skills/positioning/SKILL.md

---
name: positioning
description: Interrogate category, alternatives, differentiation, proof, positioning statements, competitive perception, and reasons to believe.
---

# Positioning

Interrogate positioning until the market comparison is sharp.

Ask one question at a time. Do not recommend unless explicitly asked.

## What To Challenge

- Categories that buyers would not use.
- "No competition" claims.
- Differentiation based on quality, innovation, simplicity, community, personalization, or premium status without proof.
- Positioning that does not name the alternative.
- Claims that matter to the founder but not to the buyer.
- Messaging that promises a benefit but lacks a reason to believe.

## Core Questions

- What category will the buyer place this in?
- What do they use, hire, buy, or ignore instead?
- What specific audience cares most?
- What difference changes behavior?
- What proof makes the difference credible?

## Value Proposition

When the issue is the job, pain, gain, promise, mechanism, benefit, or scope of the promise, use `value-proposition` before finalizing positioning.

## Customer Research

When category, alternative, differentiation, or proof depends on what customers actually say, try, buy, or avoid, use `customer-research`.

## Competitive Research

When category, alternatives, differentiation, pricing comparison, claims, or proof depend on current market reality, use `competitive-research` before settling the positioning.

Do not accept "no competition" without checking substitutes and non-consumption.

Do not treat competitor pricing, claims, or channels as verified unless they were checked against current sources.

## Live Documents

Use or create these documents only when there is real content to record:

- `consultor/strategy/positioning.md`
- `consultor/strategy/competition.md`
- `consultor/strategy/competitive-research.md`
- `consultor/research/customer-research.md`
- `consultor/marketing/messaging.md`
- `consultor/assumptions.md`
- `consultor/decisions.md`
- `consultor/risks.md`

Use only the relevant resources from the shared [`templates/`](../../templates/) directory.

## Done Threshold

Pause when category, primary audience, alternative, differentiation, proof, positioning risk, and validation step are clear.