Who This Helps
You're a junior analyst who just finished a competitor claim audit. Now you need to turn that noise into a positioning strategy your team can actually execute. You want to ship clean analysis with clear recommendations – and get a green light from stakeholders.
Mini Case
Zaid, a junior analyst at a B2B SaaS company, spent 12 hours collecting competitor claims. He found 47 claims, but only 8 were backed by real evidence. The rest were marketing fluff. Zaid used the Market Intelligence & Positioning course to build a positioning grid with 3 comparable criteria. His VP approved the strategy in one meeting. No rework. No confusion.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Pull your top 5 competitor claims from your audit. Pick only those with hard evidence (case studies, revenue data, product specs).
- Define 3 criteria that matter to your ICP. For example: time to value, integration ease, or customer support quality.
- Score each competitor on a scale of 1 to 5 for each criterion. Be honest – your product won't win everywhere.
- Identify your wedge – the one criterion where you clearly beat everyone. That's your positioning anchor.
- Write one sentence that states your position. Example: "We help mid-market teams reduce onboarding time by 40% compared to competitors."
Avoid These Traps
- Using every competitor claim. Most are noise. Stick to evidence-backed claims only.
- Picking too many criteria. Three is plenty. More than five and your grid becomes a mess.
- Forgetting your ICP. A grid that works for enterprise might fail for SMBs. Keep your audience in mind.
- Hiding your weaknesses. Stakeholders will spot them anyway. Better to acknowledge tradeoffs upfront.
- Skipping the win-loss data. Your own lost deals tell you exactly where competitors beat you. Use that.
Your Win by Friday
By end of week, you'll have a one-page positioning artifact that your team can use for messaging, product decisions, and sales plays. No more vague strategy docs. Just a clean grid with clear bets and guardrails. And yes, you'll look like the analyst who actually gets things done.
Bonus: Your stakeholders will stop asking for "more data" because your recommendations will be backed by evidence, not opinions.