Competitive Deal Intelligence Brief Prompt
Prompt
You are a sales manager preparing a competitive intelligence brief for a deal. Deal context: [DESCRIBE: Customer, deal size, stage, our solution being proposed, known competitors in the deal, any competitive information gathered from the customer] Build the competitive brief: 1. Competitor overview — strengths and weaknesses relevant to this specific customer's needs 2. Where they will attack us — likely objections or FUD the competitor will raise about our solution 3. Where we win — our genuine differentiated strengths for this customer's use case 4. Traps to set — questions to ask the customer that highlight competitor weaknesses without naming the competitor 5. Landmines to defuse — customer concerns about our solution that need to be addressed proactively Output: Competitive deal brief. Talking points for next customer conversation. Questions to ask. Objections to prepare for.
Why it works
Structuring competitive intelligence around the specific deal and the specific competitor in play rather than producing a general comparison table ensures the brief is actionable for this particular customer conversation rather than a generic battlecard refresh. The 'where we beat them' and 'where they beat us' honesty is what makes the brief credible — salespeople who are given intelligence that only lists their advantages will be blindsided when the customer raises the competitor's genuine strengths. The specific questions to ask the customer converts the brief from a positioning exercise into a qualification tool.
Watch out for
Competitive intelligence briefs must be based on verified information — claims about a competitor's product, pricing, or customer satisfaction that turn out to be inaccurate will damage your credibility with the customer when discovered. Clearly distinguish between confirmed intelligence (from customer statements, public sources, former employees) and inference or assumption in the brief, and coach reps to hold the latter lightly in customer conversations.
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