Article · 16 min read

How We Used April Dunford's 10-Step Method to Overhaul Positioning at Userlist

Jane Portman · Userlist Free Intermediate

A founder writing up her own repositioning in detail, including naming Intercom and Customer.io directly and landing on a smaller pond. Honest about how many attempts it took, which most positioning writing hides.

  • Userlist's own tell was that the elevator pitch did not work: prospects could not say what the product did.
  • Moving the category from email automation to customer messaging made prospects grasp it instantly.
  • Their statement names competitors outright: more efficient than building it yourself, less complex than Intercom or Customer.io.
  • Positioning was not a one-time exercise: it changed four times between 2017 and 2022.
Open on userlist.com ↗

It answers 2 questions

  1. Everyone we sell to already uses the big incumbent. How do I position against them without trashing them?
  2. We pivoted, but the market still knows us for the old thing. How do we reposition without losing the customers we already have?

Read with it

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  3. The operational half of taking on an incumbent: timing outreach to renewal windows, mining review sites for the buyer's own... MarketBetter Article · 22 min read How to Run a Competitive Displacement Campaign: The Complete Playbook for Winning Deals From Incumbent Vendors MarketBetter Team
  4. The clearest Indian example of a company outgrowing its own product name and building an umbrella brand over Freshservice,... Forbes India Article · 7 min read Freshdesk rebrands as Freshworks to reflect bigger business management software ambition Harichandan Arakali
  5. A short, practical take on changing the business case you lead with (close more deals becomes reduce operating cost) without... Dawn Capital Article · 9 min read How B2B SaaS startups can reposition now to win Henry Mason
  6. Podcast · 41 min Unlocking Growth with Positioning at Tech Startups With April Dunford Author of Obviously Awesome April Dunford
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