April Dunford

April Dunford is the world’s leading B2B product positioning practitioner. Author of Obviously Awesome (positioning methodology) and Sales Pitch (pitch structure). Previously VP of Marketing at seven B2B startups, six of which were acquired. Has now done positioning work with 200+ companies including Google, Epic Games, and many growth-stage startups. Background: engineering degree; stumbled into marketing when assigned to a failing product that she repositioned to success.

Key ideas

• 5-component positioning framework. Competitive alternatives → differentiated capabilities → differentiated value → target customers → market category. Order is non-negotiable: starting from category is backwards.
• Status quo is a real competitor. 40% of “no decision” outcomes = lost to status quo. Must be explicitly positioned against.
• Positioning is the foundation. Messaging and branding flow downstream from positioning. Can’t write the homepage until you know who the message is for and what the value is.
• B2B buying is harder than selling. 40–60% of deals end in no decision due to buyer indecision. FOMO tactics worsen this. Correct response: teach buyers how to buy; reduce risk; arm the champion.
• Insight-led sales pitch. Setup (market insight + landscape + perfect world) → follow-through (value pairs + proof + objection handling + ask). Winning the champion then arming them for multi-stakeholder objections.

Appearances

See also

• Product Positioning
• Obviously Awesome
• Sales Pitch
• Product Taste