slgoodrich Competitive Analysis Templates
Templates for analyzing competitors, enabling sales teams, and defining strategic market positioning.
When to Use This Skill
Auto-loaded by agents:
market-analyst- For competitor deep-dives, battle cards, and positioning maps
Use when you need:
- Analyzing competitor strategies and offerings
- Creating sales battle cards
- Building feature comparison matrices
- Tracking competitive intelligence
- Conducting win/loss analysis
- Defining differentiation strategy
- Monitoring competitive threats
- Positioning against alternatives
What is Competitive Analysis?
Competitive analysis helps you:
- Understand your market position and competitive landscape
- Identify differentiation opportunities and white space
- Enable sales teams to win competitive deals
- Inform product roadmap and strategic decisions
- Monitor competitive threats and market shifts
NOT: Copying competitors or building feature parity BUT: Finding defensible differentiation and strategic positioning
Good competitive analysis: Actionable, evidence-based, honest about trade-offs, regularly updated
Bad competitive analysis: Feature lists without context, outdated, biased, not used by teams
Evidence Standards
Core principle: All competitive intelligence must be based on verifiable public sources. Strategic analysis and recommendations are core value, but factual claims require source attribution.
Research requirements:
Use verifiable public sources
- Competitor websites, product pages, and documentation
- Pricing pages (with URLs and date accessed)
- Review sites (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius) with specific review citations
- News articles, press releases, and public announcements
- Product demos, trials, and publicly available materials
Source attribution
- Every claim about competitor features, pricing, or strategy must cite source
- Format: "[Feature/Claim] (Source: [URL], accessed [Date])"
- Review quotes must cite specific review with link
- When multiple sources confirm: cite 2-3 representative sources
When data is unavailable
- Explicitly note: "[Pricing not publicly available]", "[Requires product trial]"
- Never fabricate competitor information to complete analysis
- Recommend steps to gather missing data (demo request, trial signup)
- Note limitation in battle card or analysis
What you CANNOT do
- Fabricate competitor features, pricing, or capabilities
- Invent user testimonials or review quotes
- Make up market share numbers or competitive statistics
- Create fictional customer case studies
What you SHOULD do (core value)
- Provide strategic analysis of competitive landscape
- Identify differentiation opportunities based on research
- Recommend positioning strategy against competitors
- Guide battle card creation and sales enablement
- Teach competitive intelligence methodologies
- Help interpret competitive data for strategic decisions
When in doubt: If public information is unavailable, note the limitation explicitly rather than inventing data. Your strategic expertise in competitive analysis and positioning is your primary value.
Three Core Templates
1. Competitor Deep-Dive Analysis
Purpose: Comprehensive competitive intelligence for strategic decisions
Use when:
- Quarterly competitive reviews
- Market entry planning
- Product roadmap planning
- Understanding new competitive threat
- Executive briefings
Key sections:
- Company overview (size, funding, strategy)
- Product analysis (features, UX, pricing)
- Go-to-market strategy (sales, marketing)
- SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
- Customer intelligence (reviews, win/loss)
- Competitive response strategy
Template: assets/competitor-deep-dive-template.md
Complete template with all sections, example content, intelligence sources
Time investment: 8-12 hours initial, 2-3 hours quarterly updates
Comprehensive guide: references/competitive-intel-guide.md
Intelligence gathering, research techniques, analysis frameworks, organizing intelligence
2. Battle Card (Sales Enablement)
Purpose: Quick-reference competitive enablement for sales teams
Use when:
- Sales team faces competitor regularly
- New competitive threat emerges
- Need to improve win rates vs. specific competitor
- Onboarding new sales reps
Key sections:
- Quick stats (foundational context)
- When you'll face them (common scenarios)
- Where we win (strengths with proof)
