Product Positioning Done Right by Gartner and Moore
A Framework for Accelerating Revenue
ELAvate! Sales Feb 27
6 minute read – Insights from Michael Griffin
Gartner Consulting recently published an article under the title “Product Positioning 101” for tech companies. I found the essence of this treatise can be applied to many B2B sales and marketing across many industries. You can download the web link for their article at the end of this blog. Before you rush and scroll to link, read the insights I have on how the “product positioning framework” can be employed by your company to magnify marketing and drive sales of your key products or solutions. At ELAvate, we have been employing the key points of the product positioning framework in our “Selling Against the Competition” workshop for many years!
Gartner states “Product positioning is meant to capture and clearly articulate the differentiated value proposition of a product (or service) in a way that motivates buyers to act and empowers revenue teams to win, retain and grow customers. In other words, product positioning is the internal statement of strategy.”
“Good product positioning spurs buyers to act and empowers revenue teams to win, retain and grow customers.” Gartner Research
I found this insight intriguing to state product/solution positioning is a “strategy.” Working with many sales & marketing organization, I have observed the “strategy disconnect” between the marketing department and the B2B sales team. This misalignment leads to lack of focused collaboration between these two departments resulting in lost sales opportunities that could translate into increased revenue. Gartner has rediscovered a simple yet effective framework based on the book Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. This framework for your company’s key products/services, when discussed and jointly completed by both sales and marketing will lead to a clear statement of strategy for accelerating revenue for your key offerings. Here is the Product Positioning Framework:
Done right, your product positioning framework will yield a clear statement that includes:
A definition of the buyer
Business needs and wants
Product/service name
Product/service category
Compelling reason to buy
Differentiation
Importantly, the positioning framework is not just a marketing tool; it provides the context that everyone in the company needs to be able to apply and tell the story of the business in a consistent manner to your customers/buyers, onboarding your B2B sales and service people with the multiplier benefit of more focused collaboration between the marketing and salespeople of your company.
The Big Idea:
Call for a cross-functional team-building meeting(s) with your key marketing, sales and service people to discuss, collaborate, and construct a “Product Positioning Framework” for one of your new product launches or product that recently has come under more intense competition.
When completed, ask the team members to identify the benefits of this exercise and how it might be applied to other products and drive revenue.
ELAvate conducted this exercise for our Key Account Strategies (KAS) workshop that equips sales managers and B2B salespeople how to strategize and navigate larger, multi-decision maker accounts with longer sales cycles. You can download a PDF of our sample KAS Product Positioning Framework here. We will customize the framework for our key sales, leadership and corporate performance workshops and use it for onboarding, training, and now in our Selling Against the Competition Workshop giving credit to both Gartner and Mr. Moore.
You can download a Product Positioning Template for use and practice with your products and services here. Don’t forget to give credit to Gartner whenever it is used in your company.
Download the original Gartner article here.
Michael J Griffin
CEO and Founder of ELAvate
Avid Gartner Subscriber
Global Sales Productivity Consultant
michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com
+65-91194008