Competitive Analysis Skill

Overview

This skill provides comprehensive competitive intelligence capabilities including competitor identification, positioning analysis, battlecard creation, and ongoing market monitoring. Designed for B2B technical services differentiation.

Quick Start

Identify competitors - Direct, indirect, status quo
Analyze positioning - How they position vs. you
Create battlecards - Sales enablement tools
Monitor changes - Ongoing competitive tracking
Adjust strategy - Differentiate and win

When to Use

Entering new markets
Losing deals to competitors
Positioning/messaging development
Sales enablement
Pricing strategy
Product roadmap input

Competitor Categories

Three-Tier Framework

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TIER 1: Direct Competitors                   │
│ Same service, same market                    │
│ Example: Other offshore engineering firms    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
           ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TIER 2: Indirect Competitors                 │
│ Different approach, same problem             │
│ Example: In-house engineering teams          │
│          General engineering consultancies   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
           ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TIER 3: Status Quo                           │
│ Doing nothing / current solution             │
│ Example: Manual analysis processes           │
│          Spreadsheet-based calculations      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Competitor Profile Template

## Competitor: [Company Name]

### Overview
- **Website:** [URL]
- **Founded:** [Year]
- **Size:** [Employees]
- **Location:** [HQ + offices]
- **Funding:** [If applicable]

### Positioning
- **Tagline:** [Their tagline]
- **Value Prop:** [Main message]
- **Target Market:** [Who they serve]

### Services/Products
| Service | Description | Pricing |
|---------|-------------|---------|
| | | |

### Strengths
1. [Strength 1]
2. [Strength 2]
3. [Strength 3]

### Weaknesses
1. [Weakness 1]
2. [Weakness 2]
3. [Weakness 3]

### Differentiation vs. Us
| Aspect | Them | Us | Our Advantage |
|--------|------|-----|---------------|
| Technology | | | |
| Expertise | | | |
| Pricing | | | |
| Support | | | |

### Recent Activity
- [Recent news/changes]
- [Product launches]
- [Customer wins]

### Competitive Win Rate
- Deals competed: [X]
- Wins: [Y]
- Win rate: [Z%]

Positioning Analysis

April Dunford Framework

For each competitor, analyze:

Competitive Alternatives - What would customers use instead?
Unique Attributes - What do they do that others can't?
Value - What benefit does that provide?
Target Customers - Who cares most about that value?
Market Category - What market do they claim?

Positioning Map

                    HIGH SPECIALIZATION
                           │
                     ┌─────┼─────┐
                     │  US │     │
    LOW              │     │     │         HIGH
    TECH ────────────┼─────┼─────┼──────── TECH
                     │     │     │
                     │     │ Comp│
                     └─────┼─────┘
                           │
                    LOW SPECIALIZATION

Axes to consider:
- Price vs. Value
- Specialization vs. Generalist
- Technology vs. Traditional
- Speed vs. Thoroughness
- Custom vs. Standardized

Battlecard Template

Sales Enablement Battlecard

# Battlecard: [Competitor Name]

## Quick Facts
- **Who they are:** [1-line description]
- **When we compete:** [Common scenarios]
- **Win rate vs. them:** [X%]

## Their Pitch
> "[How they typically position themselves]"

## Our Counter
> "[How we differentiate]"

## Strengths to Acknowledge
| Their Strength | Our Response |
|----------------|--------------|
| [Strength 1] | [How we address/counter] |
| [Strength 2] | [How we address/counter] |

## Weaknesses to Exploit
| Their Weakness | Our Advantage | Proof Point |
|----------------|---------------|-------------|
| [Weakness 1] | [Our strength] | [Evidence] |
| [Weakness 2] | [Our strength] | [Evidence] |

## Discovery Questions
Questions to ask prospects to surface competitor weaknesses:
1. "[Question that reveals their pain point we solve better]"
2. "[Question about their experience with competitor approach]"
3. "[Question highlighting our differentiator]"

