This article is based on Scott Jones’s talk at the Product Marketing Summit in San Francisco. As a PMA member, you can enjoy the complete recording here. 

How do you create tangible, concrete, and quantifiable ways to describe your product’s differentiated capabilities? It’s a question I’ve been focused on for the last 25 years as a product marketer – and one that can turn potential customers into loyal advocates.

My name is Scott Jones, and I’m currently the SVP of Marketing at Agentsync. At my core, I’m a PMM. I’ve launched hundreds of solutions, worked with incredible companies, and worn many hats – from founder and developer to pre-sales engineer and product manager. But what excites me most is the process: understanding the entire journey, from solution design through to marketing and sales.

Over the years, I’ve seen one metric rise above all others: win rate. It’s the ultimate measure of great product marketing – and, for that matter, great go-to-market strategy. If you’ve got well-positioned, well-messaged solutions, supported by strong demand marketing and a well-equipped sales team, you’re going to see results.

So today, I’m going to give you the tools to differentiate your product, increase your win rate by 10% quarter over quarter, and, ultimately, become a better product marketer.

Let’s get into it.

What drives change in B2B buyers?

To win the hearts and minds of future customers, you need to understand why they would make a change in the first place – because change is hard. Psychologically speaking, we’re wired to resist it. Whether it’s survival instincts or confirmation bias, sticking with the status quo often feels safer.

But here’s the thing: without a compelling reason to change, nothing happens. And when nothing happens, opportunities stall, decisions get delayed, and deals end with the bane of my existence – no decision. 

As product marketers, it’s our job to overcome that resistance. We do it by showing how our solution isn’t just different, but better. Tangible, quantifiable differentiation gives customers the confidence to leave the status quo behind and move forward with you. And in a B2B environment, the decision to change always comes down to financial outcomes or business drivers. 

I've identified four key reasons why a B2B organization would make a change:

  • More for less: Better outcomes with less investment.
    These organizations want to boost both their top line and bottom line. In other words, they want their cake and to eat it too. This is where most customers start.
  • More for the same: Better outcomes with the same investment.
    They’re looking to achieve more without increasing time, effort, or resources. It’s all about increasing productivity or throughput, primarily driving top-line growth.
  • More for more: Better outcomes with more investment.
    You typically see this only in organizations that are expanding into new markets and are willing to spend more to make more. These are golden opportunities – if you find them, go after them!
  • The same for less: The same outcomes with less investment.
    These customers are focused on efficiency and cost savings. Often, they start out wanting more for less but realize their priority is to save money.

What are you really competing against?

To truly differentiate your product, you need to understand what you’re being compared against. After all, differentiation doesn’t exist in a vacuum – it’s always a comparison. In B2B settings, there are three main competitors to consider:

  1. The status quo: How does your solution improve upon their existing way of doing things? The status quo is often manual, error-prone, and heavily reliant on people. It might seem familiar to your customer, but it’s rarely efficient.
  2. Internal development: Can you beat an in-house team building a custom solution? While internal development can be quick to market, it’s typically expensive to maintain, lacks ongoing innovation, and eventually gets deprioritized.
  3. Alternative vendors: How do you stack up against your direct competitors? Most product marketers focus here from the start – but don’t underestimate the competition from inertia or internal solutions. 

Your job is to show why your solution isn’t just another option – it’s the better choice. The more clearly you can demonstrate this, the easier it becomes for your customers to see why moving forward with you is worth it.