A competitive battlecard is a one-page brief that helps a salesperson win a deal against one named competitor. Copy the free template below, fill every line from a source you can show, and rebuild each card at least once a quarter: in Wynter's 2026 survey, 47% of B2B SaaS product marketers said their battlecards go stale within 3 months.
The template has a header, ten short sections and a source log, and it fits on one page. Below it you will find what each section should say, a filled-in example for a fictional company, the sourcing rules that keep a card honest, the UK rules for any line that reaches a buyer, and how often to refresh it. There is no form to fill in and nothing to download.
What does a one-page battlecard template look like?
It looks like the card below: a header, ten short sections and a source log. It is plain text, so it keeps its layout when you paste it into a document, a wiki page or a CRM note. The headings follow the battle cards ORRJO ships for clients: how they pitch, how you pitch, where each side wins, and a closer line. The source log at the foot of the card is where every claim about the competitor shows where it came from and when someone last checked it.
COMPETITIVE BATTLECARD: [Competitor name] Deals this card covers: [segment, size or region where you meet them] Owner: [name] Last verified: [date] Next full review: [date] Use: [Internal only] or [Approved lines may go to buyers: list them] 1. HOW THEY PITCH (in their words) "[Their main claim, quoted]" Source: [page] Checked: [date] 2. HOW WE PITCH AGAINST THEM [One or two sentences a rep can say out loud] 3. WE WIN ON (up to four points, each with proof) - [Point] Proof: [case study, demo moment or figure you can show] - [Point] Proof: [ ] - [Point] Proof: [ ] 4. THEY WIN ON (their honest strengths) - [Strength] What we say: [acknowledge it, then move to where we win] - [Strength] What we say: [ ] 5. WHEN TO WALK AWAY [The kind of deal where they are the better fit] 6. OBJECTIONS AND REPLIES Objection: "[in the buyer's words]" Reply: [one or two sentences] Objection: "[ ]" Reply: [ ] Objection: "[ ]" Reply: [ ] 7. DISCOVERY QUESTIONS (ask early) - [A question that brings out a need where we are stronger] - [ ] - [ ] 8. PRICING CONTEXT (published prices only) [What they publish, in the currency they publish it in] Source: [page] Checked: [date] 9. ONE PROOF POINT [One customer result you may share, with the customer's sign-off] 10. CLOSER LINE "[The sentence a rep ends on]" SOURCE LOG (one row for every claim about the competitor) Claim | Source (link or record) | Date checked | Confidence: High / Moderate / Lower [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] Something wrong or out of date? Tell [owner] the same day.
What should each section of a battlecard say?
Each section answers one question a rep has in the middle of a deal, and each one has a best source. Fill the card in this order:
- Gather the sources first: the competitor's website and pricing page, their Companies House record if they are a UK company, your CRM's won and lost deals, call notes and win-loss interviews.
- Log each claim about the competitor in the source log as you find it, with the date you checked it and a confidence rating.
- Fill the sections from the log. If a claim has no row in the log, it does not go on the card.
- Ask a rep who has lost a deal to this competitor to read the card before it goes live.
| Section | What goes in it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Header | The competitor, the deals the card covers, the owner, the last verified date, the next review date, and whether any lines may go to buyers. | Your CRM for deal types; the owner for the dates. |
| How they pitch | Their main claim in their own words, quoted rather than summarised. | Their homepage, pricing page and published case studies. |
| How we pitch against them | One or two sentences a rep can say out loud on a call. | Your positioning, tested against the deals you won. |
| We win on | Up to four points, each with proof. B2B International advises that each section addresses "no more than four pertinent points". | Won-deal notes, win-loss interviews, product demos. |
| They win on | Their honest strengths, with what the rep says in reply. Leave these out and the rep hears them first from the buyer. | Lost-deal reasons and win-loss interviews. |
| When to walk away | The kind of deal where the competitor is the better fit. | Lost deals where the buyer's reason was the shape of the deal, not the price. |
| Objections and replies | The objections reps hear most about this competitor, in the buyer's words, each with a short reply. | Call recordings, rep notes, win-loss interviews. |
| Discovery questions | Questions that bring out the needs where you are stronger, asked early in the deal. | Won deals: what the buyer cared about that the competitor could not answer. |
| Pricing context | Only what the competitor publishes, with the date checked and the currency they publish in. | Their pricing page. |
| One proof point | One customer result you may share, with the customer's sign-off on the wording. | Your published case studies. |
| Closer line | One sentence that sums up why you, against this competitor. | The line your best rep already uses. |
| Source log | Every claim about the competitor, with its source, the date checked and a confidence rating: High, Moderate or Lower. | The person who checked it. |
What does a filled-in battlecard look like?
