Who This Helps
This is for Product Managers who feel stuck in endless debates about what makes their product different. The Market Intelligence & Positioning course gives you a framework to cut through the noise. You'll move from scattered opinions to a single, defensible strategy your stakeholders can actually approve.
Mini Case
Zaid's team was arguing over positioning for 3 weeks. They had 12 different competitor claims and no clear direction. He used the Competitor Claim Audit to separate evidence from narrative noise. In 2 days, he identified the 3 claims that actually mattered to their target customer, cutting the debate time by 70%.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- List every competitor claim. Grab their website copy, ads, and sales decks. Don't overthink it—just dump it all into one doc.
- Audit for evidence. For each claim, ask: Can they prove it with customer results, third-party data, or a unique capability? Mark it as 'backed' or 'noise'.
- Find your ICP wedge. Look at your win-loss interviews. Which one customer segment cares most about the claims you can actually prove? That's your wedge.
- Build your Positioning Grid. On one axis, list the 4-5 criteria your wedge customer uses to decide. On the other, plot where you and 2 key competitors truly stand on each. The fun part is seeing the white space no one owns.
- Draft your one-pager. Combine your wedge and grid into a single positioning artifact. This is your source of truth for all messaging.
Avoid These Traps
- Trying to be everything. You cannot win on all 12 criteria. Pick the 3 where you have a right to win.
- Basing it on your opinion. If you don't have win-loss or customer interview quotes to back a point, it's just an opinion. Strip it out.
- Getting stuck in perfect data. You need good-enough evidence to make a bet, not a PhD thesis. A pattern from 5 customer calls is valid.
- Presenting options. Your job is to synthesize one recommended position. Giving stakeholders 3 choices just starts another debate.
Your Win by Friday
By this Friday, have a completed Positioning Grid with clear, comparable criteria. Show it to one trusted stakeholder and ask: 'Does this reflect how our best customers actually decide?' Their feedback is your first step to turning analysis into approved execution.