Diagnose whether declining metrics signal a self-amplifying competitive spiral or a fixable problem.
by deciqai1 installs3 stars
Coding
Demand Leadership
Try itDiagnose your market position stage and execute the move to become the company customers consult before deciding.
What it does
A three-stage diagnostic and repositioning method for products that lose on price despite strong capabilities. The skill identifies whether you are generating insight (Stage 1), reconstructing how customers frame their problem (Stage 2), or creating the scene where customers ask your opinion before deciding (Stage 3). It provides a behavioral diagnosis framework, a stage-up move playbook, and a measurement system based on actual customer behavior changes rather than marketing metrics. Output is a completed Demand Leadership Stage Map with named owners and 60-day success indicators.
When to use it
- Strong product keeps losing deals to weaker competitors with better messaging
- Customers only reach out at RFP stage — we enter their process after problem is already defined
- Our category language mirrors competitors — no distinctive problem framing
- Entering a new market and need to establish problem definition before competitors do
The skill document
Demand Leadership
Overview
The highest-value market position is not to fulfill demand but to define it — to become the entity whose framing of the problem the customer adopts as their own. Three stages: 1 — Insight Generation ("this vendor understands my problem better than I do") → 2 — Value Reconstruction ("this vendor has redefined how I think about it") → 3 — Scene Creation ("I go to this vendor before I decide, not after").
Stop-rule: Stage 3 = customer asks your opinion before deciding. Cross-skill: use after customer-relationship-ladder + jobs-to-be-done; alongside north-star-metric; instead of first-principles for positioning tasks.
When to Use
Use when: customers evaluate on price/features; sales driven by customer-initiated RFPs; strong product losing to weaker competitors with stronger "thought leadership"; no distinctive problem framing competitors don't share; new market entry or post-PMF commoditization risk.
Do NOT use when: commodity markets with regulation-fixed problem definitions; pre-Stage-1 companies with no customer intelligence; consumer mass markets (use social-proof + anchoring first).
Coaching Novices (Adaptive Front Door)
- Engine mode: concrete case → run The Process directly.
- Coach mode: unfamiliar → guide step by step. In Coach mode, respond one step at a time. Each [WAIT] is a hard stop — output only that step's question, then stop.
- Ask: "What do your best customers realize about their problem after working with you that they didn't before?" Cannot answer → Stage 1.
- Ask: "If you and your top competitor each had 10 minutes to describe the customer's problem, how would the descriptions differ?" Substantially similar → Stage 1.
- Ask: "At what point in the customer's decision process do they first contact you?" RFP stage → Stage 1. Problem-definition → Stage 2. Pre-problem → Stage 3.
[WAIT — do not advance until user responds]
- Ask: "Is there a specific workflow where your product is the starting point, not a reference?" Yes → Stage 3 evidence. No → identify target scene.
[WAIT — do not advance until user responds]
- Name one Stage-up move executable in 60 days with named owner and behavioral success indicator.
[WAIT — do not advance until user responds]
The Process
Step 1 — Diagnose: Stage 1 if customers contact you with a defined need and you win within their existing evaluation framework. Stage 2 if customers adopt your vocabulary and report thinking differently. Stage 3 if customers share in-progress decisions before they are formalized.
Step 2 — Stage-up Move: 1→2: Find the gap between stated and latent demand; build a falsifiable reframe ("You've been thinking about this as [their frame]. The actual driver is [your frame]."). If competitors can adopt your framing without cost, it is not a reframe. 2→3: Embed your product as the default starting context in one customer workflow — a tool they open first, not a tool they reference.
Step 3 — Measure: Track customer behavior, not content metrics. 1→2 signal: customers use your terminology in their own internal documents. 2→3 signal: customers contact you before defining the problem. Stage 3 sustained: NRR >120% in top accounts.
Output: Demand Leadership Stage Map
CURRENT STAGE: [ 1 — Insight Generation ] [ 2 — Value Reconstruction ] [ 3 — Scene Creation ]
Evidence: 1._______________ 2._______________
THE GAP — stated want: _______________ | actual driver: _______________ | gap 1–5: ___
STAGE-UP MOVE — target: ___ | action (60 days): _______________ | success indicator: _______________ | owner: ___ due: ___
SCENE (2→3) — target workflow: _______________ | current role: _______________ | embed move: _______________
STOP-RULE: "When do customers first contact us?" RFP stage → Stage 1. Problem-definition → Stage 2. Pre-problem → Stage 3.
