You know positioning matters. You understand the basics.

But here's where most companies get the first step wrong:

They obsess over competitors. They analyze market leaders. They compare features against other vendors.

But here's what they're missing: 40% of B2B deals are lost to "no decision." Not to competitors. To status quo. To spreadsheets. To pen and paper. To interns doing the work manually.

You lost to the spreadsheet. You lost to pen and paper. You lost to interns.

If you're not positioning against what customers are actually using right now—even if it's "crappy and not great"—you're positioning for a fight that doesn't exist. Your real competition isn't the other vendors on the short list. It's the way things have always been done.

Today, we're going to talk about how to find your actual competitive alternatives (the ones that matter):

• Why status quo wins 40% of deals (and why most companies ignore it)

• The two types of alternatives you're really competing against

• The one question that reveals what you're actually up against

Let's dig in.

3 Things To Find Your Real Competitive Alternatives Even If You Think You Already Know Them

To position your product correctly, you need to understand what you're actually competing against. Not what you wish you were competing against. What customers are actually choosing instead of you.

Most people get this wrong.

They focus on direct competitors—products that look like theirs. But that's only part of the picture. Often, it's the smaller part.

Start with the foundation question

Ask: "What would a customer do if we didn't exist?"

That's it. That's the question that changes everything.

Most positioning exercises start with "Who are our competitors?" which narrows the field to products that look like yours. But your customers choose between buying your product, buying a competitor's product, sticking with status quo, building it themselves, or doing nothing.

If you only look at competitors, you're missing the majority of what you're actually competing against.

Your sales team knows the answer. They hear it every day in discovery calls. They know what customers are currently using. They know what alternatives come up. They know what you lose deals to. Ask them: "What would a customer do if we didn't exist?" and they'll tell you.

That's your stake in the ground. That's what you have to beat to win a deal.

Understand the two types of alternatives

You're not competing against one thing.

You're competing against two categories of alternatives, and they require different positioning strategies.

Type 1: Status Quo

Status quo is whatever the company is doing right now to solve the problem. Even if it's crappy. Even if it's spreadsheets, pen and paper, interns, email, or "the way we've always done it."

Why it matters: In B2B, you lose about 40% of deals to "no decision." But "no decision" isn't no decision. It's sticking with status quo.

You lost to the spreadsheet. You lost to pen and paper. You lost to interns.

Those concrete examples? That's what you're actually competing against.

Most companies discount status quo. They shouldn't. Sometimes status quo is just good enough. And if you're not positioning well against that, you're never going to get the customer to come off of it.

Type 2: Short List Competitors

If the company decides to buy something different, they make a short list. That's whoever else lands on the short list. The other vendors. The market leaders. The "safe" choice. The cheaper alternative.

In B2B, you don't just buy the first thing you come across. You make a short list. And you have to win against those, too.

The mistake: People confuse competitive alternatives with competition. They think "competitive alternatives" means "things that look like us." But it includes direct competitors, indirect competitors, status quo, building it themselves, and doing nothing. All of it.

Map what you're actually competing against

For each alternative, understand what it is, why customers choose it, what it does well/poorly, and who it's best for.

Help Scout's example:

Help Scout didn't try to out-feature Zendesk.

Instead, they asked: "What would customers do if we didn't exist?"

Their competitive alternatives:

- Status Quo: Email or shared inbox (why: easy, free, familiar)

- Short List: Zendesk (why: market leader, powerful features)

Help Scout positioned as: Built for digital businesses, treats customers like people (not tickets). They positioned against both status quo (email is impersonal, doesn't scale) and short list competitors (Zendesk is complex, built for large teams).

Once you have that map, you can find differentiation. But you can't find differentiation until you know what you're differentiating from.

The most common mistake is thinking "competitive alternatives" means "competitors." They focus only on products that look like theirs. But competitive alternatives includes everything a customer might choose instead of you. Most of the time, that includes status quo—which most people discount. But they shouldn't, because it wins 40% of deals.

Don't skip talking to sales. Your sales team knows what you're competing against. They hear it in every discovery call. They see what you lose deals to. If you're creating positioning without sales input, you're guessing.

Here's what you learned today:

- Start with the foundation question: "What would a customer do if we didn't exist?" Your sales team knows the answer.

- Understand both types: Status quo (what they're doing now) and short list competitors (other vendors). Status quo wins 40% of deals—don't ignore it.

- Map all alternatives: Document what each alternative is, why customers choose it, what it does well/poorly, and who it's best for. Then find differentiation.

The foundation of good positioning starts here. Once you know what you have to beat to win a deal, you can start thinking about what makes you different. But you can't find differentiation until you know what you're differentiating from.

This week, ask your sales team: "What would a customer do if we didn't exist?" Write down every answer. That's your competitive alternatives list. Start positioning against that.

You can't find differentiation until you know what you're differentiating from. But once you have that list, you're ready for the next step: finding what makes you different.

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PS...If you're enjoying Position & Pitch, please consider referring this edition to a friend. They'll get the same framework on finding competitive alternatives, and you'll help us grow.

Best,

Adi