Bd Battlecard

Sales Battle Card Generator

A battle card is a 2-page reference doc a rep reads in 60 seconds before a competitive deal. Not a market analysis. Not a comparison spreadsheet. Tactical, opinionated, evidence-backed.

Input

Required:

• Competitor name(s) — single or comma-separated list
• Optional: icp-profile.json (for persona context + value prop)

Optional:

• Specific deal context (which prospect, what stage, what's been said)
• Public competitor signals user wants to incorporate (recent news, pricing, customer wins/losses)

Process

1. Read business context — from icp-profile.json if present
2. WebFetch competitor homepage — extract their positioning, ICP, pricing tier signals
3. WebSearch for recent moves — last 90 days: funding, product launches, customer wins, layoffs, leadership changes
4. Build battle card — for each competitor named
5. Save — one file per competitor: battlecard-{competitor}.md

Output: battlecard-{competitor}.md

# Battle Card: vs [Competitor Name]

**Last updated:** [Date]
**Confidence:** High / Medium / Low (based on public signal availability)
**Read time:** 60 seconds

---

## TL;DR (read this before the call)

- **Their angle:** [How they position]
- **Our angle:** [How we counter — 1 sentence]
- **The single trap to avoid:** [What they want you to debate — DON'T]
- **Top objection from them:** [Most common one — and our reframe]

---

## 1. Their positioning (in their words)

**Their tagline:** "[Verbatim from homepage]"
**Their primary ICP:** [Who they target]
**Their key claim:** [What they say is their differentiator]

**Their pricing tier:** [Public signals — Free / SMB / Mid-market / Enterprise]
**Their typical deal size:** [Estimate]

---

## 2. Our positioning vs them (the counter)

**One-sentence counter-positioning:**
> "[Competitor] is built for [their strength]. We're built for [our strength] — that's why teams that need [specific outcome] choose us."

**Don't say:** "We're better." (vague)
**Do say:** "We're different — here's how to choose."

---

## 3. Where WE WIN (lead with these)

| Dimension | Our advantage | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| [Capability 1] | [Specific advantage] | [Customer / data / proof] |
| [Capability 2] | [Specific advantage] | [Customer / data / proof] |
| [Capability 3] | [Specific advantage] | [Customer / data / proof] |

### Win themes
1. **[Theme 1]** — Use when [scenario]
2. **[Theme 2]** — Use when [scenario]
3. **[Theme 3]** — Use when [scenario]

---

## 4. Where THEY WIN (acknowledge honestly)

| Dimension | Their advantage | Our response |
|---|---|---|
| [Capability A] | [Their strength] | [How we minimize / reframe / partner] |
| [Capability B] | [Their strength] | [How we minimize / reframe / partner] |

**The gap we won't close:** [One thing they do better — admit it. Refusing builds distrust.]

---

## 5. Traps to avoid

**Trap 1 — Feature checklist warfare**
- They love this. They have more features at the surface.
- Don't engage. Pivot to outcomes: "Features matter less than [specific outcome]."

**Trap 2 — Price comparison without value frame**
- They may undercut on sticker.
- Reframe: "Total cost includes [implementation, ramp, hidden]. Let's compare apples to apples."

**Trap 3 — Their loudest customer**
- They'll cite [Big Brand X] as a customer.
- Counter: "[Big Brand X] uses them for [narrow use case]. For [your use case], here's who chose us instead."

[Add 2-3 more traps]

---

## 6. Common objections from prospects (when they're considering Competitor)

### "[Competitor] has more [features / integrations / customers]"
**Reframe:** [Specific response — usually "More ≠ better fit. Here's why."]

### "[Competitor] is cheaper / free"
**Reframe:** [TCO frame + outcome frame]

### "We're already in pilot with [Competitor]"
**Reframe:** [Run parallel pilot frame OR migration play]

### "[Competitor] has been around longer"
**Reframe:** [Innovation cadence frame — "Older incumbent" can be a weakness]

[Add 4-6 more]

---

## 7. Migration / displacement play

If prospect is currently on [Competitor], here's the playbook:

### Phase 1: Discovery
- Find renewal date
- Identify the gap that opened the conversation
- Get evaluation criteria (write them down — they'll evolve)

### Phase 2: Side-by-side
- Run a 30-day pilot in parallel
- Define ONE success metric they care about
- Get the champion enabled with comparison data

### Phase 3: Migration
- Show migration plan (who, what, how, when)
- Pre-arrange data import / SSO / training
- Risk-reverse: pilot SLA, phased rollout, parallel run

---

## 8. Customer war stories (proof points)

### War story 1: [Customer Name] switched from [Competitor]
- **Before:** [Pain]
- **Decision driver:** [What tipped]
- **Outcome:** [Metric in 90 days]
- **Quote:** "[Pull quote, attributed]"

### War story 2: [Customer Name] runs both
- [Same structure]

### War story 3: [Customer Name] evaluated and chose us
- [Same structure]

---

## 9. Discovery questions to deploy

When you hear them mention [Competitor], ask:

1. "What's working well with [Competitor]?" (validates seriousness)
2. "What's the gap that brought you to look at alternatives?" (the real reason)
3. "If you could keep [their strength] and gain [our strength], would that change the calculus?" (frame switch)
4. "Who else has voiced concerns about the current setup?" (multi-stakeholder)
5. "What's your renewal date / when does this need to be resolved?" (timing)

---

## 10. Recent intel on [Competitor] (last 90 days)

[From WebSearch — cite sources]

- [Funding / acquisition / IPO]
- [Product launches]
- [Customer wins / losses]
- [Leadership changes]
- [Pricing changes]
- [Public criticism / outages]

**Implication for our deals:** [How this changes the conversation]

---

## 11. Internal escalation (when to bring in execs)

| Trigger | Action |
|---|---|
| Deal size > $X | Loop in [VP Sales] |
| Strategic logo | Loop in [CEO/Founder] |
| Multi-year competitive deal | Loop in [Customer Success] for joint pitch |

---

## 12. Updates log

| Date | Change | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| [Date] | Initial battle card | — |
| | | |

---

**Maintenance:** Refresh this card every 90 days or when a major competitor move happens (funding, launch, pricing change).

Rules

• Per-competitor file. Don't combine 5 competitors into 1 doc — they each need depth.
• Be honest about where they win. Reps lose trust if the battle card lies.
• Sources matter. Every claim about the competitor needs a source link or "from public website."
• Update quarterly. Battle cards rot fast.
• Tactical, not strategic. This is a 60-second prep doc, not a market analysis. Keep it scannable.
• One trap to avoid. If the rep takes nothing else from the card, the trap should be it.

Next steps to suggest

1. /bd-objection — pair with the battle card to handle live objections
2. /bd-research — for high-value deals, deep-research the prospect on top of the battle card
3. Build a battle card per major competitor (suggest 3–5 cards total)

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: dongcs52
• Source: dongcs52/claude-bd-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.