Top sales leaders use sales battle cards to build their businesses. Learn what they are, and how to use and create them.
Sales leaders who want to maximize the effectiveness of their sales process and keep up with their competitors use sales battle cards to identify customer pain points and gain valuable market insights.
In fact, recent data revealed that 71% of businesses say these sales tools have helped them increase their win rate with customers.
If you’re a sales professional, you know that any increase in conversions is worth pursuing.
We’ll walk you through what sales battle cards are and how you can start using them immediately as an effective tool in your sales arsenal.
What are sales battle cards?
Sales battle cards are short and simple educational flashcards designed to get prospects into your marketing funnel and help your sales team close more deals.
These sales tools serve as visual aids that compare your company’s service, product, pricing, and features (among other things) to your competitors.
The best sales battle cards are loaded with actionable insights to help your sales team stay up to date with multiple competitors’ offers and understand your business’s competitive advantages.
Here are some of the biggest benefits organizations see from implementing sales battle cards.
They help your team:
- Make more effective pitches to prospects
- Understand the most valuable product/service/brand information that they can use to close more deals
- Stay one step ahead of the competition
- Overcome challenging customer objections
The benefits of using sales battle cards are clear. In fact, 93% of the businesses surveyed in Crayon’s State of Competitive Intelligence Report said their win rate improvement exceeded 20% simply by using sales battle cards.
Needless to say, if your sales team isn’t already using battle cards to close more transactions, it’s high time they start!
Why should sales teams use battle cards?
Many of the sales leaders in the industry consider the sales battle card a necessary resource, but only 35% of competitive intelligence pros use them.
In a world where 84% of businesses say their industry has gotten more competitive in recent years, it’s clear that the sales battle card could give your sales and marketing team an important edge in winning deals.
The bottom line is if your company sells — and what business doesn’t sell in one way or another? — then sales battle cards could be critically important.
Especially considering that 81% of businesses with strong battle card adoption say they’ve seen direct revenue impact as a result of their investment in competitive intelligence.
The benefits of using sales battle cards might be clear, but what exactly can battle cards do for your sales team?
Here are three reasons your sales reps need them.
To communicate effectively
Your company’s sales message should be clear and consistent no matter which sales rep it’s coming from.
A sales battle card can be a streamlined way to help your sales team communicate the most important aspects of your product or service to customers by highlighting the high-value, must-know information.
To stand out from competitors
In order to stand out from your competitors, your staff needs to know their products and services through and through.
Rather than having each sales rep build their own competitive analysis document or fly blind, why not use a vetted set of sales battle cards in a central location your entire sales team can go to for a quick reference?
To close deals
The most effective sales battle cards reveal actionable information that your salespeople can use to get deals done at a higher rate.
By understanding the competitive landscape, knowing the questions that prospective clients are likely to ask and having the answers top of mind, and having the value proposition of your company’s product or services ready to share, your sales team is more likely to get customers to sign on the dotted line.
Clearly, battle cards are a vital component of a winning sales culture.
What are the types of sales battle cards?
There are a variety of sales battle cards available to help your small business stand out from the crowd, especially with 47% of sales opportunities being competitive.
Below are the main types of battle cards — so that whether or not you close a deal does not just come down to a 50/50 coin toss.
1. Competitor battle cards
The most popular type of sales battle card is the competitor battle card, which can help your sales reps get familiar with specific competitors in a detailed yet simple format.
Competitor battle cards typically feature a breakdown of key competitive categories like pricing, services provided, and the target customer profile.
By having this hard data in hand your sales team will be better able to perfect their sales pitch with actionable information.
Start creating a competitor battle card by identifying your brand’s primary competitors.
Then do a deep dive into the features they offer, their pricing, and the demographic of customers to which they cater. The process aims to see how your business stacks up against its competitors.
Once you’ve assembled the need-to-know information about your main competitors, provide your sales team with two to three reasons for what makes your company’s solution a winner over its competitors.
This could include unique features, pricing advantages, customer service, etc. Use supporting data points such as testimonials, stats, or other relevant data as much as possible.
All this information can be neatly summarized on a battle card so your sales team has easily digestible information they can reference quickly before sales meetings.
2. Question-based battle cards
Besides simply providing your sales, marketing, and product team with the most commonly asked prospect questions, question-based cards are also an opportunity for you to put the best possible answers down on paper.
Not only does this keep your brand message consistent from one customer to the next, but it gives your team a clear, effective answer rather than forcing them to come up with their own potentially ineffective answer for each situation.
Here are some examples of questions that customers commonly ask to include on your question-based battle card.
For all the answers, check out the example battle card below:
Q: What makes your product or service different?
Q: What’s the best price you can offer?
Q: Why should I choose your company?
Question-based battle cards can be excellent tools for overcoming objections and increasing client satisfaction by preparing your team for the questions they’ll be facing on a regular basis.
