Instantly Arm Yourself with Winning Insights on Competitors

Overview: Outsmart the Competition in Seconds

In B2B sales, knowledge is power – especially when it comes to your competitors. Reps who understand competitor offerings and positioning can confidently address customer questions and differentiate their solution. Yet gathering competitive intel and crafting “battlecards” can be time-consuming. Enter Colby AI: your on-demand competitive analyst. With the right prompts, Colby scours internal data and the web to equip you with up-to-date competitor insights, saving you from losing deals due to misinformation or FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt). Remember, on average 32% of deals are lost to competitors (divbyzero.com), so sharpening your competitive edge has huge payoffs.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to prompt Colby to research competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and present them in a useful format

• Strategies to compare your product with a competitor’s on key features, pricing, and value (without disparagement)

• Techniques for creating battlecards, FAQ docs, and talk tracks to handle competitor questions on the fly

• How to keep Colby’s competitive intel current with feedback loops as the market evolves

Understanding Colby’s Competitive Research Abilities

When you ask Colby about a competitor, it performs a multi-faceted analysis:

1. Web & Database Search: Colby pulls data from public sources – competitor websites, news articles, reviews, etc. – to gather factual information (product features, pricing models, recent announcements).

2. Internal CRM Cross-Reference: It looks at your Salesforce data (win/loss notes, past competitive deal outcomes) to identify patterns: why you win against this competitor, where you struggle.

3. Feature & Value Mapping: Colby aligns the competitor’s capabilities against yours, highlighting differences in features, approach, and value proposition. It knows which features are truly unique to you or the competitor.

4. Customer Perspective Framing: It considers the typical customer concerns when that competitor is mentioned (e.g. “CompetitorX is cheaper but has no XYZ feature”). Colby then frames insights in terms of customer impact, not just a raw feature dump.

5. Concise Formatting: Whether you need a quick bullet list of differentiators or a paragraph of talking points, Colby organizes the intel in the format you request, effectively producing a ready-to-use battlecard or cheat-sheet.

The Competitive Battlecard Prompt Framework

Craft prompts that give Colby clear direction on what intel you need and how to present it:

"Compare **[Your Product]** vs **[Competitor Name]** for a **[use case or feature]**:
- **Customer Priority:** [what the customer cares about, e.g. price, support, specific feature]
- **Our Strengths:** [areas you believe you outperform]
- **Their Strengths:** [areas you suspect competitor is ahead, if any]
- **Output Format:** [bullet list of 5 points, or a table: Feature | Us | Them, etc.]

If you want a general battlecard, you might not specify a single use case, but providing context (industry or segment) can sharpen the results. Always include an Output Format – a bullet list is great for quick talking points, whereas a table might be useful for detailed internal documentation.

Example Prompts and Outputs

❌ Poor Prompt: “Tell me about CompetitorCo.”

• Why it falls short: Too broad – Colby might return a dump of info that’s not focused on your sales situation. It doesn’t know what aspect you care about (product? pricing? market perception?) and provides no format guidance. The result could be an overwhelming paragraph with no actionable insight.

✅ Better Prompt: “Compare our product (ABC Cloud) with CompetitorCo’s offering in terms of data analytics features and support. Provide 3-4 bullet points highlighting key differences relevant to a CIO.”

• Why it’s better: Specifies the domain (data analytics features, support), the perspective (what a CIO would care about – likely data capabilities, integration, support quality), and asks for concise bullets. Colby can now tailor the response, e.g.:

✅✅ Excellent Prompt (Battlecard style):

“Product Battlecard Request:

Scenario: Mid-funnel deal – prospect evaluating both ABC Cloud and CompetitorCo. They prioritize scalability, security, and price.

Provide: A bullet-point battlecard (5-6 points) comparing ABC Cloud vs CompetitorCo on: Scalability, Security, Pricing model, and any notable feature differences.

Tone: Neutral, factual (for internal use, but I’ll translate to customer-friendly language).”

• Why this is excellent: We set a scenario (mid-funnel comparison) and the specific priorities we need to address. Colby will focus on those areas, perhaps producing something like:

This output directly arms you with facts to discuss what the prospect cares about. Notice the tone is neutral/factual as requested – important, because internally we can be blunt, but with the customer we might soften how we present these (focusing on our strengths rather than bashing the competitor).

Building and Using AI-Generated Battlecards

Once Colby provides the intel, here’s how to apply it and even refine it further:

• Fill Knowledge Gaps: If Colby’s answer lacks detail on a point (say, you wanted more on competitor’s pricing tiers), follow up: “Expand on CompetitorCo’s pricing structure in enterprise deals.” Colby can dive deeper.

• Create Different Views: Maybe you want a customer-facing version. Prompt: “Rewrite these points as talking points I can say to a prospect (focus on benefits of ABC Cloud without naming CompetitorCo explicitly).” Colby will transform, e.g. “We offer unlimited user pricing, so as you grow, your costs don’t unexpectedly spike.” – implying competitor charges per user without directly attacking.

• Keep it Current: Markets change. You might prompt Colby monthly or when news hits: “Update the battlecard: CompetitorCo just released a new module for analytics.” Colby will incorporate the latest info (especially if you feed it a snippet of the news). Always verify crucial competitor info from primary sources or your product team for accuracy.

Advanced Competitive Prompting Techniques

1. “Reverse Battlecard” – Identify Our Weaknesses: It’s uncomfortable but useful to know where your competitor might beat you. Prompt Colby: “From the perspective of CompetitorCo’s rep, what weaknesses of ABC Cloud would they highlight?” This can surface points you need to proactively address (e.g. maybe your implementation time is longer). Armed with this, you can either bring it up first with reassurance or ensure to steer the conversation toward your strengths.

