Skill: alirezarezvani/cs-competitive-intel (version 1.0.0)

--- name: "competitive-intel" description: "Systematic competitor tracking that feeds CMO positioning, CRO battlecards, and CPO roadmap decisions. Use when analyzing competitors, building sales battlecards, tracking market moves, positioning against alternatives, or when user mentions competitive intelligence, competitive analysis, competitor research, battlecards, win/loss, or market positioning." license: MIT metadata: version: 1.0.0 author: Alireza Rezvani category: c-level domain: competitive-strategy updated: 2026-03-05 frameworks: ci-playbook, battlecard-template --- # Competitive Intelligence Systematic competitor tracking. Not obsession — intelligence that drives real decisions. ## Keywords competitive intelligence, competitor analysis, battlecard, win/loss analysis, competitive positioning, competitive tracking, market intelligence, competitor research, SWOT, competitive map, feature gap analysis, competitive strategy ## Quick Start ``` /ci:landscape — Map your competitive space (direct, indirect, future) /ci:battlecard [name] — Build a sales battlecard for a specific competitor /ci:winloss — Analyze recent wins and losses by reason /ci:update [name] — Track what a competitor did recently /ci:map — Build competitive positioning map ``` ## Framework: 5-Layer Intelligence System ### Layer 1: Competitor Identification **Direct competitors:** Same ICP, same problem, comparable solution, similar price point. **Indirect competitors:** Same budget, different solution (including "do nothing" and "build in-house"). **Future competitors:** Well-funded startups in adjacent space; large incumbents with stated roadmap overlap. **The 2x2 Threat Matrix:** | | Same ICP | Different ICP | |---|---|---| | **Same problem** | Direct threat | Adjacent (watch) | | **Different problem** | Displacement risk | Ignore for now | Update this quarterly. Who's moved quadrants? ### Layer 2: Tracking Dimensions Track these 8 dimensions per competitor: | Dimension | Sources | Cadence | |-----------|---------|---------| | **Product moves** | Changelog, G2/Capterra reviews, Twitter/LinkedIn | Monthly | | **Pricing changes** | Pricing page, sales call intel, customer feedback | Triggered | | **Funding** | Crunchbase, TechCrunch, LinkedIn | Triggered | | **Hiring signals** | LinkedIn job postings, Indeed | Monthly | | **Partnerships** | Press releases, co-marketing | Triggered | | **Customer wins** | Case studies, review sites, LinkedIn | Monthly | | **Customer losses** | Win/loss interviews, churned accounts | Ongoing | | **Messaging shifts** | Homepage, ads (Facebook/Google Ad Library) | Quarterly | ### Layer 3: Analysis Frameworks **SWOT per Competitor:** - Strengths: What do they do well? Where do they win? - Weaknesses: Where do they lose? What do customers complain about? - Opportunities: What could they do that would threaten you? - Threats: What's their existential risk? **Competitive Positioning Map (2 axis):** Choose axes that matter for your buyers: - Common: Price vs Feature Depth; Enterprise-ready vs SMB-ready; Easy to implement vs Configurable - Pick axes that show YOUR differentiation clearly **Feature Gap Analysis:** | Feature | You | Competitor A | Competitor B | Gap status | |---------|-----|-------------|-------------|------------| | [Feature] | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Your advantage | | [Feature] | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | Gap — roadmap? | | [Feature] | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | Moat | | [Feature] | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | Competitor B only | ### Layer 4: Output Formats **For Sales (CRO):** Battlecards — one page per competitor, designed for pre-call prep. See `templates/battlecard-template.md` **For Marketing (CMO):** Positioning update — message shifts, new differentiators, claims to stop or start making. **For Product (CPO):** Feature gap summary — what customers ask for that we don't have, what competitors ship, what to reprioritize. **For CEO/Board:** Monthly competitive summary — 1-page: who moved, what it means, recommended