Sales battle card template

One page per alternative a buyer might pick instead of you. Pick, Pass, Prove, three questions, and a do-not-say line. Open it on the call or delete it.

One card per alternative. Alternatives include a named competitor, a freelancer, doing it in-house, a template tool, and doing nothing. Print it or pin it where you take calls.

If a line has not been used on a call in the last few calls, cut it. A card that grows every month is shelfware with a heading.

flowchart LR
    A["Alternative"] --> K["Pick"]
    K --> S["Pass"]
    S --> R["Prove"]
    R --> Q["Ask"]
    Q --> D["Do not say"]

Header (fill first)

  • Alternative this card is about (one only)
  • Type: named competitor, freelancer, in-house, template tool, or do nothing
  • Where you heard buyers mention it (note id, date). If UNKNOWN, write UNKNOWN
  • Last reviewed date and owner

Pick (when the alternative is a good choice)

Write this in the buyer’s favor. If you cannot, you do not understand why they pick it.

  • Situations where a smart buyer picks it, in one sentence each
  • What it costs them that they may not have counted yet (time, rework, handoffs). Only what you can state without guessing

Pass (when you tell them to take it)

  • The honest no-fit condition. If they match it, you say so on the call
  • The polite exit line you will actually use

Prove (what you can show, today)

Claim you want to makeProof you can openLabel (Observed / Sourced / Framework / Client evidence)If no proof, say this instead
  • Each proof is a page, file, or example you can open in under ten seconds
  • Each proof has a line for what it does not prove

Ask (three questions, in order)

  • Question 1: about their job, not your offer
  • Question 2: about what they use now and what it costs them in their words
  • Question 3: about who decides and by when

Do not say

  • Claims about the alternative you cannot source from their public pages or a buyer’s own words
  • Numbers you cannot show: lifts, savings, rankings, win rates
  • Words that sound like a pitch the buyer has already heard five times

Use check (monthly, five minutes)

  • Opened on a call in the last month? If not, cut it or shorten it
  • Any line a buyer proved wrong? Fix or delete it the same day
  • Any new sentence buyers keep using? Add it to the objection library, not here

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