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This article is part of our By the Numbers series, where we share findings from compete data. We analyze aggregated results from maturity assessments, battlecard audits, and more to help your business compete better.  to read more data-driven articles on competitive enablement.

Raise your hand if this is a familiar message in your work chat:

鈥楥ompetitor X just came up, anyone know anything about them?鈥�

鈥楥ompetitor Y is saying this about us, how should I respond?鈥�

As the product marketer leading competitive enablement, you lock yourself away, dial in your research, and build battlecards on all of the competitors that have been mentioned to help your revenue teams the next time these questions come up. 

Job done, right?

Then they collect dust. Unused. Left unread.

And you start to see the same questions pop up again鈥�

鈥樷�� Hey do we know anything about Competitor X?鈥�

If your blood鈥檚 boiling, you鈥檙e not alone. And we鈥檝e got the data that explains why your battlecards aren鈥檛 getting used.

Markets are more competitive, and revenue teams need support

First off, it鈥檚 not that you鈥檙e not a valuable resource for revenue teams.

They need all the help they can get to win more business, especially in today鈥檚 economy.

According to the data from  respondents said that 33% of their deals are currently being lost directly to a competitor.

Sure, you鈥檙e gonna lose deals to the competition. Babe Ruth didn鈥檛 hit a homer with every at-bat.

However, respondents noted that nearly half of those lost deals were winnable. 

Ouch.

So, then why aren鈥檛 revenue teams using battlecards at their disposal to win more against the competition in these winnable deals?!

After conducting over 150+ battlecard audits and maturity assessments, then comparing those results to battlecards we鈥檝e anonymously analyzed with the highest adoption rates, a few things stood out.

1. Sales battlecards aren鈥檛 action-oriented

First things first, there isn鈥檛 an issue of a lack of information.

In fact, an overwhelming majority of battlecards provide context on the relevant insight or competitor.

But that鈥檚 where they stop.

Providing context around a competitor or situation is critical. But it鈥檚 table stakes.

How are sellers taking that information and using it to win a deal?

That鈥檚 where battlecards are falling short. 

Only 43% include talk tracks to use, and 19% provide supporting evidence or proof points to reinforce the information you provide.

Meanwhile, every single battlecard we analyzed with the highest retention rate (meaning stakeholders came back to the content repeatedly) contained this information.

Before you get out your calculators, that鈥檚 100%.

At 暗黑网, we call including these pieces of information into your battlecard as the聽Know, Say, Show听尘别迟丑辞诲.

• Know (the context around an insight or competitor)
• Say (talk tracks to use for this insight)
• Show (reinforcing proof points and customer-facing material)

But what is stopping folks from adding Say and Show to their battlecards, then?

2. Battlecards aren鈥檛 including input from revenue teams

When Andy McCotter-Bicknell joined me on The Competitive Enablement Show, he shared his biggest screw-up. It鈥檚 one that every marketer is guilty of once or twice.

鈥淚 was using words like 鈥榬obust鈥� and 鈥榮eamless鈥�, these gross marketing words within all of these battlecards鈥�

Then a seller offered to give me feedback, and just tore it apart.鈥�

Why do people effortlessly get stuck in the seamless trap of next-level marketing lingo? 

Because the talk tracks being built aren鈥檛 coming from the sellers鈥� mouths. 

Results from our Competitive Enablement Maturity Assessments showed that business鈥� with an immature compete program were three times less likely to collect feedback and intel from revenue teams in the field.

That sounds like a recipe for making talk tracks outta thin air, to me.

It鈥檚 not on you, the product marketer, to magically create a talk track with just some elbow grease and a can-do attitude. They already exist amongst revenue teams that have sold against a competitor more times than you can count.

Using their language, tactics, and talk tracks automatically improves the credibility of your compete content.

3. Sales battlecards are missing the 鈥榳hen鈥� and the 鈥榟ow鈥�

Building a talk track to say isn鈥檛 enough to build a deal-winning battlecard that actually gets used.

Because context is everything.

Your revenue teams need to know when to use a competitive insight and how to use it. This is what turns your battlecard from interesting, to indispensable.

However, battlecards were 1.5X less likely to include prescriptive guidance explaining how to use the intel provided, when, and in what situations.

You don鈥檛 want your sellers to dive deep into the weeds about how your product functionality stacks up compared to a competitor on an initial call. 

Especially when you don鈥檛 know if they鈥檙e even in the deal yet. 

On the flip side, you don鈥檛 want reps to rely on de-positioning at a high level in a deal where the buyer used your competitor鈥檚 product in a previous role.

Psst鈥� two of 暗黑网鈥檚 Competitive Enablement Consultants, Hunter Sones and Sylvia Rainer, dove into this data and shared the tips needed to build battlecards sellers can鈥檛 live without. Check out the full episode of Competitive Enablement LIVE here.

4. Sellers want proof that they鈥檙e not full of it鈥�

Buyers don鈥檛 blindly decide to buy a product over other options just because a seller tells them that theirs is better.

You need receipts. Proof points. Validation that you鈥檙e not just full of hot air.

But of the battlecards audited, only 35% of them included customer-facing proof points.

Let鈥檚 say your seller is in a deal with a competitor that you knoooowww has crappy customer support. 

We鈥檙e talking being put on hold for hours with nothing to support you but the sultry tones of some mediocre elevator jazz music.

Your buyer doesn鈥檛 know that yet. They haven鈥檛 lost those three hours of their lives鈥� yet.

Why should they believe that your customer support is better?

A battlecard with strong reinforcing proof points could include data that shows your competitor鈥檚 support team has been shrinking over the past six months compared to yours. Accompany that with a customer reference, and now it鈥檚 not just a subjective opinion coming out of your sellers鈥� mouth.

This is the credibility that makes a competitive claim powerful.

If you鈥檝e made it this far鈥�

You clearly care about building better battlecards for your revenue team. Great.

This article alone isn鈥檛 enough to help you nail the ins and outs of a perfect battlecard.

That鈥檚 why we launched 

Nine episodes from 暗黑网 and industry experts. Four walkthroughs of how to build specific battlecards. Dozens of practical tips you can apply into your battlecards immediately. 

This course will help you build better battlecards that actually win business for your revenue teams.

You can check it out for free here.