responses. ### Layer 5: Intelligence Cadence **Monthly (scheduled):** - Review all tier-1 competitors (direct threats, top 3) - Update battlecards with new intel - Publish 1-page summary to leadership **Triggered (event-based):** - Competitor raises funding → assess implications within 48 hours - Competitor launches major feature → product + sales response within 1 week - Competitor poaches key customer → win/loss interview within 2 weeks - Competitor changes pricing → analyze and respond within 1 week **Quarterly:** - Full competitive landscape review - Update positioning map - Refresh ICP competitive threat assessment - Add/remove companies from tracking list --- ## Win/Loss Analysis This is the highest-signal competitive data you have. Most companies do it too rarely. **When to interview:** - Every lost deal >$50K ACV - Every churn >6 months tenure - Every competitive win (learn why — it may not be what you think) **Who conducts it:** - NOT the AE who worked the deal (too close, prospect won't be candid) - Customer success, product team, or external researcher **Question structure:** 1. "Walk me through your evaluation process" 2. "Who else were you considering?" 3. "What were the top 3 criteria in your decision?" 4. "Where did [our product] fall short?" 5. "What was the deciding factor?" 6. "What would have changed your decision?" **Aggregate findings monthly:** - Win reasons (rank by frequency) - Loss reasons (rank by frequency) - Competitor win rates (by competitor, by segment) - Patterns over time --- ## The Balance: Intelligence Without Obsession **Signs you're over-tracking competitors:** - Roadmap decisions are primarily driven by "they just shipped X" - Team morale drops when competitors fundraise - You're shipping features you don't believe in to match their checklist - Pricing discussions always start with "well, they charge X" **Signs you're under-tracking:** - Your AEs get blindsided on calls - Prospects know more about competitors than your team does - You missed a major product launch until customers told you - Your positioning hasn't changed in 12+ months despite market moves **The right posture:** - Know competitors well enough to win against them - Don't let them set your agenda - Your roadmap is led by customer problems, informed by competitive gaps --- ## Distributing Intelligence | Audience | Format | Cadence | Owner | |----------|--------|---------|-------| | AEs + SDRs | Updated battlecards in CRM | Monthly + triggered | CRO | | Product | Feature gap analysis | Quarterly | CPO | | Marketing | Positioning brief | Quarterly | CMO | | Leadership | 1-page competitive summary | Monthly | CEO/COO | | Board | Competitive landscape slide | Quarterly | CEO | **One source of truth:** All competitive intel lives in one place (Notion, Confluence, Salesforce). Avoid Slack-only distribution — it disappears. --- ## Red Flags in Competitive Intelligence | Signal | What it means | |--------|---------------| | Competitor's win rate >50% in your core segment | Fundamental positioning problem, not sales problem | | Same objection from 5+ deals: "competitor has X" | Feature gap that's real, not just optics | | Competitor hired 10 engineers in your domain | Major product investment incoming | | Competitor raised >$20M and targets your ICP | 12-month runway for them to compete hard | | Prospects evaluate you to justify competitor decision | You're the "check box" — fix perception or segment | ## Integration with C-Suite Roles | Intelligence Type | Feeds To | Output Format | |------------------|----------|---------------| | Product moves | CPO | Roadmap input, feature gap analysis | | Pricing changes | CRO, CFO | Pricing response recommendations | | Funding rounds | CEO, CFO | Strategic positioning update | | Hiring signals | CHRO, CTO | Talent market intelligence | | Customer wins/losses | CRO, CMO | Battlecard updates, positioning shifts | | Marketing campaigns | CMO | Counter-positioning, channel intelligence | ## References - `references/ci-playbook.md` — OSINT sources, win/loss framework, positioning map construction - `templates/battlecard-template.md` — sales battlecard template