Like the fictional example below, written for a made-up software company against a made-up rival.
This example is fictional. Company A and Competitor B do not exist. Every line, date and source in the card is invented to show the format, so none of it is a claim about a real company.
Company A vs Competitor B
Deals this card covers: mid-sized UK property managers buying compliance software for the first time.
Owner: head of product marketing.
Last verified: 1 October 2026. Next full review: 5 January 2027.
Use: internal only. The reply marked (approved) may go to buyers in writing.
1. How they pitch
"Every property, one platform." Source: Competitor B homepage. Checked: 1 October 2026.
2. How we pitch against them
"Competitor B helps you run every part of a portfolio. We do one job: making sure no safety certificate on any property lapses without the right person knowing first."
3. We win on
- Alerts set per property and per certificate type. Proof: the alert screen in the standard demo.
- Runs alongside the buyer's current system, with no data migration to start. Proof: an approved case study with the customer named.
- An audit trail a manager can hand over when asked to prove a property is compliant. Proof: a sample audit export.
4. They win on
- One login for accounts, lettings and compliance. What we say: "If one login matters most, they are a fair choice. If compliance is the risk you cannot carry, it deserves a tool built only for that."
- Better known with large letting agencies. What we say: do not argue about brand; offer a reference call with a customer of the same size.
5. When to walk away
The buyer already runs Competitor B's accounting module and wants one supplier for everything.
6. Objections and replies
- "We already pay for Competitor B." Reply: "Which part of it tells you a certificate is about to lapse, and who reads that alert?"
- "Switching sounds like a big project." Reply (approved): "Nothing has to move. We run alongside your current system until you decide."
- "You're smaller than them." Reply: "Talk to a customer your size. We will set up the call."
7. Discovery questions
- How do you find out today that a certificate is about to lapse?
- When a property is added or sold, who updates its compliance record?
- The last time someone asked you to prove a property was compliant, how long did it take?
8. Pricing context
Competitor B publishes three plans in pounds, priced per property per month. Compliance tracking is only in the top plan. Source: Competitor B pricing page. Checked: 1 October 2026.
9. One proof point
A customer with a portfolio like the buyer's replaced its spreadsheet tracker with Company A. The customer has approved the case study wording.
10. Closer line
"If compliance is the thing that cannot go wrong, buy the tool built only for compliance."
Source log
| Claim | Source | Checked | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Their headline is "Every property, one platform." | Competitor B homepage | 1 Oct 2026 | High |
| Compliance tracking is only in their top plan | Competitor B pricing page | 1 Oct 2026 | High |
| One login for accounts, lettings and compliance | Competitor B product pages and four lost-deal notes | 1 Oct 2026 | Moderate |
| Buyers already on their accounting module stay with them | Six win-loss interviews and CRM lost-deal reasons | 29 Sep 2026 | Moderate |
| Better known with large letting agencies | Rep feedback at the quarterly pipeline review | 29 Sep 2026 | Lower |
Notice what the example leaves out: no claim about the competitor without a row in the log, no price figure that the competitor has not published, and nothing about their people or their company that a rep could not show a buyer.
Where should battlecard facts come from?
From sources a rep could show a manager or a buyer: the competitor's own pages, public records, your CRM and your own win-loss interviews, each logged with a date and a confidence rating. Six rules keep a card honest.
- Open the real source before anything goes on the card. Search results and AI tools tell you where to look; they are not the source. ORRJO's research runs on the same rule: "AI output is a list of leads, never a source of facts: a person opens the real source before anything is written down."
- Quote their positioning in their words. Copy the competitor's headline and pricing wording from their own pages, note the page and date it. A paraphrase can drift each time the card is edited.
- Rate every claim. ORRJO's analysts rate every finding High, Moderate or Lower confidence, and the same three tiers work on a card. On the ORRJO Intelligence page the tiers read: "High when the source is audit grade (a public 10-K, a verified annual report, a verbatim quote from a named publication). Moderate when triangulated across multiple sources. Lower when directional and worth flagging."
- Take "they win on" and "when to walk away" from buyers. Lost-deal reasons in your CRM and win-loss interviews tell you why buyers chose the competitor. In Crayon's 2026 State of Competitive Intelligence, knowledge teams already hold (employees, internal documents and call recordings) is "the most-cited source at 54%, ahead of competitor websites at 48%", and "Win/loss insights from buyers and sellers rank third at 36%." Crayon sells a competitive intelligence platform and does not publish its sample size on that page. Our win-loss interview questions include one that asks buyers what else was on their list, because the true competitive set "usually differs from the one on your battlecards."
