The challenge
Poka Health sold clinical workflow software into mid-sized hospital groups. Their product consistently beat incumbents in trials, but they were losing deals to bigger names and discounting 30% to close. Every salesperson pitched the product differently, and the website read like a feature list. They were competing as a cheaper alternative rather than a better one.
What we did
Interviewed 24 buyers and 9 lost deals
The research was blunt: buyers didn't understand what category Poka was in. They were being compared against generic EHR add-ons — a comparison Poka could only lose on price.
Defined a new category frame
We repositioned Poka from 'clinical workflow software' to 'shift-level care coordination' — a frame where the incumbents genuinely had no answer, and where Poka's real differentiator became the buying criterion.
Rebuilt the identity and messaging
New positioning statement, messaging framework, and a full identity system. Critically, we wrote the sales team's language too — objection responses, discovery questions, and a one-page narrative every rep could deliver identically.
Built the content authority layer
Thirty-eight pieces of bottom-funnel content targeting the new category language, plus an original benchmark study on nurse handoff errors that earned 94 referring domains.
The result
Within nine months Poka's average contract value rose 61% and discounting fell from a 30% norm to 8%. Sales cycle shortened 38% as buyers arrived already understanding the category. Organic traffic grew 312% and now generates 41% of qualified pipeline.
“The repositioning work paid for itself in the first two closed deals. We stopped being the cheap option and started being the obvious one. Our reps say discovery calls feel completely different now.”