You Sunk My Battlecard

Sales battlecards are one of those things that seem like a great idea until you start researching how to create them. It is overwhelming to say the least. There are endless templates that all claim to be THE perfect option. Then there are the articles that share four different, seven different, or nine different kinds of battlecards you MUST have for your sales team.

My favorite articles are the ones that suggest including only the absolutely vital elements in your battlecards, and then go on to list so much information that I had to assume they either didn’t know what “vital” meant or were envisioning “cards” the size of a science fair display board.

Don’t make battlecards harder than they need to be. Do they take strategy and continual revision? Yes. Do you need 25 different kinds of battlecards, each with enough content to qualify as a short story? No, you do not.

BATTLECARD READY

According to Crayon, amongst companies that use battlecards, 71% say they have led to an increase in win rates. And the amount of increase is significant. When information is properly maintained, battlecards can improve win rates by 50–60%.

We usually think of battlecards in the context of a sales call, being used in order to close a deal, but if you zoom out, you’ll find that they are useful beyond that scenario. Battlecards are essentially internal cheat sheets on how you differ from your competitors—both the good and the bad. Obviously, this makes them a handy tool for an account executive navigating the bottom of the sales funnel. But what about a BDR at the top of the funnel?

Battlecards can be great for qualifying (or disqualifying) prospects. “I should know if my competitors are excellent at something versus me,” says Maestro Managing Partner Will Fuentes. “That may be the key feature someone needs, right?” Will feels it’s better to realize sooner rather than later that a prospect is not a good fit. “I’m always trying to disqualify as quickly as possible as much as I’m trying to qualify.” Battlecards can help speed up that process.

Who else should become well-versed on your product or service’s strengths and weaknesses? Everyone. Battlecards can be a great resource for onboarding new employees, as they provide an easy-to-digest overview of the competitive landscape.

AVOID BATTLECARD ROYALE

So, what should be included in these battlecards, anyway? I can’t tell you that. But do you know who can? Your sales team. Battlecards cannot be effective if they are not being used. Anyone responsible for creating battlecards should first consult with those who will be using them.

Talk to both sales leaders and long-time members of the sales team. Ask them questions like:

• Why do we win?
• When people leave a competitor and come to us, what are they looking for?
• What information do you need at the ready when selling against a competitor?

Also consult with your customer service team. These are the folks who know why your clients are leaving you for a competitor. Finally, look at brand reviews to learn more about what really stands out (good or bad) to your clients.

By providing accurate information about what makes your company shine, you can help your salespeople create fear, uncertainty, and doubt around your competitors. You should never badmouth the competition, but you can be honest and say, “We’ve had a lot of prospects reach out to us who also were focused on solving X, and they found that their current vendors weren’t providing the solutions they needed.”

A 2023 6sense study found that the average B2B buyer is considering four different vendors when making a purchase. Each vendor being considered beyond this average results in an additional two people added to the buying team and two months added to the sales cycle. It behooves you to reduce the number of competitors you’re being compared to. Effective battlecards can help your sales team achieve that, because your knowledge of where your competitors are lacking can lead the prospect to disqualify them.

Besides knowing what information to provide on a battlecard, it’s just as important to consider how that information is being presented. We’ve written about readability in terms of how easily prospects can consume your sales collateral. Those same readability standards ensure that your salespeople can easily process your battlecards. A battlecard may have mind-blowing information, but if that information is not easy to skim and retrieve, it’s all for nothing.

IT’S THE BATTLECARD OF MAN VS. MACHINE

Now that you’ve created easy-to-consume battlecards that are helping your sales team navigate the funnel, what should you do next? Keep researching. Battlecards are only effective if they are up-to-date. In fact, of all the internal and external sales collateral you produce, battlecards will be edited and updated the most. Did your competitor just come out with a new feature similar to one you have? Update. Have their clients started using the new feature and been frustrated by the lack of personalization tools? Update again.

This sounds like a lot of work, and it is. Many businesses are turning to AI for help. A Crayon survey reported that 67% of those using battlecards have found AI helpful for updating them. Using AI to help with battlecards can mean anything from setting up Google Alerts for your competitors to using ChatGPT to develop your entire library of battlecards.

I tried using some of the ChatGPT prompts provided by a competitive-intelligence software provider and got some results that I knew to be false. I can see, however, that with the right prompts and someone double checking the information, it could become a useful tool. At the very least, AI can help inform you when it’s time to update your battlecards.

I’m not sure why there are so many articles promising the perfect battlecard template or the 17 items every battlecard must include. Every organization’s needs are different, plus they will change over time. We’re each fighting our own battlecard. I’m sorry, I’ll stop with the battle puns. And you should stop searching for the perfect battlecard and get started on a few that will work well for you. Get to it. Man your battlecard stations! Okay, really, now I’m done.

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