A claim you can defend on a specification sheet
Market research and positioning is the work of finding out what your buyers actually do, what the incumbent instrument does well, and which of your advantages someone will pay to switch for. The output is a position: one claim, stated plainly, that survives a technical evaluation.
Evidence before claims
Buyer interviews
Conversations with the scientists, lab managers and procurement leads who make or block the decision.
Competitive read
What the entrenched instruments genuinely do well, and where the switching cost sits.
Switching analysis
What has to be true before a lab replaces a working machine, in their words.
Claim testing
Which of your advantages is defensible, which is a specification footnote, and which is noise.
Position statement
One paragraph, agreed, from which all messaging is derived.
Proof inventory
The data, methods and references that support the claim.
What you are left holding
Every claim in the position is traceable to something a buyer said or a specification shows. Where a claim cannot be qualified, it is cut rather than softened.
| Output | Form |
|---|---|
| Interview findings | Anonymised, verbatim where it matters |
| Competitive matrix | By method, not by brand |
| Switching cost analysis | Per segment |
| Position statement | One paragraph |
| Proof inventory | With sources |
| Claims that failed | And why |
Signals this is the right piece of work
Your differentiator is a number on a specification sheet and prospects still choose the incumbent.
Two people in the company describe what you do in incompatible terms.
You are guessing at objections rather than quoting them.
A competitor with a worse instrument is winning the deals.
Questions about market research and positioning
How many buyer interviews do you run?
Eight to fifteen for a first position, weighted toward people who evaluated and did not buy. The ones who said no explain the switching cost better than the ones who said yes.
Is this a positioning workshop?
No. Workshops surface what the room already believes. This starts outside the company, with buyers, and brings evidence back to the room.
What if the research says our target market is wrong?
Then you find out in week three rather than after a year of spending. It happens, and it is the most valuable outcome the work produces.
Do you handle the technical claims yourself?
Yes — reading a specification and knowing what a method can and cannot resolve is the part I do not have to outsource. Your technical lead reviews and signs off.
What would make a lab replace a working machine?
That question has a real answer for your product, and your buyers already know it. The work is going and asking.