Preparing for a Positioning Exercise

Preparing for a Positioning Exercise

From Positioning with April Dunford by April Dunford

February 5, 2026 · 27 min · Season 2 · Episode 18

About this episode

April Dunford discusses the necessary preparations for a successful 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 positioning work for every customer they’ve ever had. I also walk through how to assemble the right team, let go of outdated assumptions, and create shared language so positioning decisions actually stick. You will learn: (01:53) How the second edition of my book Obviously Awesome restructures positioning into pre-work, core work, and post-work. (03:12) Why positioning is not a marketing-only activity and requires cross-functional input. (05:54) What sales, product, founders, and executives uniquely contribute to positioning decisions. (10:29) How to assemble the right-sized positioning team without derailing facilitation. (11:56) Why identifying obvious bad-fit customers upfront improves positioning clarity. (18:56) How to let go of legacy positioning baggage that no longer fits your market reality. (21:58) Why aligning on positioning vocabulary before the workshop prevents costly confusion. — Connect with April Dunford and learn about practical positioning that accelerates marketing and…

People in this episode

Host: April Dunford

Topics covered

  • positioning exercise
  • team assembly
  • cross-functional input
  • customer alignment
  • legacy positioning
  • shared language

Keywords

  • positioning
  • preparation
  • team alignment
  • customer fit
  • marketing
  • sales
  • shared vocabulary

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Obviously Awesome

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