---
id: ins_position-against-real-not-ghost-competitors
operator: April Dunford
operator_role: Positioning consultant, author of Obviously Awesome
source_url: https://aprildunford.substack.com/p/a-buyer-centric-approach-to-competitive
source_type: thread
source_title: LinkedIn posts on positioning against real competitors and pitch splits
source_date: 2026-04-20
captured_date: 2026-05-02
domain: [pmm, gtm]
lifecycle: [positioning, messaging-narrative]
maturity: applied
artifact_class: framework
score: { originality: 3, specificity: 4, evidence: 3, transferability: 5, source: 4 }
tier: B
related: []
raw_ref: 
---

# Stop positioning against ghost competitors customers don't actually consider

## Claim
Most positioning exercises waste cycles on competitors customers don't actually evaluate in the live deal. The right input is what alternatives your sales team is losing to this quarter, not the analyst-defined market map. The VC pitch tells the future; the sales pitch explains why we win today.

## Mechanism
Buyers anchor against the alternatives in their actual consideration set, not the category map. Positioning that names the wrong alternative misses the differentiation that closes deals. Sales is the only function that sees this set live and current.

## Conditions
Holds when: sales has structured win/loss data and can name the alternative per deal.
Fails when: the company is pre-sales, or the deal flow is too low to detect the live alternative.

## Evidence
> "Your sales team knows months before anyone else when a position is failing."
· April Dunford, LinkedIn thread, April 2026

Paraphrased: split the VC pitch (where you'll be) from the sales pitch (why you win today).

## Signals
- Win/loss reviews surface a different competitor than the marketing battle card names.
- Reps narrate the deal in language the website doesn't use.
- The "alternative we're winning against" rotates faster than the marketing site updates.

## Counter-evidence
For greenfield categories with no incumbent, the relevant "alternative" is status quo or DIY, positioning still applies but the input lives in customer interviews, not sales calls.

## Cross-references
- (none in current corpus)