## Objection Handling
| Objection | Response |
|-----------|----------|
| "They're cheaper" | [Response] |
| "They have more experience" | [Response] |
| "We already use them" | [Response] |

## Landmines to Set
Early in sales process, position against competitor:
- "[Point that makes our approach seem necessary]"
- "[Requirement they can't meet]"

## Proof Points
- [Case study/testimonial relevant to this competitor]
- [Specific metric/result that beats them]

## Resources
- [Link to case study]
- [Link to comparison doc]
- [Link to detailed analysis]

Win/Loss Analysis

Interview Framework

## Win/Loss Interview: [Company Name]

### Deal Info
- **Outcome:** Won / Lost
- **Competitor:** [Who we competed against]
- **Deal Size:** [$X]
- **Sales Cycle:** [X days]

### Decision Criteria
What mattered most to them? (Rank 1-5)
- [ ] Price
- [ ] Technical capability
- [ ] Industry experience
- [ ] Speed/timeline
- [ ] Support/partnership
- [ ] References/reputation

### Evaluation Process
- Who was involved in decision?
- How did they evaluate options?
- What research did they do?

### If Won
- Why did they choose us?
- What almost made them not choose us?
- What would have made decision easier?

### If Lost
- Why did they choose competitor?
- What would have changed their decision?
- When did we lose (early/late)?
- Would they consider us in future?

### Insights for Improvement
- Product/service gaps?
- Sales process issues?
- Pricing feedback?
- Messaging that resonated/didn't?

Win/Loss Dashboard

Metric	Target	Actual
Overall win rate	>35%	[X%]
Win rate vs. Competitor A	>40%	[X%]
Win rate vs. Competitor B	>30%	[X%]
Deals lost to price	<20%	[X%]
Deals lost to features	<15%	[X%]

Competitive Monitoring

What to Track

Category	Items	Frequency
Website	Messaging, pricing, features	Monthly
Social	Content, engagement, campaigns	Weekly
News	Press releases, funding, hires	Weekly
Content	Blog, case studies, webinars	Monthly
SEO	Rankings, keywords, backlinks	Monthly
Reviews	G2, Capterra, industry reviews	Monthly

Monitoring Tools

## Free Tools
- Google Alerts - News mentions
- SimilarWeb - Traffic estimates
- BuiltWith - Technology stack
- LinkedIn - Company updates, hiring

## Paid Tools
- SEMrush/Ahrefs - SEO/content analysis
- Crayon/Klue - Competitive intelligence
- G2/Capterra - Review monitoring

Competitive Alert Template

## Competitive Alert: [Date]

### Company: [Competitor]

### Change Detected
- **Type:** [Pricing/Messaging/Feature/Hire/etc.]
- **Details:** [What changed]
- **Source:** [Where detected]

### Impact Assessment
- **Severity:** High / Medium / Low
- **Affected:** [Sales/Marketing/Product]

### Recommended Response
- [ ] Update battlecard
- [ ] Adjust messaging
- [ ] Sales team notification
- [ ] No action needed

### Notes
[Additional context]

Differentiation Strategy

Finding Differentiation

1. List competitor claims
2. Identify their gaps/weaknesses
3. Match to our strengths
4. Validate with customers
5. Build messaging around it

Differentiation Categories

Type	Example	Sustainability
Technology	AI-native approach	Medium-High
Expertise	Specialized domain knowledge	High
Process	Transparent methodology	Medium
Speed	Faster delivery	Low-Medium
Price	Lower cost	Low
Support	Better partnership	Medium

AceEngineer Differentiation

## Key Differentiators

### 1. AI-Native Engineering
- Not just using AI, built around AI
- Automated analysis pipelines
- Machine learning integration

### 2. Open Source Transparency
- Public code repositories
- Documented methodologies
- Verifiable approaches

### 3. Technical Depth + Innovation
- Deep domain expertise
- Modern technology adoption
- Continuous improvement

### Against Traditional Consultancies
"We deliver the same technical rigor with AI-powered
efficiency, transparent methodologies, and modern tools."

