Competitive Battlecards

Competitive battlecards come into play any time a rep is selling in a head-to-head scenario—or even suspects a competitor is in the deal. Typical use cases include:

• A prospect name-drops a competitor on a discovery call
• You're in a shortlist or bake-off situation
• A rep needs to justify pricing or highlight unique features
• A new rep is learning how to position against the market
• You’re prepping for a renewal where another vendor is circling

The most effective teams use battlecards continuously—not just as prep docs, but as active tools embedded in their sales process.

A great competitive battlecard isn’t a brain dump—it’s a tight, focused tool for frontline sellers. Here’s what to include:

• Competitor overview: Quick summary of who they are and who they sell to
• Key features & functionality: What the competitor does well (be honest)
• Your differentiators: Why customers choose you over them—framed in customer language
• Objection handling: Call-ready responses to common competitor claims
• Pricing intelligence: What they charge and how they discount
• Discovery questions: Questions that steer the buyer toward your strengths
• Proof points: Relevant case studies or reasons customers switched
• Internal notes: Insights from product, CS, or real deal intel

Keep it short and scannable. This isn’t a training manual—it’s a field guide.

To build battlecards that reps actually use:

• Keep it brief: One page or less. Reps should be able to skim in under a minute
• Be specific: Vague differentiators don’t win deals—concrete proof does
• Use real intel: Pull from win/loss interviews, Gong calls, and rep feedback
• Update often: Competitors change fast. Review at least quarterly
• Distribute widely: Don’t bury it in a folder. Tie it to the deal workflow
• ‍Collaborate: Pull in product, CS, and your marketing team to keep it sharp

Even good sales orgs slip into these traps:

• Too long: If it reads like a whitepaper, reps won’t touch it
• Too product-focused: Reps need to win on value, not features
• Outdated info: Stale battlecards erode rep confidence
• Hard to find: If it’s not in the workflow, it doesn’t exist
• Unclear messaging: If a rep can’t repeat it, it’s not useful

Dock helps by centralizing your competitive intelligence in an organized library where the rest of your sales content lives—not just sitting in Notion or a slide deck.

To get adoption, treat competitive battlecards like any other key asset:

• Store in Dock: Tag by competitor, use case, or vertical
• Embed in CRM: Make them available during live deals
• Train on them: Include in onboarding and call shadowing
• Promote updates: Use Slack or internal newsletters
• Collaborate: Keep product marketing and sales enablement in sync

The more accessible your battlecards are, the more your reps will rely on them.

You’re not going to hand your prospect a battlecard—but the insights inside should shape your pitch. Here’s how to use the content externally:

• Position your strengths: Frame your value around gaps in the competitor
• Reference customer proof: Show how others chose you
• Mention integrations or services: Especially ones the competitor lacks
• Use soft comparisons: In Dock workspaces, a "Why teams switch from [Competitor]" section does the job

Your prospects never see the battlecard—but they feel it in every interaction.