Key takeaways
- One competitor per card, short enough to scan while the buyer is still talking.
- Admit where the competitor is strong; sellers who deny it lose credibility.
- Every claim about a competitor needs a source and a date, or it stays off the card.
- Good questions win more calls than rebuttals, so give each card a few.
What goes on a competitive battlecard
A competitive battlecard holds what a seller needs in the moment: who the competitor is, where you win, where they win, the landmines and the questions to ask. Leave out pricing guesses and anything heard second-hand; a seller who repeats an unverified claim to a buyer who knows better loses the point and some trust with it.
- Quick summary: what they sell, to whom, and how buyers usually describe them.
- Where we win: two or three situations, each tied to something the buyer can check.
- Where they win: an honest list, with how to respond without running them down.
- Landmines: questions that surface a gap the buyer cares about, and the ones the competitor plants about you.
- Discovery questions: what to ask to learn which situation you are in.
Where should competitor battlecard facts come from
Competitor facts should come from the competitor's own public pages and documentation, and from what buyers tell you directly, each with the date you saw it. Win and loss notes from your own deals are the richest source for the where-they-win section, because they record what real buyers said. Forum posts and analyst opinions are leads to check, not facts to repeat.
In Pebbles Ai, ask an assistant to research a competitor from its public pages. The answer carries numbered citations and a source list, and the researcher is instructed to back key claims with two independent sources where possible and to flag single-source ones, which shows you which lines to check before they reach the card.
How do you write where we win and where they win
Write both sections as situations rather than features: a kind of buyer, a need and the reason one product fits it better. A line that says which teams tend to choose you and why is more useful than a feature list, because the seller can test it with one question.
Be generous about where they win. If a competitor is stronger for some buyers, saying so and pointing to where you fit earns credibility, and it tells the seller when a deal is worth leaving early. Your own side should start from how your company describes its offerings, not from slogans.
How do you use a battle card in a sales call
Use the card to choose your next question, not to recite. When the buyer names a competitor, ask what they liked about it and what worried them, then pick the landmine question that fits what they said.
Never read the card aloud or quote it in an email. Its job is to make the seller calm and accurate under pressure, which shows in how they listen as much as in what they say.
How do you keep a competitor battlecard up to date
Keep a battlecard current by giving it an owner, a review date and one place where sellers report what they heard. Re-check the competitor's site when they announce something, and after any deal lost to them, and date each fact so a seller can tell a fresh line from an old one.
Many teams keep cards in a shared wiki. With Notion connected by an admin, an assistant can write the card to a Notion page and update it later, and can post a short note to a Slack channel the Pebbles bot belongs to when a card changes; each write follows your execution mode.
How to build a sales battlecard, step by step
Start with the competitor you meet most often, and finish one card before starting the next.
- Pick one competitor and gather your recent win and loss notes that mention them.
- Ask an assistant to research the competitor's public pages and summarise what they sell and to whom, with citations.
- Check every cited claim and drop any line resting on a single weak source.
- Draft the five parts: summary, where you win, where they win, landmines and discovery questions.
- Give the card an owner and a review date, and save it where sellers already look, such as a shared Notion page.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityResearch & analysisResearch on a competitor's public pages comes with inline numbered citations and a source list, so each line on the card can be traced.
- FoundationCompany IntelCompany Intel holds your offerings and approach, so the where-we-win section starts from how your company describes itself.
- FoundationIntegrationsWith Notion connected by an admin, an assistant can write the card to a Notion page and revise it later, each write following your execution mode.
Common questions
How long should a sales battlecard be?
One page, or one screen. Detail that does not fit belongs in a linked document.
Should a battlecard criticise the competitor?
No. State facts with sources, admit their strengths and let your questions bring out the differences.
How often should battlecards be reviewed?
At least each quarter, and whenever the competitor announces a major change or you lose a deal to them.
Who should own the cards?
Usually product marketing, with sellers feeding in what buyers say on calls.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