- Check UK competitors at Companies House. GOV.UK says "You can get some details about a company for free", including its registered address and date of incorporation, current and resigned officers, previous company names and insolvency information.
- Never use confidential material. Leave out any competitor price list, deck, roadmap or contract that was not published, including anything a current or former employee of theirs passes on. Under the Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018, "The acquisition, use or disclosure of a trade secret is unlawful where the acquisition, use or disclosure constitutes a breach of confidence in confidential information." This is a rule of thumb, not legal advice.
For how a card fits into a wider research programme, see our guide to competitive intelligence for B2B.
What can a battlecard say about a competitor in the UK?
Anything on the card should be true, sourced and dated, and any line that reaches a buyer in writing, such as an email, a one-pager or a comparison page, should also meet the UK rules on comparative advertising. Section 3 of the CAP Code, on misleading advertising, sets the tests that matter most for battlecard lines:
- Rule 3.32: "Marketing communications that include a comparison with an identifiable competitor must not mislead, or be likely to mislead, the consumer about either the advertised product or the competing product."
- Rule 3.34: "They must objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative feature of those products, which may include price."
- Rule 3.41: comparisons "must not discredit or denigrate another product, marketer, trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing mark."
- On "better than" lines, the section's principle on comparisons says: "Superiority claims must be supported by evidence unless they are obvious puffery (that is, claims that consumers are unlikely to take literally)."
The Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 set similar conditions in regulation 4: comparative advertising is permitted only when, among other conditions, "it objectively compares one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative features of those products, which may include price" and "it does not discredit or denigrate the trade marks, trade names, other distinguishing marks, products, activities, or circumstances of a competitor".
Before a line from the card goes to a buyer, check four things:
- It compares the same feature on both sides, and that feature matters to this buyer.
- You can show the source today, and someone checked it this quarter.
- It describes their product, not their people or the character of their company.
- Any "better than" claim has evidence behind it.
This is a practical rule of thumb, not legal advice. Take legal advice before you publish a comparison page or a comparative advert.
How often should you update a battlecard?
Rebuild every card at least once a quarter, and change a line the day its source changes. In Wynter's survey of 101 B2B SaaS product marketers, published in May 2026, "47% of B2B SaaS product marketers say their battlecards go stale within 3 months; 82% within 6 months." Only 2% said theirs last more than a year. The sample is product marketers at mid-market and enterprise SaaS companies, so treat it as a guide for other sectors rather than a measure of them.
ORRJO's own battle cards are refreshed quarterly, with monthly office hours in between: "The ORRJO lead sits with your sales leader to flag what is changing in the market and update the materials accordingly." A workable rhythm for your own cards:
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| The day a source changes: a new pricing page, a new homepage claim, a Companies House alert | Update the line and its date in the source log. GOV.UK lets you set up free email alerts "to tell you when a company updates its details (for example, a change of director or address)". |
| After a deal lost to this competitor | Check "they win on" and "when to walk away" against the buyer's reasons. |
| Monthly | Review the card with the sales leader: what are reps hearing that the card does not cover? |
| Quarterly | Rebuild the card. Re-check every source, re-date every claim, and delete anything you cannot verify again. |
Pricing lines need the closest watch. ORRJO's sales enablement page names the failure plainly: "So the battle card uses last year's pricing."
How do you get sales to use a battlecard?
Keep each card to one page about one competitor, put it where reps already work, and rehearse it before a rep needs it on a call. Adoption is the hard part: in the same Wynter survey, "37% of product marketers say sales mostly ignores or freestyles around their competitive content; only 33% say sales uses it consistently." Wynter also found that "The highest-impact stories were small, sales-deployed and narrow to one situation."
- One competitor, one page. If a rep has to scroll to find the reply to an objection, cut the card down.
- Put it in the sales stack. Link it from the competitor field in your CRM or your enablement tool, so the card is one click from the deal. ORRJO's cards are indexed in the client's sales stack.
- Name the owner on the card. Give reps one place to report a wrong or stale line, and fix it the same day.
- Rehearse it. Role-play the objections and the closer line in a team meeting before the card goes live.
- Feed it from losses. After every deal lost to that competitor, check the card against the buyer's reasons, ideally from a win-loss interview.
How does ORRJO build battle cards for clients?