- Where they win (their strengths + how to counter)
- Common objections & responses
- Discovery questions (uncover our advantages)
- Proof points (customer stories, data)
Quick skeleton:
# [Competitor] Battle Card
## Quick Stats
- Founded: / HQ: / Funding: / Employees:
## Where We Win
- [Advantage 1]: [proof point]
## Where They Win
- [Their strength]: [our counter]
## Top Objections
- "[Objection]" → [Response with proof]
Full template: assets/battle-card-template.md
Sales-ready format, specific talk tracks, objection handling, proof points
Format: 1-2 pages maximum (quick reference for calls)
Update frequency: Immediately on competitor changes, monthly review
Comprehensive guide: references/battle-card-guide.md
Creating effective battle cards, sales enablement, training, maintenance, metrics
3. Positioning & Perceptual Mapping
Purpose: Strategic market positioning and visual competitive landscape
Use when:
- Strategic planning (annual/quarterly)
- Defining product strategy
- Finding market white space
- Developing messaging
- Repositioning product
Key sections:
- Perceptual maps (visual market positioning)
- Positioning statement (April Dunford framework)
- Differentiation matrix
- Value proposition map (jobs, pains, gains)
- Strategic positioning grid
- Brand positioning
- Messaging framework
Template: assets/positioning-map-template.md
Perceptual mapping formats, positioning frameworks, differentiation analysis
Use cases: Strategic planning, market entry, messaging development
Comprehensive guide: references/positioning-guide.md
Positioning frameworks, differentiation strategies, perceptual mapping, repositioning
Choosing the Right Template
For strategic planning → Use all three:
- Deep-dive analysis (understand landscape)
- Positioning map (define your position)
- Battle cards (enable execution)
For sales enablement → Battle cards:
- Quick reference during calls
- Specific talk tracks and counters
- Updated frequently
For product strategy → Deep-dive + Positioning:
- Feature gap analysis
- Market white space
- Differentiation strategy
For one competitor → Start with deep-dive, then battle card
For market overview → Positioning map first (landscape), then selective deep-dives
Competitive Intelligence Process
1. Gather Intelligence
Primary sources:
- Competitor website, demos, trials
- Customer reviews (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius)
- Win/loss interviews
- Customer feedback
Secondary sources:
- Press releases, news
- Job postings (strategic direction)
- Social media, podcasts
- Analyst reports
Source citation requirements:
- Document URL and access date for every source
- Cite specific G2/Capterra reviews with links for user quotes
- Note when information is unavailable: "[Pricing not public]"
- Never fabricate data to fill intelligence gaps
- Recommend additional research steps for missing data
Detailed guide: references/competitive-intel-guide.md
Research techniques, intelligence sources, ethical guidelines, source citation best practices
2. Analyze Patterns
Look for:
- Feature launch velocity (product strategy)
- Market expansion signals
- Pricing changes
- Partnership announcements
- Messaging shifts
Framework: Use SWOT analysis
- Strengths: What they do well (facts, evidence)
- Weaknesses: Exploitable gaps (customer complaints, missing features)
- Opportunities (for them): Anticipate their moves
- Threats (to us): How they could hurt us
3. Act on Insights
Product decisions:
- Close critical gaps (table stakes)
- Exploit weaknesses (differentiation)
- Defend strengths (maintain advantage)
Positioning:
- Find defensible differentiation
- Avoid head-to-head on their strengths
- Position in category where you win
Sales enablement:
- Create battle cards (competitive situations)
- Train on objection handling
- Share win stories
Positioning Frameworks
April Dunford's 5 Components
Work through in this order:
1. Competitive Alternatives: What would customers use if you didn't exist?
2. Unique Attributes: What can you do that alternatives can't?
3. Value (Benefits): What do those unique attributes enable?
4. Target Customer: Who cares most about that value?
5. Market Category: What context makes your value obvious?
Example:
For [target customer] who need to [job to be done],
[Product] is a [market category] that [key value proposition].
Unlike [competitive alternative] which [competitor limitation],
we [unique differentiation].
