Define 3-5 buyer personas (economic, technical, user)
Validate against sales cycle and churn data
Score prospects A/B/C/D based on ICP fit
Validation: A-fit customers have lowest churn and fastest close
Firmographics Template
Dimension
Target Range
Rationale
Employees
50-5000
Series A sweet spot
Revenue
$5M-$500M
Budget available
Industry
SaaS, Tech, Services
Product fit
Geography
US, UK, DACH
Market priority
Funding
Seed to Growth
Willing to adopt
Buyer Personas
Economic Buyer (signs contract):
Title: VP, Director, Head of [Department]
Goals: ROI, team productivity, cost reduction
Messaging: Business outcomes, ROI, case studies
Technical Buyer (evaluates product):
Title: Engineer, Architect, Tech Lead
Goals: Technical fit, easy integration
Messaging: Architecture, security, documentation
User/Champion (advocates internally):
Title: Manager, Team Lead, Power User
Goals: Makes job easier, quick wins
Messaging: UX, ease of use, time savings
ICP Validation Checklist
5+ paying customers match this profile
Fastest sales cycles (< median)
Highest LTV (> median)
Lowest churn (< 5% annual)
Strong product engagement
Willing to do case studies
Positioning Development
Develop positioning using April Dunford methodology:
List competitive alternatives (direct, adjacent, status quo)
Isolate unique attributes (features only you have)
Map attributes to customer value (why it matters)
Define best-fit customers (who cares most)
Choose market category (head-to-head, niche, new category)
Layer on relevant trends (timing justification)
Test with 10+ customer interviews
Validation: 7+ customers describe value unprompted
Positioning Statement Template
FOR [target customer]
WHO [statement of need]
THE [product] IS A [category]
THAT [key benefit]
UNLIKE [competitive alternative]
OUR PRODUCT [primary differentiation]
Value Proposition Formula
Template: [Product] helps [Target Customer] [Achieve Goal] by [Unique Approach]
Example: "Acme helps mid-market SaaS teams ship 2x faster by automating project workflows with AI"
Messaging Hierarchy
Level
Content
Example
Headline
5-7 words
"Ship faster with AI automation"
Subhead
1 sentence
"Automate workflows so teams focus on what matters"
Sign up for competitor products (hands-on evaluation)
Monitor competitor websites, pricing, messaging
Analyze sales call recordings for competitor mentions
Read G2/Capterra reviews (pros and cons)
Track competitor job postings (roadmap signals)
Update battlecards monthly
Validation: Sales team uses battlecards in 80%+ competitive deals
Competitive Tier Structure
Tier
Definition
Examples
1
Direct competitor, same category
[Competitor A, B]
2
Adjacent solution, overlapping use case
[Alt Solution C, D]
3
Status quo (what they do today)
Spreadsheets, manual, in-house
Battlecard Template
COMPETITOR: [Name]
OVERVIEW: Founded [year], Funding [stage], Size [employees]
POSITIONING:
- They say: "[Their claim]"
- Reality: [Your assessment]
STRENGTHS:
1. [What they do well]
2. [What they do well]
WEAKNESSES:
1. [Where they fall short]
2. [Where they fall short]
OUR ADVANTAGES:
1. [Your advantage + evidence]
2. [Your advantage + evidence]
WHEN WE WIN:
- [Scenario where you win]
WHEN WE LOSE:
- [Scenario where they win]
TALK TRACK:
Objection: "[Common objection]"
Response: "[Your response]"
Win/Loss Analysis
Track monthly:
Win rate by competitor
Top win reasons (product fit, ease of use, price)
Top loss reasons (missing feature, price, relationship)
Action items for product, sales, marketing
Product Launch Planning
Plan launches by tier:
Tier
Scope
Prep Time
Budget
1
New product, major feature
6-8 weeks
$50-100k
2
Significant feature, integration
3-4 weeks
$10-25k
3
Small improvement
1 week
<$5k
Tier 1 Launch Workflow
Execute major product launch:
Kickoff meeting with Product, Marketing, Sales, CS
Define goals (pipeline $, MQLs, press coverage)
Develop positioning and messaging
Create sales enablement (deck, demo, battlecard)
Build campaign assets (landing page, emails, ads)
Train sales and CS teams
Execute launch day (press, email, ads, outbound)
Monitor and optimize for 30 days
Validation: Pipeline on track to goal by week 2
Launch Day Checklist
Press release distributed
Email announcement sent
Social media posts live
Paid ads at full budget
Sales outbound blitz launched
In-app notification active
Metrics monitored every 2 hours
Launch Metrics
Metric
Leading (Daily)
Lagging (Weekly)
Traffic
Landing page visitors
-
Engagement
Demo requests, signups
Feature adoption %
Pipeline
MQLs generated
SQLs, pipeline $
Revenue
-
Deals closed, revenue
Sales Enablement
Equip sales team with PMM assets:
Create sales deck (15-20 slides, visual-first)
Build one-pagers (product, competitive, case study)
Create ROI calculator (input costs, output savings)
Conduct monthly enablement calls
Deliver quarterly training (positioning, competitive)
Validation: Sales uses assets in 80%+ of opportunities
Sales Deck Structure
Slide
Content
1-2
Title, agenda
3-4
Company intro, problem statement
5-7
Solution, key benefits, demo
8-10
Differentiation, case study, pricing
11-12
Implementation, support, next steps
Demo Flow
1. Intro (2 min): Who we are, agenda
2. Discovery (5 min): Their needs, pain points
3. Demo (20 min): Product focused on their use case
4. Q&A (10 min): Objection handling
5. Next steps (3 min): Trial, POC, proposal
Sales-Marketing Handoff
Handoff
Frequency
Content
Weekly sync
30 min
Win/loss, competitive, new assets
Monthly enablement
60 min
Product updates, training
Quarterly review
Half-day
Results, strategy, planning
International Expansion
Enter new markets systematically:
Validate market demand (inbound leads, TAM analysis)
Localize website, pricing, legal
Establish sales coverage (hire or agency)
Adapt messaging for cultural fit
Build local partnerships and references
Launch localized campaigns
Monitor CAC and conversion by market
Validation: 3+ paying customers from market in first 90 days