3. Product battle cards
Product battle cards are a simple yet effective way for your sales folks and product teams to understand the exclusive features of the product they’re selling, how the product solves a customer’s problem and other details that would be useful in sales pitches.
Get detailed with your product battle cards by highlighting specific USPs and how they solve issues for your potential customers.
It’s also important to briefly summarize 2-3 key areas where your product outperforms what the competition is offering.
We recommend consulting with your product managers when creating product battle cards so that you know the nitty-gritty details of exactly what your team is selling.
4. Value proposition battle cards
With a value proposition battle card, you should detail who your target customer is and specifically how your solution provides them with value.
For example, if you determine that your target customer is an HR professional looking for a document management solution to make their workflow processes more organized and efficient, then you’ll know exactly how to position your product/service as the solution to their problem.
The better your sales team knows the target customer, their needs, their challenges, etc., and exactly what your company has to offer them in terms of real value, then the easier the sales process will be.
How to create a sales battle card
Creating sales battle cards can be a time-consuming process. Using a battle card example to get started can help you save hours while still getting all the benefits.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to create sales battle cards.
1. Select a battle card type
The battle card type — competitive, question, product, or value proposition — you choose will become the foundation of your customized deck.
2. Consider your business categories
The example you choose and the type of sales battle card you create will vary somewhat based on your business category.
Think about your business’s industry before proceeding with battle card customization.
3. Identify stakeholders
Creating a sales battle card is a collaborative process that includes multiple stakeholders.
Identify the key participants in the battle card process and give them an opportunity to contribute and share feedback.
The process usually spans the product marketing teams, executives, customer success teams, and sales departments.
4. Provide a company overview
The company overview should enable your salesperson to share details about the industry, trends, and how your product or service stands out from the competition with those factors in mind.
This section could include general information about your company’s market, such as market size and estimated demand.
5. Select top competitors
You most likely already know some of your top competitors, but this is an opportunity to put pen to paper and identify the top two companies (or more) you consider real competitors.
If you’re uncertain, you can think about companies that offer similar products or services to yours and potentially even in the same geographical region.
6. Understand the target market
Understanding your target customer is key to a successful sales battle card. You can include information like your customer’s pain points, buyer personas, desired features the customers want, and the profile of your ideal client.
While you’re thinking about your ideal customer and how your service or product solves their problem, you can also brainstorm opportunities on how you can upsell or cross-sell other products or services.
7. Perform competitor research
This step includes collecting relevant information about your competitors, such as the noteworthy features of their product or service, but also the aspects of their business that you may have a competitive advantage over.
One innovative way to gather honest feedback on your competitors is to mine reviews for what customers did or didn’t like.
Your sales team will be better equipped to pitch your product as a more effective solution to prospects when armed with this information.
8. Research common objections
Salespeople often encounter similar or even the exact same objections from prospects. Pricing and a lack of certain features are two of the most common objections salespeople face.
Knowing these objections ahead of time can help sales reps prepare answers that overcome customer objections.
This research can be conducted by recording common objections from prospects as they come up, surveying prospects as to why they might not be interested in your product or service, or trying to get inside the head of your target audience with the help of buyer personas.
9. Add product features
Identifying which product features are the most attractive to your prospects is a necessary process.
Rather than making a list of every single feature your product or service has, drill down to the primary features customers often rave about.
This is a step that will benefit from the involvement of multiple departments like your customer success team, salespeople, and product team.
Dos and don’ts while creating sales battle cards
Not all battle cards are created equal, and if you want yours to be effective, these are some of the dos and don’ts you’ll want to keep in mind.
Dos:
- Base your battle cards on facts and data: If sales battle cards are too reliant on opinions, they’re more likely to be biased and unreliable.
- Keep them simple and short: There’s no need for a sales battle card to be any longer than one page. It should have the need-to-know information and be easy to read.
- Help your salespeople overcome objections: Include the FAQ of your prospects and answers your team can use to overcome any objections.
- Focus on regular and consistent use: Sales battle cards are most effective when everyone on your sales team uses them so that the message remains the same no matter who’s delivering it.
- Keep them up to date: Nothing stays the same, and whether competitors disappear or arrive on the scene or pricing changes, both you and your team should have accurate, updated information with which to work.
Don’ts:
- Don’t use feature charts: You don’t want your prospects or your staff to think about a feature war between you and your competitors. Focus instead on how your product or services solves the big picture problem.
- Don’t employ cookie-cutter elevator pitches: Giving your sales teams a scripted pitch is a good way to put their brains on autopilot, which will be a big turn-off for your prospects.
- Don’t review bomb your customers: Social proof is great, but it’s not one-size-fits-all. Make your social proof a supporting part of the pitch, not the headliner.
- Don’t overwhelm your staff: Information is an asset when it’s easily accessible and digestible, so keep the insights on your battle cards short and sweet.
Sales battle cards examples for sales reps
It’s time to start creating battle cards!
Rather than start from scratch, why not use one of the simple yet effective formats that the PandaDoc team has created?
