A few months ago, a client came to me with a problem I’ve seen too many times. They had an incredible product. Honestly, one of the most capable platforms in their entire category. Tons of features. Tons of power. Tons of potential.
But that was the issue.
It was too much.
Sales calls were dragging. Messaging felt scattered. And every conversation turned into a guided tour of every button and every module.
If you’ve ever tried selling “the whole thing,” you know what happens next, right? Your buyer gets overwhelmed, teams get inconsistent, and the story gets blurry.
So before we touched a single campaign, we paused. We zoomed out. We asked the question most teams skip…
“What category are we actually leading?”
Because campaigns weren’t the issue. The category was.
The Real Problem. Too Much Product, Not Enough Point of View
When I dug in, everything became clear. The client wasn’t losing deals because their product lacked value. They were losing because the story lacked clarity.
They were selling the entire platform. Every feature, every workflow, every dashboard. It made demos complicated. It made messaging inconsistent. And internally, no 2 people described the product the same way. Leadership, sales, marketing… everyone had their own version.
They didn’t have a hill to die on.
They didn’t have a villain.
They didn’t have a clear narrative.
They had a great product and no category to anchor it. So we rebuilt everything, starting with a simple shift.
Sell less. Say more.
The Breakthrough. One Entry Point. One Story.
Instead of selling the entire platform, we chose one module. The one that delivered the clearest ROI and the cleanest transformation. That single module became the front door to the entire company.
And once we made that decision, the category POV almost wrote itself.
The enemy wasn’t competitors. It was the software-first mindset that the whole industry had adopted. The belief that customers should reorganize their entire business just to fit someone else’s software.
Our new stance flipped that. Your internal process should lead. Your software should follow.
That one line became the lighthouse. Everything else aligned around it.
Leadership bought in. Sales finally had a simple, powerful story. Marketing had a point of view strong enough to anchor a full funnel.
Why This Matters for You
Most CEOs think they have a marketing problem. Most don’t.
They have a category problem.
If the story isn’t clear, the campaigns won’t be. If your team can’t say the same thing the same way, buyers won’t believe it. And if your product “does everything,” the market won’t know what to do with it.
Categories create clarity. Clarity creates alignment. Alignment creates predictable growth.
It really is that simple.
So Here’s My Challenge for You This Week
Look at your product — or your service — and ask yourself:
Are we selling the whole thing because we can?
Or are we selling the one thing that actually moves people?
Do we have a real point of view?
Would a stranger understand what we believe, who we serve, and why we’re different?
If the answer feels fuzzy, that’s your signal.
Before you chase another campaign, claim your category.
Want More?
This is the kind of thinking I break down every week. Real GTM systems, category POV work, and the plays I use with CEO and Founder-led B2B companies to build predictable pipeline.
Talk soon,
– Javy
