By Priya Shankar
Competitive battlecards are supposed to help sales close deals. Instead, they sit outdated in Salesforce, ignored.
The problem: they're written by marketing for marketing. They list features nobody cares about. They miss the real reasons prospects choose competitors.
What Makes a Battlecard Work
Sales has 10 minutes before a demo. They don't want analysis. They want:
- Three reasons this prospect chose Competitor X
- One specific story about Glue vs this competitor
- One question to ask the prospect
Everything else is noise.
The Three-Story Structure
Story 1: Why prospects pick the competitor
Not "Competitor X has Feature Y." Instead: "Competitors target engineering leaders, but most prospects are PMs who can't code. That's where Glue wins."
Story 2: Where they fall short
"Competitor X integrates with Jira, but doesn't understand your codebase. They organize feedback, not code."
Story 3: Glue's win condition
"When prospects need codebase understanding (not just feedback tools), they pick Glue."
Building Battlecards From Sales
Don't write in marketing. Interview sales reps who lose deals.
"Last time we lost to Competitor X, why did we lose? What was the prospect's problem? If you could tell the prospect one thing about us vs them, what would it be?"
You'll get honest answers. Those become your battlecard.
The Competitive Positioning Matrix
Create a simple 2x2:
Y-axis: Technical requirement X-axis: User type (PM / Engineer)
This helps sales qualify quickly. One question. One answer. One position.
The "Lost Deal" Autopsy
Every lost deal teaches you something. Interview the prospect if possible. Interview the sales rep. Update the battlecard.
Battlecards improve when you're learning from actual loss.
Formats That Work
Sales ignores PDFs. They use:
- Slack messages (searchable, shareable)
- Notion wiki (everyone can edit)
- Sales deck (quick reference)
- Email templates (copy/paste ready)
Make it easy to reference. Make it easier than making something up.
Quarterly Refresh
Every quarter, ask sales: "Is this still true? What's changed about the competitor? What's changed about how we win?"
Update monthly. Archive old ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many competitors should we have battlecards for?
Focus on 3-5 you actually compete with. Most companies lose to 3-4 specific competitors. Know those deeply.
Q: Should we mention competitors by name?
Yes. "Feedback tools" is vague. "Productboard" is clear.