Some sales conversations are easy. Your client knows what they want and is ready to move forward. Others are more complicated. Maybe you get asked why your rates are higher or how your company stacks up to another. That’s where a sales battlecard comes in. It’s a quick-reference guide that helps you answer tough questions and highlight your value.
Writer Tamanna Mishra says your sales battlecard could be printed or digital and should be short enough for reps to use mid-call but also specific enough to change the conversation. It should help them understand what they should say next and what proof they should use. In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share Mishra’s tips for creating sales battlecards that reps won’t ignore.
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- Start with the competitors who actually show up. Mishra recommends starting with the companies who appear in your active pipeline and closed-lost notes. Consider which competitors appear most often and which ones create the most pricing pressure. Also look for those who show up late in deals and which ones are tied to actual losses.
- Pull language from sales calls. According to Mishra, the best objection-handling battlecard uses the buyer’s words. Not the marketing team’s idealized version of the buyer’s words. Review call summaries, CRM notes and follow-up emails to find the exact objections prospects raise and questions reps struggle to answer. She says you could also identify differentiators that prospects care about and proof points that move the deal forward.
- Validate with top reps. Battlecards need field reality, Mishra says. Ask your top reps what they think the team should stop saying and what they say that actually works. Also consider if there’s any proof that changes the conversation. She says if top reps help shape the battlecards, other reps are more likely to trust and use them.
- Add ownership and freshness. Mishra says every sales battlecard needs an owner, a source, a last verified date, a next review date, a safe-to-share status and an update log. She says static battlecards go stale quietly. The buyer finds out first. Then your rep finds out in real time. This is far from ideal.
A great sales battlecard won’t close the deal for you, but it can keep the conversation moving in the right direction. Keep it grounded in questions your prospects ask and update it often. When you do this, your team members will sound more confident and your prospects will notice.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Tamanna Mishra is a seasoned communications professional who contributes to the Sybill blog.