### Against In-House Teams
"We provide specialized expertise and advanced capabilities
without the overhead of building an internal team."

Best Practices

Do

Focus on top 3-5 competitors
Update battlecards quarterly
Include sales team input
Validate with win/loss data
Monitor continuously
Share insights cross-functionally

Don't

Obsess over competitors
Copy competitor strategy
Compete on price alone
Ignore indirect competitors
Base strategy on assumptions
Neglect status quo competition

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Low win rate vs. specific competitor	Poor differentiation	Deeper analysis, adjust positioning
Outdated battlecards	No monitoring	Set up alerts, schedule updates
Sales not using battlecards	Not useful format	Get sales input, simplify
Surprised by competitor moves	No monitoring	Implement tracking system

Metrics

Metric	Target	Frequency
Competitive win rate	>35%	Quarterly
Battlecard usage	>80%	Monthly
Intel freshness	<30 days	Weekly
Win/loss interviews	80% of deals	Per deal

Competitive Research Methodology

Research Sources

Primary Sources (Direct from Competitor)

Website: homepage, product pages, pricing, about page, careers
Blog and resource center: content themes, publishing frequency, depth
Social media profiles: messaging, engagement, content strategy
Product demos and free trials: UX, features, onboarding experience
Webinars and events: topics, speakers, audience engagement
Press releases and newsroom: announcements, partnerships, milestones
Job postings: hiring signals that reveal strategic priorities

Secondary Sources (Third-Party)

Review sites: G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Product Hunt -- customer sentiment themes
Analyst reports: Gartner, Forrester, IDC -- market positioning and category placement
News coverage: TechCrunch, industry publications -- funding, partnerships, narrative
Social listening: mentions, sentiment, share of voice across social platforms
SEO tools: keyword rankings, organic traffic estimates, content gaps
Financial filings: revenue, growth rate, investment areas (for public companies)
Community forums: Reddit, Discourse, industry Slack communities -- user sentiment

Research Process

Set scope: define which competitors and what aspects to analyze
Gather data: systematically collect information from sources above
Organize findings: structure by competitor, then by dimension
Analyze patterns: identify themes, strengths, weaknesses, and trends
Compare to your position: map findings against your own positioning
Synthesize insights: extract actionable takeaways and opportunities
Date-stamp everything: competitive intelligence has a short shelf life

Research Cadence

Deep competitive analysis: quarterly
Competitive monitoring: monthly
Real-time alerts: ongoing

Messaging Comparison Frameworks

Messaging Matrix

Dimension	Your Company	Competitor A	Competitor B	Competitor C
Tagline/Headline
Core value proposition
Primary audience
Key differentiator claim
Tone/Voice
Proof points used
Category framing
Primary CTA

Narrative Analysis

Identify each competitor's story arc:

Villain: what problem or enemy they position against
Hero: who is the hero in their story
Transformation: what before/after do they promise
Stakes: what happens if you do not act

Content Gap Analysis

Content Audit Comparison

Topic/Theme	Your Content	Competitor A	Competitor B	Gap?

Identifying Content Opportunities

Topics they cover that you do not
Topics you cover that they do not
Formats they use that you do not
Audience segments they address that you do not
Search terms they rank for that you do not

Related Skills

content-strategy - Differentiated content
lead-generation - Positioning in market
seo-optimizer - Competitive SEO

Sources

Original: alirezarezvani/claude-skills (2026-01-19)
Enriched: anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins (2026-02-03)

Version History

1.1.0 (2026-02-03): Merged competitive research methodology, messaging comparison frameworks, and content gap analysis from anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
1.0.0 (2026-01-19): Initial release adapted from alirezarezvani/claude-skills

competitive-analysis