As part of Sales Enablement, a sub-service of ORRJO Intelligence: battle cards for a client's top five competitors, one page each, sourced from intel and updated quarterly. Here is what ORRJO publishes about the work. The lines in quotation marks are word for word from our sales enablement and ORRJO Intelligence pages.
| Question | ORRJO's published answer |
|---|---|
| What you get | "Battle cards for your top five competitors. One page each, sourced from intel, updated quarterly." |
| What each card covers | "One page per competitor. How they pitch, how you pitch, the lines that win the head-to-head." |
| Where the cards live | "One per competitor, refreshed quarterly, indexed in your sales stack." |
| Between refreshes | "Monthly office hours. The ORRJO lead sits with your sales leader to flag what is changing in the market and update the materials accordingly." |
| How long it takes | "First battle cards and a refreshed sales deck inside 30 days." |
| Where the research comes from | "Battle cards draw from Intelligence." A named analyst "verifies every claim, rates each finding High, Moderate or Lower confidence, and signs every report." |
| How it is sold | "Sales Enablement is an add-on, not a standalone product. It folds into the scope of whichever ORRJO retainer fits the work (Intelligence and Lead Generation are the natural homes, but it pairs with Brand & Content and Demand Generation too)." |
| Price and terms | ORRJO Intelligence from £2,500 a month. A 3-month paid pilot is available to start. Engagements typically run 6 to 12 months, and committing to 12 months earns a discounted rate. |
The full list of materials is on the sales enablement page, and the research behind the cards is set out on ORRJO Intelligence. If you are new to the term, our sales enablement definition covers the wider discipline.
What else do people ask about battlecards?
What is a competitive battlecard?
A competitive battlecard is a one-page brief that tells a salesperson how to win against one named competitor: how the competitor pitches, how you pitch against them, where each side wins, the objections to expect and the line to close on. A good card also shows where every claim came from and when someone last checked it, so a rep can trust what they say on a call.
How many battlecards does a sales team need?
One for each competitor your reps meet in live deals, and no more than your team can keep current. Start with the rivals named most often in your won and lost deals. ORRJO builds battle cards for a client's top five competitors, one page each, updated quarterly. If you cannot keep a card current, retire it rather than leave old claims in circulation.
Should a battlecard include competitor pricing?
Only what the competitor publishes, with the page it came from, the date you checked it and the currency it was published in. Do not add prices from confidential quotes, decks or contracts that were never published. Check the pricing line whenever the competitor changes its pricing page, and again at every quarterly rebuild.
Can you share a battlecard with a buyer?
Keep the card itself internal, and mark which lines are approved to go to buyers. Any comparison a buyer reads in writing should meet the UK rules on comparative advertising: compare material, relevant, verifiable and representative features, do not mislead, and do not discredit or denigrate the competitor. This is a rule of thumb, not legal advice.
Where should battlecards live?
Where your reps already work during a deal: linked from the competitor field in your CRM, in your sales enablement tool, or in the shared drive the team actually opens. ORRJO's battle cards are indexed in the client's sales stack. Wherever the card lives, keep one master copy with the owner and the last verified date at the top, so nobody works from an old download.
Can AI write a battlecard?
AI tools can find sources and draft wording quickly, but they should not be the source of any claim on the card. Treat AI output as a list of leads: open each real source, check it says what the draft claims, then log the source, the date and a confidence rating. ORRJO's research follows the same rule: a person opens the real source before anything is written down.
Is this battlecard template free?
Yes. The template is free to copy and use, with no form and no sign-up. Copy it from this page into a document, a wiki or a CRM note, or print the blank card. The worked example is fictional and shows the format only. If you want ORRJO to build and maintain your cards, that runs as Sales Enablement, an add-on to an ORRJO retainer.
Which sources does this page use?
Every outside source on this page is listed below, each linked and checked on 13 October 2026.
- Wynter, The State of Competitive Intelligence in B2B SaaS, survey of 101 B2B SaaS product marketers (mid-market 60, enterprise 41), run 27 to 28 April 2026, published May 2026. Checked 13 October 2026.
- Crayon, The 2026 State of Competitive Intelligence, 9th edition, headline findings page. Based on Crayon's annual survey of competitive intelligence, sales and revenue leaders; sample size not published on the page. Checked 13 October 2026.
- B2B International, Battlecards for Increasing Sales Success. Checked 13 October 2026.
- Committee of Advertising Practice, The CAP Code, section 03: Misleading advertising, rules 3.32, 3.34 and 3.41. Checked 13 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, The Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008, regulation 4. Checked 13 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, The Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018, regulation 3. Checked 13 October 2026.
- GOV.UK, Get information about a company (Companies House). Checked 13 October 2026.
ORRJO facts on this page come from our sales enablement and ORRJO Intelligence pages and our published prices.