Use case · Messaging & positioning
Lead with the problem, not the feature.
Buyers do not buy features. Keenan helps you name the problem, quantify what it is costing, and build the case before you pitch anything.
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Overview
Sharpen messaging and positioning is the use case of getting the buyer's problem, and the cost of that problem, clear before you ever talk about your product. It is heavily used: articulating a prospect's problem and building a Problem-Impact-Cause picture are two of the most common jobs reps bring to Keenan. The work matters because positioning that leads with features competes on feature comparison, where the buyer holds all the power. Positioning that leads with a named problem, a quantified impact, and a real root cause competes on the cost of inaction instead, where the deal is yours to lose. Keenan helps you name the problem in the buyer's own terms, separate the impact from the root cause underneath it, put a number on what the problem is costing, and frame value and price so they land with the person who controls the budget. The output is not a tagline. It is the argument that survives the room you are not in.
The jobs
What reps actually bring to it.
Each one is a real job, drawn from how sales teams use the coach. Bring yours, and Keenan works it with you.
- 01
Articulate the prospect's real problem
Name what is actually broken in their world, specifically.
A problem stated as 'they need more efficiency' is not a problem you can sell into. Keenan presses you to name what is specifically broken: which process, for which role, with what visible symptom. He pushes from the abstract to the concrete, because a problem the buyer recognises in their own day is a problem they will pay to fix. Get it right and the problem statement is specific enough that the buyer says 'yes, that is exactly it' rather than 'sure, I suppose'.
- 02
Build a Problem-Impact-Cause picture
The structure that turns a vague pain into a deal.
Problem-Impact-Cause is the Gap Selling discovery structure: the problem, the impact it has on the business, and the root cause underneath it. Keenan coaches you through filling all three for a real prospect, and is strict about not letting the impact stay soft or the cause stay unexamined. Treating a symptom as the cause is how deals get solved by the incumbent. Done well, the impact is quantified and the cause is the real one, so your solution lands on the root, not the surface.
- 03
Quantify the business impact
Put a number on the cost of inaction, in the buyer's terms.
A problem with no number attached competes with every other problem the buyer could spend on. Keenan helps you work out what the problem is actually costing: hours lost, revenue leaked, customers churned, risk carried, and in which units the buyer's own business would count it. He helps you build the number with the buyer rather than assert it at them. The result is a cost of inaction the buyer believes because they helped construct it, large enough to make doing nothing the expensive option.
- 04
Build the ROI and business case
The argument the economic buyer needs to say yes.
The champion sells internally with whatever you give them. Keenan helps you build the business case the economic buyer needs: the quantified problem, the cost of inaction, the expected return, framed as a business decision rather than a product purchase. Build it well and your champion can carry the case into a room you are not in and have it still hold up under a CFO's questions.
- 05
Sharpen the value proposition
Cut the feature list down to the thing they actually care about.
A value proposition that lists ten capabilities communicates none of them. Keenan helps you cut to the one or two things this specific buyer, given their problem, actually cares about, and express it as an outcome rather than a feature. He will tell you when you are hiding the value inside a feature tour. What you end up with is a value proposition tied directly to the buyer's quantified problem, short enough to land in a sentence.
- 06
Differentiate from the incumbent
Position against "we already have something" without trashing it.
Attacking the incumbent makes the buyer defend a past decision. Keenan helps you position on the gap the incumbent leaves: the part of the problem it does not solve, the cost the buyer is absorbing without noticing. The frame is the unsolved problem, not the rival's flaws. Done right, the buyer accepts the differentiation because it is about their situation, not a competitor takedown they will tune out.
- 07
Frame pricing and the price conversation
Anchor on value before the number lands.
Price discussed before value is just a number to negotiate down. Keenan helps you sequence the conversation so the cost of the problem is established and agreed first, which makes the price a comparison rather than a standalone figure. He coaches how to introduce the number and how to hold it. Sequence it well and the price lands next to a larger cost of inaction, so the buyer is weighing a trade rather than reacting to a figure.
- 08
Build an elevator pitch
The thirty-second version that earns the longer conversation.
An elevator pitch is not a compressed feature list. Keenan helps you build a thirty-second version that names a problem the listener recognises and hints at a different outcome, designed to earn a question, not close a sale. The point is a short pitch that makes the right person lean in and ask to hear more, instead of nodding politely.
The bar
What good looks like.
Not the theory. The concrete signs you are running this use case well.
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You can state any live prospect's problem in one specific sentence they would recognise as their own.
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Every deal has a cost of inaction expressed in a number, and the buyer helped you build that number rather than hearing you assert it.
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Your champion can defend the business case in a room you are not in, because it is framed as a business decision and not a product purchase.
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Price conversations open on the cost of the problem, so the number lands as a comparison rather than a figure to negotiate down.
FAQ
Quick answers.
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What is a Problem-Impact-Cause picture?
It is the core Gap Selling discovery structure: the buyer's problem, the impact that problem has on the business, and the root cause underneath it. Keenan coaches you to fill all three for a real prospect, because positioning built on a quantified problem competes on the cost of inaction rather than on feature comparison. -
Keenan does not know my product. How can he sharpen my positioning?
He coaches the structure, not your feature list. Good positioning is about naming the buyer's problem and quantifying its cost, which is methodology, not product knowledge. You bring what your product does; Keenan makes sure it is framed against a problem the buyer will pay to fix. -
Can Keenan help me quantify impact when I do not have the buyer's numbers?
Yes. He coaches you to build the number with the buyer in discovery rather than guess it. A cost of inaction the buyer helped construct is one they believe; one you assert is one they discount. -
Does this work for a methodology other than Gap Selling?
The problem-first principle is methodology-agnostic and Keenan will work it alongside MEDDPICC, MEDDIC, or SPIN if you ask. For positioning anchored specifically in the ValueSelling Framework, Val is the Enterprise coach delivered with the ValueSelling team. -
Is this about marketing messaging or sales conversations?
Sales conversations. This use case is about how an individual rep frames the problem, the impact, and the value in a live deal, not about campaign or website copy.
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