2. Win-Loss Debrief: After a deal is won or lost against a competitor, feed key details to Colby for analysis. E.g., “We lost Deal X to CompetitorCo. They cited missing Feature Y and price. What can we adjust in our competitive positioning?” Colby might suggest emphasizing other strengths or providing better ROI models to counter price in the future. Over time, these debrief prompts help refine your competitive strategy continuously.

3. Market Landscape Summary: Selling into a new space with multiple competitors? Prompt: “Summarize the top 3 competitors for [product/category] and how we differ from each in one sentence.” This gives a high-level lay of the land, useful for sales managers or new team members ramping up. For example: “CompetitorA – legacy player known for stability but high cost (we’re more cost-effective); CompetitorB – innovative startup with niche features (we offer broader functionality); CompetitorC – strong in Europe market (we provide better global support).”

Avoiding Competitive Intel Pitfalls

• Pitfall 1: Relying on Outdated Info – Competitors change fast. If Colby or your internal docs aren’t updated, you risk using stale data. Solution: Include recency cues in your prompt. For example, “as of 2025, does CompetitorCo have feature X?” or “include any updates in the last 6 months.” Colby will then look for the latest references. Also, double-check crucial points (like a competitor’s new pricing) by asking Colby for the source, or manually verifying on their site.

• Pitfall 2: Overloading the Customer – Dumping a laundry list of comparisons on a prospect can overwhelm or seem overly negative. Solution: Use Colby to prioritize which competitive differences matter most to this customer. Your prompt can be: “Given prospect’s key concern is ease of use, which 2 differences between ABC Cloud and CompetitorCo should I focus on?” Colby might respond: “1) Our interface is rated easier (per G2 reviews) and requires 30% less training time. 2) We offer a dedicated UX team for onboarding while CompetitorCo doesn’t.” Two potent, relevant points are better than ten generic ones.

• Pitfall 3: Bad-mouthing Competitors – Directly attacking a competitor’s product can erode trust. The goal is to inform, not smear. Solution: Have Colby formulate positive framing of your strengths. For instance, instead of “CompetitorCo doesn’t have feature Z,” say “Feature Z is something we’ve invested in deeply, and it’s included standard in our solution.” If you’re unsure how to phrase diplomatically, prompt Colby: “Present our advantage in [area] without explicitly belittling CompetitorCo.” This keeps your tone professional.

• Pitfall 4: Ignoring the Competitor Altogether – On the flip side, pretending the competitor doesn’t exist when the customer keeps bringing them up can seem evasive. Solution: Use Colby to prepare a confident acknowledgment. E.g., “How can I acknowledge CompetitorCo’s strength in analytics but pivot to our value?” Colby might suggest: “Yes, CompetitorCo has a solid analytics module; it’s great for basic reports. Where our clients see extra value is our analytics are real-time and predictive, which goes a step further in solving future problems, not just reporting on past data.” You validate the competitor but still steer the narrative to your differentiator.

Pro Tips: Staying Ahead in the Competitive Game

1. Set Up “Competitor Watch” Prompts: Create a saved Colby prompt that you can run monthly: “Any significant news or changes with CompetitorCo in the last 30 days?” Colby might catch press releases, product updates, funding news, etc. Incorporate relevant findings into your sales conversations (e.g., if a competitor had a security breach in news, you can subtly emphasize your security).

2. Leverage Customer Stories: Have Colby incorporate real customer win stories against competitors. E.g., “Find a success story where we replaced CompetitorCo – summarize why the customer switched to us.” A Colby-generated anecdote like “Client X left CompetitorCo because they needed faster deployment – we got them live in 2 weeks vs the 2 months they experienced before.” can be gold in convincing new prospects.

3. Battlecard in the CRM: When on a call and a competitor comes up, you can quickly copy-paste a short prompt into Colby (if integrated with your CRM via the Chrome extension) to get on-the-spot intel. Even something as short as “CompetitorCo vs us, key points?” will fetch your battlecard bullets in real-time. This is great if a prospect surprises you with an unfamiliar competitor – Colby can give you a quick briefing mid-conversation (just be sure to mute or take a pause!).

4. Train Colby on Internal Intel: If you have internal competitive analysis docs, upload or feed key parts into Colby (via secure methods). The next time you prompt, Colby will combine that rich internal knowledge with external data. This ensures proprietary insights (like your unofficial win-rate data or specific shortcomings you only discuss internally) are included in the advice – giving you an edge that pure public info might not.

Practice Scenarios

• Scenario 1: New Entrant in the Market – A new competitor “StartupXYZ” is being mentioned by prospects. They’re small but making noise. Use Colby to gather intel and draft a quick internal memo: who are they, what do they offer, and how do we position against them?

• Scenario 2: Head-to-Head RFP – You’re in the final two along with CompetitorCo for a big deal. The prospect provided an RFP with requirements. Prompt Colby for a point-by-point comparison on each requirement, highlighting where you exceed and where to watch out (perhaps even suggest a mitigation for any area CompetitorCo might seem better).

• Scenario 3: Competitive Objection in a Meeting – Mid-meeting, the prospect says “We hear CompetitorB has a feature for __ that you don’t.” Practice using Colby before the meeting to prep a response: ask it if that’s true and how to respond. For instance, “If asked about why we lack __ feature that CompetitorB has, how to respond highlighting our workaround or roadmap plans?” Integrate Colby’s answer into your meeting prep so you’re not caught off guard.

By integrating Colby into your competitive strategy, you turn every competitor mention from a threat into an opportunity. You’ll project confidence and credibility, armed with accurate, up-to-date knowledge – often knowing as much or more about the competitor as the prospect does. In the battle of the selling, consider Colby your intel officer, always keeping you one step ahead.