“SaaS Sally.” Mid-30s. Drinks cold brew. Loves Peloton. “Enjoys optimizing workflows.”
And everyone nods like this Frankenstein’s-monster-of-vibes is going to tell us something meaningful about how real humans buy software.
Meanwhile, your actual buyer is a VP of Ops doom-scrolling your pricing page at 9:47 p.m., trying to avoid another quarter that looks like a crime scene. No one has ever asked her about Peloton.
Here’s the truth: Most personas are fiction for internal consumption. Real positioning is built on how actual humans make decisions under pressure.
Let’s fix it.
1. Why Traditional Personas Fail (and Always Will)
They fail because they describe people you wish you were selling to, not the humans forced to make choices.
The classics usually share a few crimes:
Built from brainstorm + vibes, not actual decision data.
Obsessed with demographics and hobbies, allergic to pressure and context.
Updated once a quarter-year, then left to decompose in Google Drive.
Marketing writes for cartoon characters while sales closes real, sweaty humans.
Here’s a typical persona list, annotated like a disappointed English teacher:
“Greg, 34, lives in Austin.” Irrelevant unless you’re selling brisket.
“Enjoys fintech podcasts.” Not a decision driver.
“Data-driven.” Congratulations to everyone in 2025.
None of this tells you why they buy. None of this tells you what breaks in their world. None of this helps you position anything.
2. The Shift: From Persona to Decision Archetype
A decision archetype doesn’t describe who they are. It explains how they decide.
Three questions unlock almost everything:
What was the moment they realized they had a problem? (Not generically. The week it broke.)
What risk scares them most? Budget? Reputation? Wasting a quarter?
What had already failed before they got to you? Their past failures shape your future positioning.
If you want to go deeper, add a bonus question:
- What’s the hidden constraint? The political landmine. The board mandate. The freeze. The “don’t mess this up again.”
These answers become the backbone of your messaging:
What you promise.
What you refuse to promise.
Which objections you preempt.
Which customers should self-select out.
3. Example: Rewriting a Persona Into a Decision Archetype
Old Persona “Growth Greg, 34, Head of Growth at a Series B startup, lives in Austin, listens to fintech podcasts, cares about experimentation, very data-driven.”
Cute. Useless.
New Decision Archetype “The owner of a leaky funnel who’s already under pressure from the board. He’s tried ‘more traffic’ and ‘more content’ and now needs fewer, better bets that move core metrics within 1–2 quarters. Terrified of wasting another quarter explaining an experiment that ‘just needs more time.’”
Now watch how this changes everything:
Homepage headline: “For teams who can’t afford another quarter of experiments that don’t move revenue.”
Core promise: “We help you cut noisy bets and double down on work that actually compounds.”
Disqualifier: “If you’re still solving for ‘more awareness,’ we’re not your shop.”
Suddenly your brand has a spine.
4. How to Discover Your Real Archetypes (Without a Research Budget)
Talk to humans. Shocking, I know.
Who to interview:
3–5 closed-won customers
2–3 closed-lost who almost picked you
1–2 people who were annoyed during the process (They give you clarity nobody else will.)
Ask questions like:
“What was happening in your world the week you started looking for a solution like ours?”
“What were you worried would happen if this didn’t work?”
“What had you already tried?”
“What would’ve made you say no to us, even if we were cheaper?”
“What almost made you choose someone else?”
Pattern-match their answers into 2–3 archetypes, not 12 micro-segments. If you need more than three, you don’t have a research problem. You have a focus problem.
5. How Decision Archetypes Sharpen Your Positioning
Website copy Each archetype gets one line that makes them feel seen:
“For teams who’ve already tried ‘more traffic’ and now need conversion, not bigger ad budgets.”
Offers & packaging
Risk-averse buyer → pilot projects, guarantees, low-commitment starts.
Speed-obsessed buyer → “days not months,” fast starts, done-with-you sprints.
Content strategy Every piece of content becomes pre-sale decision support, not thought-leadership wallpaper.
If your post doesn’t answer an archetype’s question, fear, or objection, it’s noise.
6. The Persona Bonfire (Cleanse Your Notion Folder)
Throw out anything that answers:
Where they live
Their hobbies
Their favorite podcasts
Their artisanal beverage choices
“What’s in their bag”
Any detail that sounds like a lifestyle blog
Keep anything that answers:
What broke
Who’s mad
What they’re terrified of repeating
What would be politically disastrous
What story they’ll tell internally to justify choosing you
Burn the rest. Your positioning will breathe again.
7. A Simple Exercise to Close
Pick your best current customer.
Write one paragraph describing:
The moment they realized everything had to change.
What they’d already tried.
What they were afraid of.
What they needed to protect (budget, credibility, their job).
Now ask: Does my homepage speak to this person, at this moment, or to “SaaS Sally”?
Hit reply with your rewritten archetype. I’ll pick a few and break them down in a future post.