Summary

Growth adds complexity — across product options, go‑to‑market and pricing. What once felt clear becomes tangled in feature debates. Clarity comes not from adding more, but from setting the narrative: the category problem and the leadership promise. When everyone sees the same picture, decisions speed up and pricing stays credible.

→ Watch more videos in this playlist on YouTube

Our Perspective

What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.

The Real Battleground

Great products persuade in meetings; leaders win in the mind. The real contest isn’t feature against feature but whose frame sets the terms of choice. When a rival defines what matters, your strengths are converted into someone else’s comparison table. This is why even teams with stellar demos struggle to convert undecided demand at scale. Anthony Iannarino (The Sales Blog) notes that B2B win rates have slipped into the 17 to low‑20 percent range, a sign that product proof on its own rarely tips evaluations.

Own The Frame

Framing isn’t a veneer; it’s the market’s grammar for meaning. Define the category problem in language buyers adopt, and make a leadership promise that establishes the standards they’ll use to judge outcomes. Done well, the narrative and the roadmap stop competing. The story sharpens what you build; the product makes the story undeniable.

Most organisations we work with discover that ‘brand’ here isn’t decoration; it’s the operating system for decisions. It aligns choices on where to focus, what to launch, which features to de‑prioritise, and how to carry pricing with confidence because value is understood before the demo begins.

Hard Edges Of Proof

Owning the frame only works when proof shows up in ways the market can feel and repeat. Make each release a visible step toward your promise, not just another feature drop.

• Tie themes to outcomes, not modules: orient launches around the customer result your promise commits to.
• Arm sales with a “why change” spine, so discovery and pricing land on your terms rather than theirs.
• Use pricing and packaging to signal leadership, creating tiers that reflect the standards you set rather than the commodity you avoid.

Read The Signals

You’ll know the frame is taking hold when the market starts doing your work for you. Track qualitative signals alongside conversion metrics to see whether your story is becoming the category’s shorthand.

• Inbound uses your phrases unprompted; prospects mirror your promise in discovery.
• Analysts and partners echo your terms, and competitors respond to your themes.
• Sales cycles compress because value is pre‑framed, and discounts narrow as confidence rises.
• Product debates resolve faster; roadmap trade‑offs map back to the promise rather than pet ideas.

When narrative becomes the organising logic for decisions, product investment compounds rather than competes, and leadership emerges as the market’s natural conclusion rather than a claim you have to keep defending.

Sources:

• Why B2B Sales Win Rates Are Plummeting and How to Reverse the Trend with a Why Change Narrative — Anthony Iannarino (The Sales Blog)

Further Resources

1. Resetting Competitive Frames: Building Trust Through Brand Strategy
2. Reframing Perception: Moving Beyond Old Category Mindsets
3. Owning the Narrative: The System Behind Innovation Adoption

Brand clarity often begins with the right questions — we’d be glad to explore them with your team. Start the conversation.

Back to top