This Stung When I Realized It

Not proud of this, but I used to deliver competitive intel that just made me feel great… not my sellers.

Here’s what I mean: At a previous job, I had spent weeks crafting the most comprehensive battlecard imaginable. It had everything: detailed feature comparisons, nuanced pricing breakdowns, objection-handling for every scenario imaginable.

Honestly, I was proud. I felt like I'd nailed it.

Until I actually showed it to the sales team.

Blank stares. Polite nods. And then the gut punch:

"Yeah… we wouldn't use most of this. Maybe this part over here, possibly that section… but shorter. The rest, not really."

That moment hit me hard. But it also taught me something important:

Competitive intel isn't just about showing you've done your homework. It's about helping sellers close deals.

And look, my issue isn’t with battlecards. Sellers do want clean comparisons and detailed positioning.

But only when the timing is right, the content is digestible, and it fits into the reality of their busy lives.

That's why I’m seeing more teams shift to "deal-first” competitive intel.

Practically, here's how that looks:

Imagine your rep is on a call. Suddenly Competitor X comes up in the conversation. Within moments, they get a Slack message:

"Competitor X was just mentioned. Their biggest weakness against us is integration reliability. Be sure to also highlight our recent uptime report as a differentiator. Avoid getting pulled into a pricing battle; lean on value instead."

No frantic searching, no desperate DMs, no panic. No skimming through unrelated competitor details that don’t matter in the heat of the moment Just confident selling. Boom! ✨ Deal-first competitive intel ✨

Now, let’s play out a situation for you, the PMM / Competitive Intel practitioner…

Imagine you pulled win-loss data from your CRM. You also have data from a sales confidence survey you conducted last week. Combining these two assets, you now have clear visibility into exactly which competitors your reps feel uneasy about, and why.

So you proactively reach out with bite-sized positioning tips they actually want and will use immediately. Boom! Say it with me… ✨ Deal-first competitive intel ✨

To drive it home, here’s why I really think this shift matters to you:

The old way (competitor-first) leaves you stuck:

• Repeating yourself

• Watching your work sit unused

• Feeling undervalued, frustrated, and reactive

But the new way (deal-first) helps you:

• Proactively drive deal outcomes instead of just documenting competitor moves

• Improve seller confidence and performance

• Demonstrably tie your efforts to real revenue impact, not just nice-to-have resources

The best PMMs and CI leaders I know aren't waiting around. They've already shifted to deal-first competitive intel.

People like Hunter Sones at Boomi, Kimberly Bauer at SentinelOne, and Jason Hersh at Gainsight are already putting this approach into practice, and they’re sharing their real playbooks.

Want in? 👀

Stay Healthy, my friends.

💚Andy