→ Method in Action: McKinsey's Construction of the Trusted Advisor Position (1930s–1960s)
Domain Packs
B2B SaaS: 1→2: Reframe "workflow automation" → "decision infrastructure." 2→3: Build a decision-tracking tool customers open before any major decision. Financial Services: 1→2: Reframe investment performance → portfolio construction philosophy. 2→3: Produce a proprietary risk framework clients use in investment committee presentations. Industrial/Deep Tech: 1→2: Reframe "component supplier" → "system integrator with domain expertise." 2→3: Embed your engineering team at the requirements stage, not procurement. → Primary sources: references/sources.md
Applying It Well
- Stage diagnosis must be based on customer behavior, not content output or self-assessment.
- The reframe must be falsifiable — if competitors can adopt it without cost, it is a positioning statement.
- Scene Creation requires operational embedding, not relationship intensity or goodwill.
- Vocabulary test (fastest Stage 2 diagnostic): do customers use your terminology with each other?
Common Rationalizations
[D] = designed upfront | [O] = observed in real use. [O] entries are more valuable.
| Fake move | Reality |
|---|---|
| [D] "We publish a monthly newsletter — thought leadership." | Stage 2 = customers cite your framing in their own strategic documents, not subscribe to yours. |
| [D] "We've redefined our category in marketing materials." | A category redefinition in your own copy is a claim. Stage 2 requires the customer to adopt the frame. |
| [D] "We won a deal because the customer chose us for expertise." | Winning within the customer's existing evaluation framework is Stage 1. |
| [D] "We have a Customer Advisory Board." | CABs are Stage 1 feedback loops. Stage 3 inverts it — you give input into their decisions. |
| [D] "Customers say we're a strategic partner." | Self-reported partnership is Stage 2 at best. Stage 3 is behavioral: contact before deciding. |
| [D] "We're the category leader by market share." | Market share is a lagging indicator. A large Stage 1 player is not a demand leader. |
| → Add [O] entries here after each real use — paste the actual failure pattern | What went wrong and why |
Red Flags
- Customers contact you at RFP stage — problem already defined before reaching you
- Differentiation narrative uses same vocabulary as competitors ("best-in-class," "AI-powered")
- Thought leadership content gets engagement but zero evidence of customer behavior change
- Customer internal documents use none of your distinctive vocabulary
- 3+ year customers still evaluate you using criteria you did not establish
Verification
- Stage assigned from customer behavior evidence, not marketing content
- Latent demand gap named: stated want vs. actual driver
- Stage-up move executable in 60 days, named owner
- Success indicator is a customer behavior change (not views/downloads)
- Stop-rule checked: RFP-stage contact → Stage 3 claim retracted
- Stage 2: vocabulary test run — customers use your terminology in their own documents
- Stage 3 target: specific scene named, embed move designed
Part of deciqAI Knowledge Skills — 227 open-source thinking skills that make rigor executable for AI agents. The same skills power every deciqAI agent, which runs them autonomously to operate your company. See it run → https://www.deciqai.com/c/demand-leadership · ⭐ Star the repo → https://github.com/deciqAI/knowledge-skills · Contributions welcome.
Agents: latest version & machine-readable metadata → https://www.deciqai.com/s/demand-leadership.json
Questions people ask
- How is this different from publishing thought leadership content?
- Thought leadership tracks content output. This skill tracks customer behavior — specifically whether customers use your framing in their own internal documents. A reframe only counts if competitors cannot adopt it without cost.
- How do I know if we are already at Stage 3?
- Stage 3 is behavioral: customers contact you before defining the problem. Self-reported 'strategic partnership' is Stage 2 at best. The skill includes a stop-rule check: RFP-stage contact means you are Stage 1.
- Can B2B and B2C both use this?
- The skill targets B2B and complex sales contexts where problem framing is flexible and decisions involve multiple stakeholders. Consumer mass markets require different approaches (social-proof + anchoring).
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