Imported from gooseworks-ai/goose-skills (skills/competitive-intel/composites/battlecard-generator/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add gooseworks-ai/goose-skills --skill battlecard-generator. Copyright stays with the author.

Battlecard Generator

Research a competitor from every public angle — website, reviews, ads, social, pricing — and produce a structured sales battlecard. The output is what a rep opens 5 minutes before a competitive deal.

Built for: PMMs building competitive programs without a dedicated competitive intel team. The battlecard should be opinionated, not a neutral feature comparison.

When to Use

• "Build a battlecard against [competitor]"
• "We keep losing deals to [competitor] — help me understand why"
• "What are [competitor]'s weaknesses we can exploit?"
• "Prep the sales team for competitive deals against [competitor]"
• "Research [competitor] and give me competitive positioning"

Phase 0: Intake

1. Your product name + URL
2. Competitor name + URL — One competitor per battlecard (focused > broad)
3. Deal context — Where do you compete? (same ICP, upmarket/downmarket, different use case?)
4. Known win/loss signals — Any patterns from deals you've won or lost against them?
5. Sales team size — Are reps technical or business-focused? (affects language level)
6. Existing positioning — Your one-line positioning vs this competitor (if any)

Phase 1: Competitor Research

1A: Website & Messaging Analysis

Fetch: [competitor] homepage, pricing page, about page, product page
Search: "[competitor]" "we help" OR "the only" OR "unlike"
Search: "[competitor]" case study OR customer story

Extract:

• Hero claim — their primary positioning
• Category — what category do they place themselves in?
• Target audience — who do they say they serve?
• Key features emphasized — what do they lead with?
• Social proof — customer logos, metrics, quotes
• Pricing structure — plans, pricing model, enterprise vs self-serve

1B: Review Intelligence

Search: "[competitor]" site:g2.com OR site:capterra.com
Search: "[competitor]" reviews "switched from" OR "moved to"

From reviews, extract:

• Top 5 praised features (their moat — don't compete here directly)
• Top 5 complaints (your attack angles)
• Switching signals — why do customers leave?
• ICP patterns — what roles/company sizes review them?

1C: Ad & Content Analysis

Search: "[competitor]" advertisement OR sponsored
Search: "[competitor]" vs OR alternative OR compare

Extract:

• Ad messaging — what claims do they pay to promote?
• Comparison pages — have they published "us vs X" pages?
• Content themes — what topics do they create content around?

1D: Social & Community Signals

Search: "[competitor]" site:reddit.com OR site:twitter.com complaints OR issues
Search: "[competitor]" "looking for alternative" OR "anyone use"

Extract:

• Common frustrations discussed publicly
• Feature requests their users are vocal about
• Sentiment patterns — do users love or tolerate them?

1E: Pricing Deep Dive

Fetch: [competitor] pricing page
Search: "[competitor]" pricing OR cost OR "how much"

Map their pricing:

• Model: Per seat / usage-based / flat rate / hybrid
• Tiers: What's in each tier?
• Free tier: What's included? What's gated?
• Enterprise: Custom pricing? What triggers enterprise sales?
• Hidden costs: Implementation, overages, add-ons?

Phase 2: Competitive Analysis

Strengths & Weaknesses Matrix

Where We Win (lead with these)

1. [Strength] — [Evidence from research]
2. [Strength] — [Evidence]
3. [Strength] — [Evidence]

Where We Lose (don't engage here)

1. [Weakness] — [Mitigation strategy]
2. [Weakness] — [How to reframe]

Where It's Close (differentiate on narrative)

1. [Area] — [How to position the tie as a win]

Phase 3: Output — Battlecard

# Battlecard: [Your Product] vs [Competitor]
Last updated: [DATE] | Confidence: [High/Medium — based on data freshness]

---

## Quick Reference (The 30-Second Version)

**They say:** "[Their positioning headline]"
**We say:** "[Our counter-positioning]"
**We win when:** [Deal profile where we have advantage]
**We lose when:** [Deal profile where they have advantage]
**Best opening move:** "[Question or statement to frame the deal]"

