“If our product didn't exist, what would you use instead?”
From April Dunford · Author of Obviously Awesome
Why it works
Most teams define their competitive set by looking at the market from their own vantage point — they list direct product rivals and stop there. But customers often 'hire' a product against radically different alternatives: a spreadsheet, an intern, doing nothing, a legacy habit. Dunford's insight is that your differentiated value only makes sense relative to the alternative the customer actually has in mind. If you pick the wrong frame — say, positioning against a SaaS tool when the real competition is a manual process — every feature you highlight lands in the wrong category. This question forces the customer to reveal the competitive frame before you accidentally impose yours.
When to ask
Early in a customer or prospect interview, before you present any competitive framing of your own. Also invaluable in win-loss calls to understand which alternative was really on the table.
Good follow-ups
- What would be the hardest part about switching back to that?
- What does our product give you that the alternative doesn't?
- Have you ever actually used that alternative, or is it more of a backup plan?
Watch out for
Customers sometimes answer with a brand name they've heard rather than what they'd genuinely revert to. Ask a second probe: 'And before you found us, was that actually what you were doing?' — this surfaces the real behavior, not the theoretical alternative.
Where to ask
- User interviewgreat
The follow-up is where the value lives — live, you can press on the surprising answer until the real competitive frame surfaces.
- In-product surveyworkable
Works as a single open-text question at the end of onboarding or after a key action; answers cluster well enough to code into alternatives.
Stage: Consider · A question popularized by April Dunford
Source: https://www.aprildunford.com/post/a-quickstart-guide-to-positioning