Competitive comparison battle card sample
Use this format to help improve your team’s competitive intelligence and better understand what makes your company’s product the winning solution.
(Your company’s) value:
(Briefly explain the value your brand brings to the market.)
Reasons (Your company) wins:
(Give two to three reasons for what makes your company’s solution a winner over its competitors, i.e., unique features, pricing advantages, customer service, etc., with some supporting data points such as testimonials, stats, or other relevant data.)
Reason #1:
- Supporting data
- Supporting data
Reason #2:
- Supporting data
- Supporting data
Reason #3:
- Supporting data
- Supporting data
Competitor analysis: (Insert the name of the competitor)
(Describe your competitor briefly including their geographical market, product/service, and general business information.)
Products/Services
(Share the primary products or services your competitor offers and what they do, plus who they’re for.)
Customers
(Include the markets your competitor targets and some examples of notable clients if available.)
Pricing
(Provide a pricing range or specific pricing options if there aren’t too many.)
Noteworthy features
(Give an example or two of your competitor’s top features.)
Reasons (Your company) loses:
(Give two to three reasons why your business loses customers to this competitor, i.e., unique features, pricing advantages, customer service, etc., with some supporting data points such as testimonials, stats, or other relevant data.)
Reason #1:
- Supporting data
- Supporting data
Reason #2:
- Supporting data
- Supporting data
Reason #3:
- Supporting data
- Supporting data
Competitive analysis battle card example
Use this example for a deeper dive into one or more companies that you compete with.
Company overview
(Describe in a few sentences who your competitor is, what they sell, and who they sell to.)
Product
(Dive deeper into the main product(s) they sell with a few key features.)
- Key feature
- Key feature
- Key feature
Pricing
(Shed some light on the pricing model of your competitor and the overall range of pricing. Speak to any free trials or money-back guarantees they may offer.)
Integrations/Partnerships
(If your competitor has any noteworthy integrations or partnerships with other products/companies, this is the place to list them.)
- Integration/partnership
- Integration/partnership
- Integration/partnership
Competitor’s key claims
(Describe what it is your competitor claims about their solution.)
- Claim
- Claim
- Claim
- Claim
How to deal with them
(Give some strong responses to overcome your competitor’s main claims.)
- Response to claim
- Response to claim
- Response to claim
- Response to claim
Competitor’s primary strengths
(Relate what might make a customer choose your competitor’s product over your own.)
- Strength
- Strength
- Strength
How to deal with them
(Share some ways these strengths can be addressed.)
- Response to strength
- Response to strength
- Response to strength
Competitor’s primary weaknesses
(Based on reviews and other data, outline some of your competitor’s key weaknesses.)
- Weakness
- Weakness
- Weakness
Question-based battle card sample
Use these sorts of questions and answers to help improve your sales team’s ability to successfully deal with your customer’s most common questions.
Q: What makes your product or service different?
A: Our (product/service) is superior to our competitors because of (reason), (reason), and (reason).
Q: What’s the best price you can offer?
A: I think you’ll find this price is competitive in the industry, but more importantly, here’s why I think you’ll get more bang for your buck by choosing us: (reason).
Q: Why should I choose your company?
A: Because we’re ranked highly in our category with over (number) of (number) star reviews because we prioritize our customers and their experience with us.
Product battle card sample
Use this format to help improve your team’s knowledge of the product or service that they’re selling.
(Your company name) Product overview
(Briefly explain what your product or service is and what it accomplishes.)
Main USPs
(Dive deeper into the main product(s) you sell with a few of the unique selling points.)
- USP
- USP
- USP
Why we win
(Elaborate on a few key reasons your product is better than what your competitors offer.)
- Reason
- Reason
- Reason
Value proposition battle card sample
Use this format to identify who your target customer is, what their problem is, and how you can solve it.
Target customer profile
(Briefly summarize who your target customer is, i.e., what industry they operate in, who is the gatekeeper your sales team will typically be dealing with first, what’s their demographic, etc.)
The problem
(Outline the problem your target customer faces.)
The value proposition
(Explain how your product or service can solve your target customer’s problem, and provide a few key examples.)
1. Example
2. Example
3. Example
Final thoughts on sales battle cards
If your organization isn’t already using battle cards, now might be the time to start if you want to boost your outbound sales strategy.
Whether you use the example formats above or create your own, these tools could be the difference between winning or losing a deal.
While you’re thinking of ways to improve your team’s sales process, check out this highly-relevant article on building a successful sales strategy:
Inside, you’ll discover how to:
- Set realistic sales and business goals
- Define KPIs and success metrics
- Conduct competitive research
- Create an action plan
And much more.
Having the right tools can be another huge help in getting your sales team to the next level.
That’s why many sales teams are using PandaDoc to simplify the sales doc process and give their reps time back in their day so they can focus on what really matters: selling.
Sign up for a free 14-day trial and see how PandaDoc can help your sales team today.
Originally published December 14, 2017, updated August 18, 2022
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