Positioning with April Dunford16 Nov 2023

A Marketers Guide To Using The Sales Pitch

Today, I’m going to discuss how to have consistent positioning and messaging across sales and marketing using tactics from my book Sales Pitch. You will learn:

Why marketers at B2B companies should start with the sales pitch first
An overview of buyer’s guides and the components of the best ones
How to create an explainer video using the sales pitch structure
Why all content should target the proper persona
Examples of graphics used to educate buyers
Other types of content that can be structured around the sales pitch

You'll also hear that this is the final episode of Season 1, as I'm excited to take a break from podcasting for the rest of the year. Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast, and I look forward to recording more content next year!

—

If You Want To Skip Ahead:

(00:21) An overview of my consulting work and season 1 finale

(01:11) Why marketing should center their storytelling on what works for sales

(05:30) How and why to use a buyer’s guide with customers

(09:13) How to incorporate the Sales Pitch structure into explainer videos

(10:20) Other places pieces of the sales narrative may work well

(11:07) The significance of different personas

(12:10) Leveraging the sales narrative set up phase for conference talks

(13:30) How graphics can enhance understanding of differentiated value

(14:09) The graphics Postman created to illustrate its features and capabilities

(16:20) Gitlab’s infinity graphic

(17:16) Salesforce’s confusing infographic

(19:30) Other ways to use my Sales Pitch structure

(21:13) Closing thoughts

—

Where To Find April Dunford:

Podcast Website: ⁠https://www.positioning.show/⁠

Personal Website: ⁠https://www.aprildunford.com/⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprildunford/⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/aprildunford/⁠

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/aprildunford⁠

—

Referenced:

Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Pitch-Craft-Story-Stand/dp/1999023021⁠

Postman: ⁠https://www.postman.com/⁠

What is Postman: ⁠https://www.postman.com/product/what-is-postman/⁠

The API platform landscape: ⁠https://blog.postman.com/2022-api-platform-landscape-trends-and-challenges/⁠

Gitlab Infinity: ⁠https://gitlab.com/infinity7x⁠

Salesforce Customer 360: ⁠https://www.salesforce.com/ap/blog/what-is-salesforce-customer-360/⁠

Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Obviously-Awesome-Product-Positioning-Customers/dp/1999023005⁠

—

Production and marketing by ⁠https://penname.co/

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(48)

Post Positioning - Testing and Execution

In today’s episode, I explore what should happen after a positioning exercise and why too many teams test positioning the wrong way. I explain why I prefer testing positioning through live sales conve...

2 Apr 25min

New Thinking on Market Categories

In today’s episode, I explore why companies overcomplicate market categories, how starting with the wrong category leads to confusion, and what the job of a market category actually is. I break down h...

19 Mar 24min

A New Chapter on Differentiated Value

In today’s episode, I explore why differentiated value is the most important—and most misunderstood—part of positioning. I explain why customers don’t really care that much about features, how to use ...

5 Mar 22min

Competition in a Positioning Exercise

In today’s episode, I dive into why competitive alternatives—not problems or future visions—are the right place to start a positioning exercise. I explain how different teams inside a company misunder...

19 Feb 29min

Preparing for a Positioning Exercise

In today’s episode, I dive into what needs to happen before you ever start a positioning exercise. I explain why positioning fails when teams skip preparation, ignore alignment, or try to make positio...

5 Feb 27min

Decisions to Make Before a Positioning Exercise

In today’s episode, I dive into the decisions teams need to make before they ever start a positioning exercise. I explain why positioning readiness matters, how unlaunched products lead to positioning...

22 Jan 27min

Positioning, Value, and Objection Handling

In today’s episode, I explore the crucial distinction between positioning your product’s value and handling objections. I explain why understanding the buyer personas in a B2B deal is essential to tai...

27 Feb 202525min

How to Turn a Competitor's Strength into a Weakness

In today’s episode, I dive into the art of transforming competitor strengths into weaknesses, a practice which I sometimes call “marketing jiu-jitsu.” You will learn: * How competitor strengths can do...

13 Feb 202529min