For Series A B2B SaaS companies who need to scale pipeline without growing SDR headcount, [Product] is an AI-powered sales development platform that books 10x more qualified meetings. Unlike Salesforce which requires large SDR teams, we use AI to automate the entire top-of-funnel.
Complete framework: references/positioning-guide.md
Positioning strategies, differentiation, perceptual mapping, validation
Perceptual Mapping
Purpose: Visualize competitive landscape, find white space
Common axes:
- Price vs. Capabilities
- Ease of Use vs. Power
- Horizontal vs. Vertical
- Self-serve vs. Enterprise
Strategic insights:
- White space (underserved segments)
- Crowded areas (avoid competing)
- Movement over time (strategic direction)
Template: assets/positioning-map-template.md
Multiple perceptual map formats, strategic analysis
Battle Card Best Practices
Format:
- 1-2 pages maximum (quick reference)
- Bullets, not paragraphs
- Specific talk tracks (exact words)
- Print-friendly
Content:
- Be honest about weaknesses (builds credibility)
- Use customer language (outcomes, not features)
- Include proof points (quotes, data, case studies)
- Provide discovery questions (uncover advantages)
Maintenance:
- Update immediately on competitor changes
- Monthly review, quarterly refresh
- Sales feedback loop
- Track win rates
Detailed guide: references/battle-card-guide.md
Creating, training, maintenance, metrics
Organizing Competitive Intelligence
Repository Structure
/Competitive Intelligence
/Competitor A
- Deep-dive analysis.md
- Battle card.md
- Product screenshots/
- Reviews analysis.md
/Competitor B
[Same structure]
/Market Maps
- Positioning map.md
- Feature comparison.xlsx
/Win-Loss Analysis
- Quarterly summaries
Update Cadence
Continuous: Monitor for major changes (Google Alerts, RSS)
Monthly:
- Scan competitor websites, blogs, changelogs
- Read recent reviews
- Update battle cards if needed
Quarterly:
- Deep-dive analysis refresh
- Win/loss review
- Positioning assessment
- Sales team competitive briefing
Detailed guide: references/competitive-intel-guide.md
Monitoring strategies, intelligence distribution
Troubleshooting
Feature parity obsession:
- Problem: Building everything competitors have
- Fix: Focus on defensible differentiation
Outdated intelligence:
- Problem: Stale battle cards, wrong pricing
- Fix: Regular update cadence, monitoring systems
Too comprehensive:
- Problem: 50-page analysis nobody reads
- Fix: Right level of detail for audience (battle card vs. deep-dive)
Ignoring weaknesses:
- Problem: Only highlighting strengths
- Fix: Honest assessment of trade-offs
Not using the intelligence:
- Problem: Analysis sits in drive, not actioned
- Fix: Clear distribution, sales training, product impact
For Solo Operators / Small Teams
Simplified approach:
Focus: 2-3 most important competitors only
Monthly routine (2-3 hours):
- Check competitor websites for changes
- Read 5-10 recent G2 reviews
- Scan their blog/changelog
- Update battle card if needed
Quarterly deep-dive (half day):
- Full product trial
- Read 20-30 reviews
- Update positioning map
- Refresh analysis doc
Templates to use:
- Battle card (1 page version)
- Simplified positioning map
- Lightweight deep-dive (key sections only)
Templates and References
Assets (Ready-to-Use Templates)
Copy-paste these for immediate use:
assets/competitor-deep-dive-template.md- Comprehensive competitive analysisassets/battle-card-template.md- Sales enablement quick referenceassets/positioning-map-template.md- Strategic positioning & perceptual maps
References (Deep Dives)
When you need comprehensive guidance:
references/competitive-intel-guide.md- Intelligence gathering, research, analysisreferences/battle-card-guide.md- Creating effective battle cards, sales enablementreferences/positioning-guide.md- Positioning frameworks, differentiation strategies
Related Skills
product-positioning- Product positioning frameworksgo-to-market-playbooks- GTM and launch strategyroadmap-frameworks- Product roadmapsmarket-sizing-frameworks- Market opportunity assessment