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Competitive positioning assessor

Produces a structured competitive positioning assessment using Porter's Generic Strategies and head-to-head benchmarking — diagnosing differentiation strengths, vulnerabilities, and ranked whitespace opportunities, then…

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Purpose

Diagnose exactly where a business is differentiated, where it's exposed, and where uncontested market whitespace exists — then recommend a single defensible strategic position. Replaces gut-feel positioning debates with a structured assessment grounded in Porter's Generic Strategies and direct competitive benchmarking.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user asks to:

  • Assess how the business is positioned against named competitors
  • Identify whitespace or uncontested market opportunities
  • Diagnose why the company keeps losing deals or competing on price
  • Evaluate whether the current strategic position is defensible
  • Decide which differentiation to invest in and which to abandon
  • Prepare a positioning narrative for a board, investor, or planning offsite

Inputs Required

Before starting, collect:

  • Business description: What the company sells, to whom, and how it makes money (2–4 sentences)
  • Target segment: The primary customer segment or ICP this assessment covers
  • Key competitors: 3–6 named competitors (or the closest alternatives, including "do nothing" or in-house builds)
  • Current positioning claim: How the company describes its edge today
  • Known win/loss patterns: Where the company tends to win and lose, if known
  • Pricing posture: Premium / parity / discount relative to the market
  • Strategic constraints: Capabilities, cost structure, or commitments that can't change in 12–18 months

If win/loss patterns or competitor details are thin, proceed with stated assumptions and flag them explicitly in the relevant section.

Instructions

Step 1: Classify the Current Strategic Position (Porter's Generic Strategies)

Place the business on Porter's framework before assessing anything else:

  • Cost Leadership: Competes on lowest delivered cost across a broad market
  • Differentiation: Competes on unique value across a broad market, commanding a premium
  • Cost Focus: Lowest cost within a narrow niche
  • Differentiation Focus: Unique value within a narrow niche

Determine which quadrant the business actually occupies based on pricing posture, segment, and value claim — not which it aspires to. Flag if the business is stuck in the middle (no clear cost or differentiation advantage), which is the most common and most dangerous diagnosis.

Step 2: Build the Competitive Benchmark Matrix

Construct a table comparing the business against each named competitor across 5–7 dimensions that matter to the target segment. Choose dimensions from: price, product breadth, depth/specialization, time-to-value, integration ecosystem, service/support, brand trust, switching cost, geographic coverage.

For each cell, rate Leads / At Par / Trails relative to that competitor, with a one-line justification. The matrix must reveal where the business genuinely separates from the field — not flatter it.

Step 3: Diagnose Differentiation Strengths

Identify the 2–4 dimensions where the business genuinely Leads across multiple competitors. For each:

  • State the strength in customer terms (the outcome, not the feature)
  • Rate its defensibility: Durable / Erodible / Easily-copied
  • Note whether the target segment actually values it (a strength buyers don't care about is not an advantage)

Step 4: Diagnose Vulnerabilities

Identify the 2–4 dimensions where the business Trails or sits at par on something the segment values. For each:

  • Name the specific competitor exploiting it and how
  • Rate exposure: Critical (loses deals today) / Emerging (will within 12 months) / Latent
  • Note whether it's a fixable gap or a structural disadvantage given the stated constraints

Step 5: Map Whitespace Opportunities

Identify positions no competitor credibly owns. Look for:

  • Unserved segment whitespace: A buyer group everyone underserves
  • Unaddressed job-to-be-done: A use case competitors treat as secondary
  • Dimension whitespace: A value axis (e.g., speed, simplicity, compliance) the category hasn't claimed
  • Combination whitespace: A bundle of two attributes no competitor pairs

Surface 3–5 candidates. For each, rate Attractiveness (size/willingness to pay) and Fit (alignment with stated strengths and constraints).

Step 6: Rank Whitespace and Recommend a Position

Rank the whitespace opportunities by combined Attractiveness × Fit. Then make a single, opinionated recommendation:

  • The strategic position to own (stated as a positioning sentence: "For [segment] who [need], [company] is the [category] that [unique value], unlike [competitors] who [limitation]")
  • Which Porter quadrant this commits to
  • 3 moves to claim it and 1 thing to stop doing because it dilutes the position

Output Format

  • Structure: Seven sections in sequence; benchmark and whitespace presented as tables, diagnoses as labeled bullets
  • Length: 1,000–1,400 words
  • Format: Structured document with two tables (benchmark matrix, whitespace ranking) and rated bullet diagnoses
  • Sections: Current Position Classification → Competitive Benchmark Matrix → Differentiation Strengths → Vulnerabilities → Whitespace Opportunities → Ranked Recommendation → Positioning Statement
  • Tone: Chief strategy advisor — direct, evidence-led, willing to call a stuck-in-the-middle position what it is

Quality Checklist

Before delivering output, verify:

  • [ ] The business is placed in one specific Porter quadrant (or explicitly diagnosed as stuck in the middle)
  • [ ] The benchmark matrix rates every competitor across the same 5–7 dimensions with Leads/At Par/Trails calls
  • [ ] Every claimed strength is rated for defensibility AND confirmed as something the segment values
  • [ ] Each vulnerability names the competitor exploiting it and its exposure level
  • [ ] At least 3 whitespace opportunities are rated on both Attractiveness and Fit
  • [ ] A single positioning statement is delivered in the "For/who/is the/unlike" format — no hedging across multiple positions

Notes

  • Stuck-in-the-middle is the default failure mode for scaling companies — if the assessment lands there, treat resolving it as the headline finding, not a footnote
  • A strength buyers don't pay for is a cost, not an advantage; pressure-test every claimed strength against segment value
  • "Do nothing" and in-house builds are often the strongest competitors in B2B — include them when the buying decision allows them
  • Whitespace that fits the company's constraints beats larger whitespace it can't credibly occupy; weight Fit heavily for businesses with rigid cost structures

How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

Installing in Claude Code:

  • ~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
  • <your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:

  1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
  2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills