Observed Signal · Mar 10, 2026 · Thought Leadership · Source: Lennys Newsletter · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Advanced B2B Positioning Guide by April Dunford
April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome) provides an advanced guide to B2B product positioning, identifying four common, hard-to-see roadblocks—disagreement about competitors, product pessimism, poorly defined differentiated value, and unclear scope of what’s being positioned. She emphasizes using the prospect’s point of view, staying focused on near-term product capabilities, acknowledging the status quo as a primary competitor, and running cross-functional positioning workshops that include heads of marketing, sales, product, customer success and the founder. Dunford recommends grounding positioning in real sales evidence, exposing product teams to why they win, articulating specific business value buyers understand, and keeping differentiated messaging concise. The piece is practical guidance aimed at helping B2B teams align on go-to-market messaging and win more deals.
Practical, actionable guidance for B2B product and marketing teams on positioning and go-to-market alignment; useful for MarTech and B2B SaaS practitioners but not an industry-shifting announcement.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- April Dunford is the author of the book Obviously Awesome and has worked with over 300 B2B companies on positioning.
- The article identifies four common roadblocks in B2B positioning: disagreement on competitors, product pessimism, poorly defined differentiated value, and uncertainty about what is being positioned.
- Recommendation: run cross-functional positioning exercises including heads of marketing, sales, product management, customer success, and the founder/CEO to align on the prospect’s point of view.
- Dunford advises focusing on the product as it exists today (near-term capabilities) rather than future roadmap promises when creating positioning.
- Vendors typically lose about half of sales opportunities to the status quo; understanding the status quo is critical for effective positioning (cites research such as Matt Dixon’s JOLT Effect).
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Advanced B2B Positioning Guide with April Dunford
Lenny’s Newsletter publishes an episode featuring April Dunford, a recognized expert on B2B positioning and author of Obviously Awesome. The conversation goes beyond basic positioning concepts to tackle four common roadblocks product teams face when defining market positioning and go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Topics covered include why cross-functional teams disagree on competitors, how to overcome product pessimism, applying the “So what?” test to clarify differentiated value, and using GTM decisions to inform positioning. The episode distills practical tactics for product and marketing teams to make clearer, more actionable positioning choices.
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