9 steps to create a Sales Battle Card [+6 Free templates]
Master the Art of Sales Battle Cards: 9 Steps + 6 Free Templates
In the ever-evolving landscape of modern business, a timeless concept has adapted with the times - Battle Cards. While they may not conjure images of medieval warfare, their strategic importance endures.
Consider this: just as warriors of old sent scouts to gather intelligence on their adversaries, today's savvy businesses deploy Competitive Intelligence and Product Marketing teams to collect insights. These insights form the foundation of Battle Cards, empowering sales and marketing teams with a clear advantage in the competitive arena.
In this digital age, the battles have shifted to virtual battlegrounds, often occurring within Zoom calls rather than on traditional battlefields. Join us as we explore the significance of Battle Cards in contemporary SaaS (Software as a Service) environments, where knowledge is power and success is often determined by a well-prepared playbook.
What exactly is a Battle Card?
A Battle Card is an internal, continuously updated compendium housing comprehensive information about your organization and its competitors.
It is a repository of critical insights into your products, features, key differentiators, and strategies for adeptly addressing objections, ensuring your team is equipped for victory in modern business.
Battle cards are usually created by competitor intelligence or product marketing teams in a different format (template shared below) that helps sales at various customer lifecycle stages.
Why do you need Battle cards?
Battle cards are a forward method for equipping your team to navigate competitive scenarios effectively. They provide a unified reference point, ensuring that your sales team presents a cohesive message regarding Value proposition, key differentiators, objection handling, and more. This consistency empowers individual sales representatives to communicate uniformly, fostering a more robust and impactful sales approach.
Not having a battle card more than often leads to a varied approach of addressing a prospect question by different people, which makes it extremely difficult to measure the success or failure of a particular process.
Who uses a battle card?
Battle cards are usually created to be used by any team or individual who is part of the customer-facing units. These may include
BDRs (Business Development Representative)
AEs (Account executives)
SEs (Solution Engineers)
Customer Success
Customer Support
Each battle card covers a few different points that help in helping each team handle customer queries effectively. For example, an AE battle card should have more information and details than BDR's battle card, considering their call are shorter, and the objective is to get the agreement for a more extended call with AEs. Similarly, a solution engineer's battle card should have more technical information than others.
Gathering Competitor information for Battle Cards
Crafting Battle Cards isn't a walk in the park, especially for teams like Competitive Intelligence (CI) or Product Marketing Management (PMM). It can get tricky, especially when dealing with larger companies with many products.
The key here is to avoid burdening one person with handling all of them.
Here's a straightforward approach to gather the info you need for creating Battle Cards:
1. Start with Your Competitor's Website
Begin by checking out your competitor's website. It's often a treasure trove of information. Look through these pages to get all the details you need:
All Product and Solution Pages
Webinars (for understanding their product messaging)
Pricing Info
Customer Stories (to see who they're targeting and what they're offering)
Product Updates Blog
Knowledge Base, FAQs, and Help Center Docs
Developer Documentation (if you're dealing with technical stuff)
Any Page That Talks About Competitors
Tip: Use SEO tools to find any hidden or unlisted pages.
2. Dive into YouTube
YouTube is full of helpful content. Search for anything relevant, like reviews, product demos, or walkthroughs that can help with your Battle Cards.
3. Make the Most of Review Sites
Websites like G2Crowd, Capterra, Trust Pilot, and others are great places to find information. Read customer reviews to understand your competitors' differences and where they shine.
4. Explore Third-Party Research
Consider using third-party research sites agencies or hiring freelancers if you need help finding much info publicly or if the products are complex. They can dig deep and provide you with valuable competitor details.
5. Tune into Customer Calls
Listening to customer calls can be a goldmine. You can uncover common questions and objections and learn about competitors' solutions. Tools like Gong and Chorus are handy for listening to recorded calls or joining live ones.
6. Keep an Eye on Events and Forums
Stay connected with events and public forums like Slack groups and Discord communities. These places are excellent for gathering competitor info, understanding customer feedback, and figuring out what's working and what's not. Look out for keywords that matter to your analysis.
8 Steps to Craft an Effective Sales Battle Card
Creating a Battle Card is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It should encompass various aspects, addressing different functions and stages of the customer lifecycle.
To help you get started, here are some essential elements that your Battle Card should include:
1. Unified Communication and Messaging
Consistency is critical when it comes to communication and messaging across all channels. Your Battle Card should define your messaging and provide an overview of your business. This ensures that your positioning resonates effectively with your customers and helps gauge its success or failure.
2. Competitor Business Overview
To equip your sales team with insights into your customer's business and their approach, include an overview of your customer's business. Cover aspects such as their products, customers, product ratings, pricing, and more.
3. How to Spot Them
Create a list of keywords and pointers that assist your sales team in quickly identifying the competitors they are up against. These keywords may also include terms that different businesses interchangeably use. Your Battle Cards should be adept at recognizing these words to prepare your team with the proper responses.
4. Why We Win
Provide your sales team with a list of winning metrics for your product or solution against a competitor. Include real-life success stories from deals you've won against this competitor, incorporating quotes and call recordings where possible.
5. Objection Handling
Address the most common objections that your team is likely to encounter. Recognize that customer objections can vary for different units within your team, such as BDRs, AEs, and SEs. Ensure each unit has its own objection-handling questions and appropriate answers. Keep these objection-handling resources regularly updated.
6. Questions to Ask (Landmines)
Include questions that allow you to strategically challenge your competitors and plant requirements in your customer's mind. These questions should be tailored to highlight your product's strengths and identify mutually beneficial outcomes for both businesses.
7. Why We Lose
Provide insights into why sales deals may not close or why prospects might favor a competitor over your offering. Offer guidance on how to address these challenges effectively.
8. Pricing & Packaging
Clearly outline and compare your competitors' pricing and packaging structure with your own. Explain how your offering delivers better value for money or provides additional features.
Also Read - How to price your SaaS product.
9. Good to Have
Consider including these additional elements in your Battle Card:
Customer Reviews or Customer Stories
Information on Integrations
Strategies for Overcoming FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, or Doubt)
Incorporating these elements into your Battle Card will empower your sales team with the information and tools to effectively navigate competitive landscapes and secure victories.
FREE Battle Card Templates
Now that your team knows where to focus start planning out your Sales Battle card with these fantastic templates I have collected from various sources available online
B2B Marketing Strategies Sales Battle Card Template - HERE
*This is the template I frequently use
Read - How to make your first outbound call — A step-by-step Guide
Notion Competitor Analysis Battle Card - HERE
Role-Based Battle Card Template - HERE
Hubspot Battle Card Template - HER
Content-Beta Battle Card Template - HERE
Do’s and Don’t while creating a Battle Card
Avoid too much information.
Make it easy to find
Update regularly (Every quarter is a significant frequency).
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