Sales Battle Card - A Key Tool for Sales
Imagine a newly hired auto mechanic is tasked with changing a customer’s timing belt but can’t find the necessary tools or doesn’t even know if the required tools are available in the workshop. The mechanic is probably stressed or annoyed and doesn’t perform the repair carefully.
If your newly hired employee or sales representative isn’t equipped with detailed information about the company, potential customers, key features, or products, that person will fare similarly to the auto mechanic. This is why creating a Sales Battle Card is very helpful.
What is a Sales Battle Card and Why We Think It’s Helpful for Young Companies
With 11 simple but crucial questions on one A4 page, the Sales Battle Card helps develop a successful strategy to present the company consistently to the outside world (customers love companies with consistency ;-)). Creating a Sales Battle Card not only gives your team ammunition for conversations with potential customers but can also help your company win the “battle” against the competition and for potential customers.
The Sales Battle Card can also be used to briefly and concisely inform new employees about the company, current projects, or facts and figures. The Battle Card is primarily for customer-facing employees (sales, product management, product marketing) but can be used as a guide for the entire company.
This creates a common thread throughout all company communication and customer interaction.
You can of course create different types of Battle Cards depending on your needs. For example, there’s the Product Battle Card, the Competitor Battle Card, or the Question-Based Battle Card.
Less is More!
Each main point should have a maximum of 6 sub-points. This makes all points easy to remember and consistently reproduce. Depending on the scope, the Battle Card can vary between one and several A4 pages. We at innFactory GmbH decided on one A4 page and included only the most important information that can all be found at a glance – Minimum Information for Maximum Output. It’s important that the entire team communicates one company message to the outside world.
Summary: The Benefits of the Battle Card
- Consistency and clear positioning
- Improved argumentation with customers and partners
- Increased persuasiveness
These 11 Points Should Definitely Be Included in the Sales Battle Card
Company/Solution Overview
This is about giving a brief overview of the company in general. What distinguishes the company and what are its value propositions.
Customer Pain
The true reason for any product’s triumph is the ability to solve its customers’ pain points. So, what are pains? Define the customer pain here and possibly how you as a company want to solve it.
Business Benefit
Briefly describe what measurable advantage the customer has with your company.
Key Features
What services does the company offer? What are its core competencies? What are the core features of your service or product?
Customers / Case Study / References
Name successful projects, partner references, and customer examples.
Supported Systems
What programs, technology services, programming languages, tools does the company use? What systems are supported by your product?
Values
What does the company and its team stand for?
FAQs
What are frequently asked questions about the product/company on the phone, by email, or at trade shows?
When to Engage / When Not to Engage
This information helps determine when your team should not continue interacting with the customer or when they should persevere.
Pricing and Licensing Information
How is the company’s pricing model structured?
Additional Resources
Where can a potential customer find more information about the company? (e.g., blog, website, social media…)
