Alec Latimer Consulting

I run Win-loss analysis initiatives.

> 10 in-depth buyer interviews
> Jobs-to-be-done structure and methods
> One workshop + advisory
> 1-2 months

Win-Loss Consultant

Zendesk

• Rebuilt a Win/Loss and Churn program
• Diagnosed critical growth and churn problems

Senior Product Marketing Manager

NWEA

• Built a Win/Loss program from scratch
• Helped PM and PMM use buyer insights to reposition flagship product positioning, including changes to messaging, GTM strategy, and competitive focus
• Led competitive positioning and competitive sales enablement

Senior Manager, Product Marketing and Market Intelligence

National Journal

• Product leader on research and insights businesses in policy
• Diagnosed critical growth challenges using customer research
• Led a small team on our highest-rated, most-requested customer research project

Director

Advisory Board

• Worked in product on research and insights businesses in healthcare
• Interviewed > 350 executive-level customers to diagnose their biggest strategic challenges

Senior Analyst

I run a Win-Loss consultancy where I use Jobs-to-Be-Done methods to find customer insights that translate to strategy. People work with me when they want to figure out how to beat a key competitor, align with other leaders, or find product-market fit.

I’m a dyed-in-the-wool researcher. Spent nearly a decade on research products at Advisory Board and National Journal. And then launched several Win-Loss programs.

But the research doesn't matter if it doesn't connect to strategy. Making that translation is a skill I've been honing as a researcher since day 1 at Advisory Board. And more recently as a product leader and PMM. To take that to the next level, I've been a student of Jobs-to-Be-Done methodology for many years now, and applied the framework to dozens of products.

Some notable downstream results from clients:
>> 2.5x year-over-year growth from a growth-stage startup in healthcare
>> 3-point improvement in renewals from a mature k12 edtech business

I don’t build battle cards anymore. Nobody ever used them. These are the only 3 competitive intel resources I build nowadays.

Competitive sets.

When customers are in this situation, they consider these alternatives.
When customers are in that situation, they consider those alternatives.

And so on. There are usually between 2-5 situations. Situations = reasons why people buy = jobs to be done.

Typically, we’re only competitive in ONE of those situations. And I’ll list out the differentiators we have against each individual competitor, aligned to what customers in that situation care about.

Take note of the competitors who show up there in the minds of your customers, and the competitors who don’t.

Stop worrying so much about the ones who don’t.

And start worrying about how you’re differentiating against the competitors who do.

This includes status quo solutions.



Tradeoff tables.

Customers don’t buy our stuff often enough to be experts at it, at least not in the markets I work in - education, healthcare, and SaaS.

So customers need help navigating the market. Reps should help them do that.
This is the one slide reps need to help customers do that. It’s 100% from April Dunford, and she explains it and does it better than me, but here’s the gist.

It’s a table where each row is a different approach. And for each approach, we list out examples, pros, and cons.

It’s not the whole market. It’s the competitive set we picked in the first activity.

So for customers in THIS situation who are trying to get THIS thing done, these are the approaches they typically consider, and here’s what’s good and bad about each of those approaches.

How we choose the pros and cons depends on what customers in this situation tend to value, and where we differentiate on those points of value.

Maybe we name names, maybe we don’t. I don’t. If a customer asks something about a specific competitor, then I turn to stories.



Differentiator storybank.

We’re not exactly the most credible when we yell facts at customers off of battle cards.

We’re a lot more credible and MEMORABLE when we can share stories that illustrate our differentiators.

I usually just put this in a spreadsheet. We want the context, the goal, the problem, the solution, the outcome. Just like every other story ever told.
Every rep should have access to a robust storybank in their head, and this will help them get there.

You can only get these from sales conversations and customer interviews.
They need to be mapped to the competitive sets.

That’s pretty much all I do with competitive intel these days. Battle cards are a good idea on paper, that don’t work out well in real life. These are 3 competitive resources that will help reps stay focused on the competitors who matter, and help customers make more progress faster in confusing markets with lots of messages.

Alec Latimer

PMM Consulting | Positioning, Competitive, GTM

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