path: references/ci-playbook.md
content: # Competitive Intelligence Playbook

## OSINT Sources for Competitor Tracking

### Free, Reliable Sources

**Company & Product:**
- **Their website** — pricing page (archive.org for history), product changelog, careers page
- **G2 / Capterra / Trustpilot** — customer reviews; filter by recency; read 1-star reviews carefully
- **LinkedIn** — job postings signal roadmap; company page for headcount trend; employees for leaks
- **GitHub** — open source activity; what they're building; engineering team size; tech stack
- **Crunchbase / PitchBook** (free tier) — funding history, investors, team changes
- **BuiltWith** — tech stack they use; signals about infrastructure maturity

**Messaging & Positioning:**
- **Facebook Ad Library** — see their current ad copy and creative; what messages they're testing
- **Google Keyword Planner** — which keywords they're bidding on
- **SEMrush / Ahrefs** (free trial or limited) — their organic keywords, backlink profile
- **Wayback Machine** — homepage evolution over time; when positioning shifted
- **Their blog** — content strategy reveals priorities and ICP assumptions

**News & Events:**
- **TechCrunch, VentureBeat** — funding announcements, major launches
- **Twitter/X / LinkedIn** — CEO + founders; direct signals about strategy
- **Podcast appearances** — founders talk more openly on podcasts than press releases
- **Job descriptions** — "Senior Engineer - Payments" means they're building payments

### Paid (Worth It for Tier-1 Competitors)
- **G2 Buyer Intent** — which prospects are researching your competitor right now
- **Bombora** — intent data for account-level research signals
- **PitchBook** — funding, investors, valuation estimates
- **Klue / Crayon / Kompyte** — dedicated CI platforms that aggregate automatically

### Primary Research (Best Signal)
- **Win/loss interviews** — the single highest-signal source (see below)
- **Talk to churned customers** — why did they switch? To whom?
- **Talk to their customers** — LinkedIn outreach; honest conversations
- **Industry events** — competitor presentations reveal roadmap; talk to attendees
- **Former employees** — LinkedIn; respectful outreach; no NDA violations

---

## Competitive Battlecard Format

A battlecard is a 1-page (or single screen) document for sales reps to reference before and during calls.

**Design principles:**
- Written for a rep with 2 minutes to prep, not a product manager
- Action-oriented: tells reps what to SAY, not just what to know
- Updated monthly at minimum; never more than 90 days old

### Battlecard Structure

```
COMPETITOR: [Name]
Last updated: [Date] | Owner: [Name]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

THE 30-SECOND SUMMARY
[One paragraph. Who they are, who they sell to, why they win.]

THEIR STRENGTHS (know these — don't dismiss them)
• [Strength 1] — what customers actually love about them
• [Strength 2]
• [Strength 3]

THEIR REAL WEAKNESSES (from win/loss data, not assumptions)
• [Weakness 1] — source: [customer quote / win/loss theme]
• [Weakness 2]
• [Weakness 3]

OUR DIFFERENTIATED ADVANTAGES
• [Advantage 1] — proof point: [metric/customer/case study]
• [Advantage 2] — proof point:
• [Advantage 3] — proof point:

COMMON OBJECTIONS + RESPONSES
"They have [feature] and you don't."
→ [Response. Acknowledge, reframe, redirect.]

"They're cheaper."
→ [Response with ROI angle or TCO comparison.]

"They're more established / bigger."
→ [Response. Size isn't always advantage; use to your benefit.]

TRAP-SETTING QUESTIONS (ask these early to shift the eval criteria)
• "How important is [your differentiator] to your team?"
• "Have you looked at [pain point they create]?"
• "What happens to your workflow when [their known limitation occurs]?"

WHEN WE WIN
• [Segment or scenario where we almost always beat them]
• [Use case where we're clearly stronger]

WHEN WE LOSE (be honest)
• [Scenario where they're genuinely better — don't fight these battles]
• [Segment where they have structural advantages]

DO NOT SAY
• Don't claim [X] — it's not true and they'll call it out
• Don't say [Y] — prospect will already know it and it sounds desperate
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
```

---

## Win/Loss Analysis Framework

### Why Most Companies Do This Wrong
- They survey instead of interview (surveys get polite answers)
- The AE conducts it (too emotionally invested; prospect won't be candid)
- They do it 6 months after the decision (memory fades)
- They look for confirmation of what they believe

### The Right Process

**Timing:** Within 30 days of deal closed/lost/churned.
**Interviewer:** Customer success, product, or external researcher. Never the AE.
**Duration:** 30 minutes (budget 45).
**Incentive:** $100 gift card gets you 80% acceptance. Worth it.

