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Competitor Analysis Template

Put your company and up to six competitors side by side on what buyers compare: price, pricing model, features, sales motion, contract terms, support. Rate cells 1 to 5 if you want a score, note where each fact came from, then build a one-page battlecard for the competitor you meet most. Load the example to see a finished one.

What to compare

Compare what a buyer weighs when choosing, not everything you could find out. The preset rows cover the usual sales questions; remove what does not matter in your market and add your own.

  • Price and pricing model

    List price, discounts and how they charge: per unit, per seat, contract, rebate. Buyers compare the total, so note what is included.

  • Target customer

    Who they sell to and who they ignore. Overlap tells you where you will meet them; gaps tell you where you will not.

  • Key features

    The few capabilities buyers actually ask about. A long feature list hides the two that decide the deal.

  • Strengths and weaknesses

    What customers praise and complain about, in their words. Each one becomes a line on the battlecard.

  • Sales motion and contract terms

    Field reps, inside sales or online only; annual contracts, minimums, payment terms. Often the real difference for a mid-size buyer.

  • Support and recent news

    Who answers when something goes wrong, and what changed lately: new products, price changes, a new owner, a new branch.

Battlecard template: what goes on one

A battlecard is the one page a rep reads before a call where a competitor is in the deal. Keep each section to a few lines a rep can say out loud:

  • How they pitch

    What their reps lead with, in the words prospects repeat to you.

  • Where we win

    The situations and customers where we come out ahead, and why.

  • Where they win

    Be honest: where they are the better fit. Saves you chasing deals you will lose.

  • Landmines: questions to ask

    Questions that bring our strengths into the deal without naming them.

  • Proof points

    Customers, numbers and stories you can name and back up.

  • Pricing notes

    How they price and discount, and how to frame our price against it.

  • Common objections

    The objections prospects raise when they lean towards the competitor, each with the answer that has worked for your team.

Keep it honest and current

A competitor grid is only useful if reps trust it. A wrong fact repeated to a buyer costs more than a missing one.

  • Use public sources (websites, price lists, reviews, published reports) and what customers tell you, and write down which for each competitor.
  • Note the date you checked. Prices and packaging change; check again before a big deal.
  • Compare honestly and write only what you can back up. No claims about a competitor you could not show a buyer the source for.
  • Fill in "Where they win" truthfully. It tells reps which deals to qualify out early.
  • Ratings are your team's judgment, not facts. Say so when you share the grid.

Looking at one competitor in depth? Do a SWOT on them in the SWOT analysis template.

Choosing between options with weights for what matters most? Use the decision matrix template instead of the plain average here.

Find out why you really win and lose against each competitor with a win-loss analysis.

More for sales teams: sales enablement, value-based selling, sales playbook.

The best competitive intel is in your own sales conversations.

Prospects tell you what the other vendors pitched, charged and promised, usually in passing. Record your sales meetings with ParrotNotes and you get the transcript and a summary, so you can pull those lines into the battlecard in the prospect's own words. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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