revenue predictability, cost | "Stop being surprised by quarters" | [ROI: £X saved vs X headcount required to replicate manually] |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Product positioning doc human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills skill entry for `product-positioning-doc`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# 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] |