Agent Skills: Positioning (Dunford 5-Step)

Positioning (Dunford 5-Step)

Position in workflow: v0.8 Monitoring Setup → v0.9 Positioning (Dunford) → v0.9 Offer Construction (Hormozi) → v0.9 Launch Channels (ORB)

Execution Mode

Default is standard. See .claude/rules/08-skill-execution-modes.md for selection logic.

| Mode | What this skill produces | |------|--------------------------| | quick | One positioning statement; one best-fit segment; one category claim | | standard | Full 5 steps; one segment + ≥3 alternatives + 3–5 attributes mapped to value; category claim with frame of reference | | deep | Multiple segment variants; A/B positioning candidates to test; competitor positioning teardown; "best-fit" disqualification rules |

Framework: Dunford's 5 Steps

From Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning (April Dunford, 2019). Positioning is the act of deliberately defining how you are the best at something a defined market cares a lot about — not a feature list, not a tagline, not your founder's story.

The five steps run in order:

1. Competitive alternatives — What would your customers use if you did not exist? (Status-quo wins as often as competitor products do.)
2. Unique attributes — What capabilities or qualities do you have that those alternatives don't?
3. Value (and proof) — Translate each attribute into the value it delivers to a customer. Anchor in evidence, not aspiration.
4. Customers who care a lot — Among all possible buyers, which segment cares most about that value? This is your "best-fit" target.
5. Market category — Pick the category (the frame of reference) that puts your unique strengths at the center and is intelligible to your best-fit customer.

A 6th step (relevant trends) is optional and used only when a current market trend reinforces the positioning. Skip it in quick mode.

The work product is a positioning statement plus a small set of positioning rules that downstream skills (Offer Construction, Launch Channels, GTM messaging) must honor.

Consumes

• CFD-* competitive alternatives (from v0.2 Competitive Landscape Mapping) — Anchors step 1; without real alternatives, positioning is hypothetical
• CFD-* customer interviews (from v0.1 + v0.4) — Source for "who cares a lot" in step 4; the strongest evidence for value claims in step 3
• BR-* product type (from v0.2 Product Type Classification) — Clone/Unbundle/Undercut/Slice/Wrapper/Innovation shapes the kind of category claim that's credible
• FEA-* feature list (from v0.3 Feature Value Planning) — Source for step 2 (unique attributes); attribute claims must trace to shipping features
• PER-* personas (from v0.4 Persona Definition) — Step 4 best-fit segment is one of these PER- entries, sharpened

This skill assumes v0.2 (competitive landscape, product type) and v0.4 (personas) are complete.

Produces

• GTM-* entries with Type=Positioning — The positioning statement, the category claim, and the frame of reference. Each downstream messaging GTM- must trace to one of these.
• BR-POS-* positioning rules — Constraint-style rules: who we are, who we are not, what category we live in. These become guardrails for v0.9 Offer Construction, Launch Channels, and v1.0 adoption work.
• CFD-* updates — When step 3 reveals value claims are weakly evidenced, surface them as research gaps with confidence ≤ 2/5.

Confidence guidance per P4: a positioning statement should reach 3/5 before downstream skills consume it (i.e., grounded in actual customer interviews, not internal opinion). Quick mode may produce 2/5 outputs but must tag them.

Execution

Run the five steps in order. Each step has a single deliverable.

Step 1: List competitive alternatives

Inventory CFD- entries that name alternatives. Include the status quo ("spreadsheet + email"), not just competitor products. Cluster into 2–4 alternative categories.

Deliverable: A ranked list of competitive alternatives with rough usage volume estimates.

Step 2: Identify unique attributes [standard+]

For each FEA- you ship, ask: "Does this alternative have it? At this quality?" Keep only attributes that are demonstrably yours. Quick mode picks the top 3.

Deliverable: 3–5 attributes that are uniquely yours vs. the alternatives.

Step 3: Translate attributes to value

For each attribute, write the value it creates for the customer. Anchor in CFD- evidence (interview quotes, beta data, usage metrics). Mark each value claim with a confidence score.

Deliverable: An attribute → value table with evidence and confidence per row.

Step 4: Identify customers who care a lot

Cross-reference the value claims against your PER- personas. Which persona's pains are most addressed by your unique values? That is your best-fit segment. Write a "best-fit characteristics" list (firmographics, behaviors, triggers).

