What Great B2B Fintech PMMs Understand About Positioning

I recently finished reading Obviously Awesome by April Dunford, and one idea stood out above everything else:

Great positioning makes value obvious.

That sounds simple, but it is surprisingly difficult for B2B tech companies to execute well.

In fintech especially, products are often complex, markets evolve quickly, and buyers are overwhelmed with options. The companies that win are not always the ones with the best technology — they are often the ones that communicate their differentiated value most clearly.

Dunford defines positioning as:

“Positioning defines how your product is the best in the world at delivering some value that a well-defined set of customers cares a lot about.”

That definition forces companies to answer five important questions:

1. What are the alternatives?

2. How are we different?

3. What unique value do we deliver?

4. Who specifically cares about that value?

5. What market are we trying to win?

For me, this was the biggest takeaway from the book: positioning is not just messaging. It is the process of creating clarity.

Positioning Starts With the Buyer

One of the most important lessons in the book is that positioning cannot start internally.

It does not start with:

• the features your team is most proud of,

• the roadmap leadership wants to highlight,

• or the language your company prefers to use.

  
  

It starts with the buyer.

The only perspective that matters is whether a customer immediately understands:

• why your product exists,

• how it is different,

• and why that difference matters.

That is especially true in fintech, where products often compete against:

• legacy systems,

• manual workflows,

• spreadsheets,

• internal operations teams,

• or simply the status quo.

Many B2B companies are not losing deals to competitors — they are losing to “no decision.”

If customers do not quickly understand the value of switching, they default back to what feels safe and familiar.

Great PMMs Translate Features Into Customer Value

A major responsibility of strong Product Marketing Managers is translating product capabilities into customer outcomes.

That sounds obvious, but many companies stop at features.

Customers do not buy:

• APIs,

• dashboards,

• workflows,

• or infrastructure.

They buy:

• speed,

• efficiency,

• revenue growth,

• reduced risk,

• operational simplicity,

• and confidence.

The strongest PMMs understand that differentiation alone is not enough. Differentiation only matters if customers clearly understand the value created by that difference.

A useful framework from Dunford’s book looks like this:

1. Define the Competitive Alternatives

What does the customer currently use instead of your product?

Sometimes the answer is a direct competitor. Often it is:

• spreadsheets,

• manual work,

• fragmented tooling,

• or outdated incumbent software.

Understanding the real alternative is critical because positioning only works in context.

2. Identify Differentiated Capabilities

What can your product do that alternatives cannot?

This is where companies identify the capabilities that genuinely separate them from competitors.

3. Translate Those Capabilities Into Value

This is the most important step.

Features alone are meaningless unless they answer the customer’s question:

“So what?”

The best PMMs connect product differentiation directly to measurable business value.

4. Identify Best-Fit Customers

Not every customer cares about the same value.

Strong positioning requires identifying the specific types of customers who care deeply about your differentiated strengths.

5. Choose the Right Market Context

Positioning is contextual.

The market category you place yourself in shapes how customers interpret your product. Great positioning creates a frame of reference that makes your value immediately obvious.

Positioning Is an Alignment Function

Another insight that stood out to me is that weak positioning is often a symptom of organizational misalignment.

Sales, product, customer success, leadership, and marketing frequently describe the same product differently. When that happens, positioning becomes fragmented.

Strong PMMs act as connective tissue across teams.

They help align:

• the customer narrative,

• the differentiated value proposition,

• the target customer profile,

• and the go-to-market story.

  
  

When positioning works well, every part of the company reinforces the same message.

That consistency matters because positioning eventually becomes:

• sales conversations,

• onboarding experiences,

• demos,

• product launches,

• customer success messaging,

• and investor narratives.

Positioning is not a tagline. It is operational clarity.

Great Positioning Reduces Buyer Anxiety

One of the most underrated parts of positioning is psychology.

In B2B fintech, buyers are not just purchasing software — they are making career-risk decisions.

When someone recommends a new platform internally, their reputation is attached to that recommendation. If the decision fails, it reflects on them.

Great positioning reduces uncertainty.

The best sales narratives help customers feel:

• informed,

• confident,

• and capable of defending the purchase internally.

The goal is not to convince everyone your product is the best.

The goal is to clearly explain:

• who your product is best for,

• what problem it solves exceptionally well,

• and why it is a better fit than the alternatives.

The Segway Problem

A classic example of poor positioning is Segway.

Before launch, the product was hyped as something that would revolutionize transportation. Expectations became enormous.

But when customers finally saw the product, many struggled to understand where it fit:

• Was it a replacement for a bike?

• A scooter?

• A mobility device?

• A novelty product?

The issue was not necessarily the technology itself. The issue was context.

Customers could not easily compare it against existing alternatives or understand why it mattered.

Without clear positioning, even innovative products can fail.

Final Thought

The strongest PMMs understand that positioning is not about sounding impressive.

It is about making value obvious to the right customer.

That requires:

• understanding buyer psychology,

• identifying differentiated value,

• aligning internal teams,

• creating clear market context,

• and translating product capabilities into outcomes customers actually care about.

The best positioning feels obvious because it removes confusion.

And in fintech — where products are increasingly complex and markets increasingly crowded — clarity itself becomes a competitive advantage.