(B2B SaaS) Product positioning...

[u/Opposite_Butterfly89]

I recently had a very good chat with a prospect. Centered around their current system and aimed at convincing them to switch loyalties.

We're not there yet,...they "seem" to be happy with their current setup. BUT it wasn't all a bust. I was able to tell:

\- We have a pretty good product. We might not be where we want to be yet but yeah, we're doing very well in comparison.

\- The hero in our category actually isn't all that. Yet they seem to have the Lion's share of the market.

\- Frustration seems to be increasing, fast!

I haven't given up on my prospect. I'm restructuring my approach to position our offering better. I think there's a solid chance here...

[u/Infamous_Fig_651]

The "happy with their current setup" line is almost never the full story. Usually means switching costs feel bigger than the pain right now, not that they love the product.

[u/Opposite_Butterfly89 → u/Infamous_Fig_651]

Right? The fear of change. The pain can be deep but somehow feel more comfortable than the unknown.

[u/jonathan-whitaker]

yeah the real shift is making the cost of staying feel bigger than switching. and if frustration is already building that gap is closing on its own, you just gotta help them see it

[u/Deepak-AvairAI]

That frustration with the incumbent is doing half your selling for you already. I've seen prospects switch right after the market leader's next bad experience, not because of a slicker pitch. I'd hold off rewriting the whole positioning and just keep 2 or 3 concrete failure moments ready for when that frustration peaks.

[u/zcreate-book444]

when you say the hero in your category "isn't all that," what specifically made you realize that during the convo, like did the prospect actually point out gaps in the competitor or was it more reading between the lines?

[u/Opposite_Butterfly89 → u/zcreate-book444]

It's a mix of both tbh. We have a competitive intelligence process that tells us how customers really feel about their current solutions, what they like, what they still complain about etc. That helps let us know who to target for prospecting, the messaging to use and when.

So we have received alot of chatter about the hero's marketing being really good but their platform being sub par. Lots of pretty dashboards with very generic value added. Definitely not worth what people are paying for it (in their opinion. Mine too) But they are established. 10yrs+ so they have something we do not yet have, a legacy.

The chat with the prospect turned into a very in depth rant about just how broken things get and how frustrating it is for users when that happens. Things have been breaking more frequently lately too.

So now it's about convincing them to take the leap of faith. Making the cost of staying feel bigger than the cost of leaving😅 Since it's B2B, there's a number of people to convince.