Deliverable: One sharpened best-fit PER- variant with "ideal customer" characteristics.

Step 5: Pick a market category

Choose the frame of reference — the category that puts your strengths at the center and is meaningful to your best-fit customer. Test against three checks:

• Does it make the value claims feel inevitable?
• Does it disqualify alternatives that aren't a good fit?
• Would your best-fit customer recognize the category name?

Deliverable: One category claim ("we are the X for Y who need Z") and a one-paragraph positioning statement.

Step 6: Trends [deep only]

If a current market trend reinforces the positioning (e.g., "AI-native", "compliance-first"), name it. Otherwise skip — trends without product fit are noise.

Deliverable (deep mode): One sentence connecting the positioning to a current trend, with citation.

Output Template

GTM-XXX: Positioning Statement
Type: Positioning
Owner: Founder / Product Marketing
Status: Ready

Best-fit segment: PER-XXX (sharpened — see characteristics below)
Category: [the frame of reference, e.g., "Conversion-rate optimization platform"]
Statement:
  For [best-fit customer]
  Who [trigger / pain]
  [Product name] is the [category]
  That [unique value]
  Unlike [primary alternative], we [unique attribute → value].

Best-fit characteristics:
  - [Firmographic 1]
  - [Behavior 1]
  - [Trigger 1]

Competitive alternatives considered: CFD-001, CFD-002, CFD-003
Unique attributes: FEA-001, FEA-005, FEA-008
Value claims (with evidence):
  - [Attribute] → [Value] (CFD-XXX, confidence: X/5)

Linked IDs: PER-XXX (best-fit), CFD-XXX (alternatives + interviews), FEA-XXX (attributes), BR-POS-XXX (rules)

BR-POS-XXX: Positioning Rule
Type: Constraint
Status: Active

Rule: [What this rule says, e.g., "We do not market to enterprise procurement teams"]
Rationale: [Why — usually traces to the best-fit segment OR a positioning attribute]
Enforced by:
  - GTM-* messaging skills (no enterprise language)
  - Offer Construction (no procurement-friendly contract terms)
  - Launch Channels (no Gartner/analyst channels in launch wave)

Anti-Patterns

| Pattern | Signal | Fix | |---------|--------|-----| | Feature-list positioning | "We have X, Y, Z" | Translate each to value (step 3); cut what doesn't translate | | Aspirational alternatives | Only listing competitors as alternatives | Include status quo and non-purchase ("spreadsheet + manual") | | Best-fit = everyone | "We're for SMBs and enterprise and individual users" | Pick one; the others become "not for us" | | Category claim too broad | "We're the platform for X" (where X is huge) | Tighten the frame of reference until it disqualifies bad-fit buyers | | No evidence in step 3 | Value claims with confidence 1/5 across the board | Stop and run more interviews before launching | | Skipping step 1 | "Our positioning is..." without alternatives discussion | Step 1 is mandatory — positioning without alternatives is internal monologue |

Quality Gates

Before proceeding to Offer Construction:

• [ ] All 5 steps have a deliverable (Step 6 optional, deep only)
• [ ] Best-fit segment is one sharpened PER- (not 3 personas)
• [ ] At least 3 competitive alternatives listed (including status quo)
• [ ] At least 3 unique attributes, each with a value translation
• [ ] Each value claim has CFD- evidence and confidence ≥ 2/5 (standard) or ≥ 3/5 (deep)
• [ ] One positioning statement and one category claim, both ≤ 3 sentences
• [ ] At least one BR-POS-* rule encoded (a "we do not" constraint)

Downstream Connections

| Consumer | What it uses | Example | |----------|--------------|---------| | Offer Construction (Hormozi) | Best-fit segment + value claims | Hormozi's value equation anchors on the value claims here | | Launch Channels (ORB) | Best-fit characteristics + category claim | Channel selection must reach the sharpened best-fit segment | | Launch Metrics | Positioning statement = KPI- attribution baseline | "Did messaging at category X drive signups?" | | v1.0 Crossing the Chasm (Moore) | Best-fit segment = beachhead anchor | Moore's "bowling-alley beachhead" = Dunford's best-fit |

Detailed References

• April Dunford, Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning (2019) — canonical source
• Dunford's blog: aprildunford.com/positioning
• (No bundled references/ — read the book for depth)