---

## Competitor Overview

| | [Competitor] |
|---|---|
| **Founded** | [Year] |
| **Funding** | [Amount / stage] |
| **Headcount** | [Estimate] |
| **Target market** | [Who they serve] |
| **Pricing** | [Model + range] |
| **Category** | [How they position] |

---

## Positioning Traps

Questions to ask early in the deal that frame the evaluation in your favor:

1. **"[Question that highlights your strength]"**
   → If they say [X], you win because [reason]
   → If they say [Y], pivot to [angle]

2. **"[Question that exposes competitor weakness]"**
   → Their answer will likely be [X], which reveals [limitation]

3. **"[Question about a capability they lack]"**
   → They can't do this. When the prospect asks them, it plants doubt.

---

## Landmine Questions

Drop these casually — they'll come up when the prospect evaluates the competitor:

- "Have you asked [competitor] about [specific limitation]?"
- "When you evaluate [competitor], make sure to test [area where they're weak]."
- "One thing worth checking: [competitor] pricing can get expensive once you [usage trigger]."

---

## Objection Handling

### "Why shouldn't we just go with [Competitor]?"
> "[Direct response — acknowledge their strength, pivot to your differentiation]"

### "[Competitor] has more features / is more established"
> "[Response — focus on what matters for this buyer's use case, not feature count]"

### "[Competitor] is cheaper"
> "[Response — reframe on total cost, hidden costs, or value per dollar]"

### "[Competitor] has [big customer logo]"
> "[Response — your relevant social proof + why logo != fit]"

### "We're already using [Competitor]"
> "[Response — switching cost vs cost of staying, what's changed]"

---

## Feature Comparison (Honest Assessment)

| Capability | Us | [Competitor] | Verdict |
|-----------|-----|-------------|---------|
| [Feature 1] | [Status + context] | [Status + context] | [Who wins + why] |
| [Feature 2] | ... | ... | ... |
| [Feature 3] | ... | ... | ... |
| Pricing transparency | ... | ... | ... |
| Onboarding speed | ... | ... | ... |
| Support quality | ... | ... | ... |

---

## Their Customers Say (From Reviews)

### What they love (don't fight these):
- "[Quote from review]" — [Platform, Role]
- "[Quote]" — ...

### What they hate (exploit these):
- "[Quote from negative review]" — [Platform, Role]
- "[Quote]" — ...
- "[Quote]" — ...

---

## Pricing Comparison

| | Us | [Competitor] |
|---|---|---|
| **Entry price** | [$/mo] | [$/mo] |
| **Mid-tier** | [$/mo] | [$/mo] |
| **Enterprise** | [Custom / $X] | [Custom / $X] |
| **Free tier** | [What's included] | [What's included] |
| **Hidden costs** | [None / list] | [Implementation, overages, etc.] |

**Pricing attack angle:** [How to frame pricing comparison favorably]

---

## Win Themes (What Wins Deals)

Based on competitive patterns:
1. **[Theme]** — "[Proof point or quote]"
2. **[Theme]** — ...
3. **[Theme]** — ...

## Loss Themes (What Loses Deals)

Be aware — we tend to lose when:
1. **[Pattern]** — Mitigation: [strategy]
2. **[Pattern]** — Mitigation: [strategy]

---

## Quick Responses for Email/Chat

**When prospect mentions [competitor]:**
> "[2-sentence response for email or Slack]"

**When asked for a comparison:**
> "[3-sentence elevator pitch vs competitor]"

Save to clients/<client-name>/product-marketing/battlecards/vs-[competitor-slug]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md.

Cost

Tools Required

• web_search — for competitor research
• fetch_webpage — for site analysis
• Optional: review-site-scraper for G2/Capterra mining
• Optional: google-ad-scraper for ad intelligence, web_search against Meta Ad Library for Meta ads

Trigger Phrases

• "Build a battlecard against [competitor]"
• "Competitive intel on [competitor]"
• "Run the battlecard generator for [competitor]"
• "Help me win deals against [competitor]"