**Interview Guide:**

*Opening:*
"I'm [name] from [company]. I'm not in sales — I'm trying to understand what drove your decision so we can improve. There's nothing you can say that will change the outcome. I just want honest feedback."

*Core questions:*
1. "Can you walk me through your evaluation process from the beginning?"
2. "Who were the key stakeholders involved in the decision?"
3. "What were the 3 most important criteria you were evaluating against?"
4. "Which vendors did you seriously consider?"
5. "Where did [company] fall short of your expectations?" (For losses)
   OR "What tipped the decision in [company]'s favor?" (For wins)
6. "Was price a factor? How significant?"
7. "What would have had to be different for you to choose [us / the other option]?"
8. "Any advice for our team on how we handled the process?"

**Data aggregation:**
- Tag every response: [criterion], [competitor mentioned], [product gap], [sales process], [price], [trust/credibility]
- Monthly rollup: top 5 win reasons, top 5 loss reasons, competitor win rate
- Share with: CEO, CRO, CPO, CMO — not just sales

---

## Competitive Positioning Map Construction

A positioning map shows where you sit relative to competitors on 2 dimensions that BUYERS care about.

### Step 1: Choose Your Axes
- Pick dimensions that actually drive purchase decisions in your segment
- At least one axis should be where you win
- Avoid generic axes ("feature-rich vs. simple" tells you nothing)

**Good axis pairs:**
- Implementation time (days vs. months) × Customization depth
- Price point × Enterprise readiness
- Automation level × Human-in-the-loop control
- Time-to-value × Total cost of ownership

**Bad axes:**
- Quality (too vague)
- "Innovation" (unmeasurable)
- Any axis where all competitors cluster in the same spot

### Step 2: Place Competitors Objectively
- Use customer quotes and win/loss data to justify placement
- Don't place competitors where you WANT them — where they ACTUALLY are
- If you're unsure, ask 5 customers to place them

### Step 3: Find and Name Your White Space
- Where is there a position no competitor holds?
- Is that white space there because it's valuable (opportunity) or worthless (avoid)?
- Can you credibly occupy it?

### Step 4: Test Your Positioning
- Show the map to 5 prospects: "Does this match your perception?"
- Show it to 5 lost prospects: "Where would you place [the winner] and us?"
- Adjust until map matches buyer reality, not internal perception

---

## Intelligence Sharing Across Roles

### What Each Role Needs and When

**CRO (Sales):**
- Needs: Battlecards, win rates by competitor, competitor objections + responses
- Cadence: Updated battlecards monthly; triggered updates on major competitor moves
- Format: 1-pager per competitor in CRM, linked from deal record

**CMO (Marketing):**
- Needs: Messaging shifts, new claims, ad spend signals, keyword battles
- Cadence: Quarterly positioning review, triggered on major launches
- Format: Positioning brief with recommended response to messaging shifts

**CPO (Product):**
- Needs: Feature gap analysis, competitor roadmap signals (job postings, changelog), what we lose to
- Cadence: Monthly feature gap update, triggered on major launches
- Format: Feature comparison matrix + gap prioritization recommendation

**CTO (Engineering):**
- Needs: Tech stack signals, infrastructure approaches, scale they've achieved
- Cadence: Quarterly
- Format: Technical comparison notes, relevant for architectural decisions

**CEO:**
- Needs: Summary of threat landscape, recommended responses, board-level narrative
- Cadence: Monthly 1-pager + quarterly deep dive
- Format: 1-page brief: who moved, what it means, what we do

### The Single Source of Truth Rule
All competitive intel in one place. Suggest:
- Notion database per competitor: profile, battlecard, changelog, win/loss notes
- Slack channel: `#competitive-intel` for real-time triggered alerts
- Monthly digest email to leadership

If it lives only in Slack, it disappears. If it lives only in a wiki that nobody reads, it doesn't matter. Combine both.

