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Creating Battle Cards is Imperative to Improve Sales Performance

With so many solid competitors in the marketplace, the sales process can sometimes feel almost like a battlefield, and that is where battle cards come into play. A sales team without battle cards is almost like an army going to war without ammo.

Battle cards give your sales team short and precise tactics to sell against competitors. Battle cards help them answer the most asked question by customers, 'how do you stack up against your competitors?'

This article will suggest how to build the ideal sales battle card to help your sales rep win deals against your competitors.

Why Do You Need Battle Cards?

Sales battle cards are a compilation of information about your products, market, customers, and competitors. Essential information in the battle card can be shown in text, graphics, or videos.

All the same, a well-designed battle card should not overwhelm salespeople with irrelevant data. Instead, it provides them with actionable insights to engage customers in discussions about their needs, emphasizing the reference to the alternatives.

Essentially, battle cards will provide the sales team with key talking points which help them understand consumer expectations, product advantages, and the competitive differentiators to help meet those needs.




How to Build the Ideal Sales Battle Card?

Battle cards are typically 2-3 pages long, and the card format varies widely, depending on a company's needs and business strategy. Generally, here are the items that we see as imperative to include.


Competitor Overview

Your sales rep needs to know the basics about your competitors. The competitor's company overview should include the company name, website, location, the total number of employees, and financial data. The more you know about the players in the game, the better.


Target Customers

Identify the buyer personas, customer pain points, and how your products address these issues. That will help you identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities. Also, it will help you understand the market segments you're not performing well.

Sources: Your sales team. Competitive Intelligence HUMINT program.

Outline Important Product Features

What key details should you know about your products? In this section, stick to the highlights. You want to highlight the most used and desired features. Also, if there're features customers don't care about at the purchase, it's time to highlight them. (see next item).


FUDs

There is more to battle cards than just comparing the differences between two companies. Take it further and analyze the information you have gathered about your competitors. That will help your sales team identify the holes in your competitor's offerings. Hence you can pitch your company as a better solution and plant fears, uncertainties, and doubts (FUDs) in the prospect’s decision to choose differently.


Landmines

Landmines are the questions or topics that would doubt your ability to deliver. These can be used at any point in a sales cycle. Your sales reps must be prepared with conversational strategies to address the potential issues your customers might have with your services or products. When you proactively manage the objections in a sales process, you increase the chances of closing a deal.


Success Stories

If you want your battle card to stand out, you need business proof. These should be evidence, cold hard facts, and examples showing real-life customers that have used your products. Choose your best success stats and case studies and add them to the battle card. Be specific and use accurate statistics to demonstrate how customers have used your products and services.


Live Battle Cards

The competitive landscape is dynamic as new technologies appear and client feedback is accumulated. Therefore, battle cards must be updated regularly. As you create your sales battle card, remember that it needs to work for your team. Constantly gather feedback and what's working and what needs some improvements. You can divide them into verticals, regions, or product modules to keep them even more relevant.


Sources

To develop a practical card, you must use internal sources like your product management, regional sales, and external teams. Open web, annual reports, and traditional analyst firms can help with the general required items. However, to get the most validated data, you will need to run a Competitive Intelligence program based on the experience and knowledge of executives in the market.



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