All-in-one, best in class, cheaper, faster, better
All weak differentiators for SaaS companies
We're so good as an industry at making wafer-thin promises to our customers
And yet to dominate a market you need to be clear about the transformational promise that you make to your customer
Saying that 'We're number 1 on G2' literally doesn't mean anything to your buyer
Telling someone you're an all-in-one usually increases the risk to your buyer. They're going to have to make a case for replacing multiple tools that their team has already integrated
And worse, they're taking a huge reputational and potentially financial risk in recommending an all-in-one solution: What if it fails?!
Good positioning is nothing more than a clear understanding of how you solve your customer's acute pain in a way that is meaningfully different to the other options they're considering
How do you actually make that happen?
Consider how meaningfully you and your team can align on these things about your customer – don't even think about your own product yet:
1. Who is your ICP and what are their fears, frustrations, wants, and aspirations?
2. What is the most common promise your competitors make to prospects? (eg: easy, free, fast, cheap, reliable, etc)
3. What is the commonly held belief that your prospects have, that does not need to be proven or reinforced?Now that you have a clear picture of the pain and the way others promise to solve it, think about your own product:
4. How does your SaaS get results differently?
5. What results have you helped them achieve that is different in speed, certainty, or insight they had before using your product? How did you do this?
6. Can you summarize everything from questions 1-5 in a simple statement? If not, you're not clear enough
7. If your customer knew about that simple statement from question 6 and carried on without taking action, what would their life be like? How would it cost them?