---

## How to Track Without Obsessing

**Set up the system, then let it run:**
- Google Alerts for competitor names + CEO names
- LinkedIn Saved Searches for their job postings
- Klue/Crayon if budget allows (automated aggregation)
- Monthly 60-minute competitive review meeting (not 4 hours)

**What to do when competitor makes a big move:**
1. Read the announcement objectively
2. Talk to 3 customers: "Did you see this? What do you think?"
3. Assess: does this change any buying criteria in your deals?
4. If yes: update battlecard and positioning within 1 week
5. If no: log it, move on

**The test:** After reviewing a competitor move, do you feel urgency to ship something? If yes, you're reacting. The right feeling is "noted — let's see if customers care."


path: templates/battlecard-template.md
content: # Sales Battlecard Template

**COMPETITOR:** [Name]
**Last updated:** [YYYY-MM-DD] | **Owner:** [Name]
**Win rate vs this competitor:** [X]% | **Deals tracked:** [N]

---

## 30-Second Summary
[Who they are. Who they target. Why they win. What they're known for. 3-4 sentences max.]

---

## Their Strengths
*Know these. Don't dismiss them. Prospects have already heard their pitch.*

- **[Strength]:** [What customers genuinely love; source if available]
- **[Strength]:** [Specific capability or trait]
- **[Strength]:** [Brand, market position, or ecosystem advantage]

---

## Their Real Weaknesses
*From win/loss data only — not wishful thinking.*

- **[Weakness]:** "[Customer quote]" — seen in [N] deals
- **[Weakness]:** [Documented limitation with evidence]
- **[Weakness]:** [Implementation, support, or pricing issue]

---

## Our Differentiated Advantages
*Must be real and provable. Each needs a proof point.*

- **[Advantage]:** [Proof: metric / customer quote / case study]
- **[Advantage]:** [Proof]
- **[Advantage]:** [Proof]

---

## Common Objections + Responses

**"They have [feature X] and you don't."**
> [Acknowledge. Reframe to your strength. Redirect to outcome.
> "You're right that they have X. What we've found is that customers who care most about X tend to also care about [Y], where we're significantly stronger. Can I show you [specific example]?"]

**"They're cheaper."**
> [Don't fight on price. Reframe to TCO or ROI.
> "They are lower in initial cost. Most customers find the total cost over 12 months is actually comparable when you factor in [implementation time / support costs / integrations]. Want to walk through that?"]

**"They've been around longer / they're more established."**
> [Reframe tenure as potential liability or irrelevance.
> "Their longevity means they have a lot of technical debt and a big customer base that pulls their roadmap in every direction. Our customers tell us that's exactly why they chose us — we move faster and we're laser-focused on [their specific use case]."]

**"[Competitor] is already used by [big customer they respect]."**
> [Name-drop your wins in their segment.
> "We work with [comparable logo]. Want me to connect you with their [role] to ask how they made the decision?"]

---

## Trap-Setting Questions
*Ask early in discovery to establish criteria that favor you.*

- "How important is [your key differentiator] to your workflow?"
- "What happens when [their known limitation] occurs? Has that been an issue before?"
- "How long does your team typically take to onboard a new tool?"
- "Who manages the integration work — do you have dedicated engineering resources for that?"
- "What does your current vendor do when you need support?"

---

## When We Win
- [Scenario or segment where we consistently beat them]
- [Use case that plays to our strengths]
- [Buyer profile that prefers us]

## When We Lose (Be Honest)
- [Scenario where they genuinely win — don't fight here]
- [Segment where their strengths matter more than ours]

---

## Do NOT Say
- ❌ Don't claim [X] — it's not accurate and they'll check
- ❌ Don't attack [Y] — it backfires and makes us look insecure
- ❌ Don't say "we're better" without specifics — be concrete

---

## Recent Intel
*Last 90 days only. Older than 90 days: archive.*

- [Date]: [What happened — funding, product launch, pricing change, key hire]
- [Date]: [Customer feedback from win/loss interview]
- [Date]: [Any notable market move]

---

*Battlecards are only useful if current. If this is >90 days old, flag to [owner] for update.*


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