sales-skills/sales-compete

Competitive Displacement Campaigns

Help the user find competitor customers, identify those ready to switch, and build targeted outreach with displacement-specific messaging. This skill is platform-agnostic but references Apollo.io's technographic and intent data as the primary source. The same frameworks apply to ZoomInfo, G2, BuiltWith, HG Insights, or any technographic/intent provider.

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. Which competitor are you targeting?

   • Name the specific competitor (or competitors) whose customers you want to win
   • If targeting multiple, rank them — start with one

2. What do you sell, and what's the primary displacement angle?

   • A) Price — your product is more cost-effective
   • B) Features — you do something they can't
   • C) UX/ease of use — you're simpler to adopt and use
   • D) Support/service — you provide better support or faster response times
   • E) Performance/scale — you handle their workload better
   • F) Multiple angles — describe them

3. What data sources do you have access to?

   • A) Apollo.io (technographic + intent data)
   • B) ZoomInfo (technographic + intent)
   • C) G2 (comparison page visits, reviews)
   • D) BuiltWith / HG Insights (tech installs)
   • E) LinkedIn Sales Navigator
   • F) CRM data (existing competitive deals)
   • G) None yet — recommend one

4. What's your ICP? (Overlay on top of the competitor's installed base — not every competitor customer is a good fit for you)

If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end — don't gate your response behind gathering complete context.

Step 2 — Identify the installed base

Use technographic filters to find companies using the competitor's product:

Technographic search strategy

• Apollo: Search > Technologies filter > search for competitor name. Apollo tracks 10,000+ technologies. Use "is any of" to capture multiple product names (e.g., "Datadog" AND "Datadog APM" AND "Datadog Infrastructure")
• ZoomInfo: Similar technographic filters under Advanced Search
• BuiltWith/HG Insights: Deeper technographic data, especially for web technologies
• G2: Export companies that visited your competitor's G2 profile or comparison pages

Layer firmographic filters

Don't target the entire installed base — narrow to your ICP:

• Company size: Match your sweet spot (competitor may serve SMB to enterprise; you may only win in mid-market)
• Industry: Focus on verticals where your displacement angle resonates strongest
• Geography: Match your coverage area
• Revenue/funding: Ensure they can afford your product

Accuracy expectations

| Data source | Accuracy | Lag | Best for | |---|---|---|---| | Apollo technographic | 70-80% | 3-6 months | Broad installed base discovery | | BuiltWith/HG Insights | 80-90% | 1-3 months | Web/SaaS technology detection | | G2 visitor data | High intent signal | Real-time | Active evaluators | | CRM win/loss data | 100% (your data) | Current | Known competitive encounters |

Platform-specific detail (e.g. LeadMagic's ad-intelligence + technographics endpoints) lives in references/platforms.md — read it when the user names a specific tool.

Step 3 — Find displacement signals

Layer signals on top of the installed base to identify companies ready to switch:

Signal types, ranked by displacement readiness

| Signal | Source | Readiness level | What it means | |---|---|---|---| | Researching alternatives | Intent data (Apollo/Bombora), G2 comparison views | Very high | Actively evaluating — act fast | | New leader hired | Job change alerts (Apollo, LinkedIn) | High | New VP/CTO in first 90 days = re-evaluation window | | Contract renewal timing | Industry knowledge, sales intel | High | 60-90 days before renewal is the sweet spot | | Hiring for roles your product replaces | Job postings (Apollo, LinkedIn) | Medium-high | Building capacity = potential dissatisfaction with current tool | | Competitor mentioned in negative context | G2 reviews, Reddit, social | Medium | Public dissatisfaction, but may not be actively looking | | Funding event | Apollo, Crunchbase | Medium | New budget to re-evaluate stack | | Technographic change | Apollo, BuiltWith | Medium | Removing adjacent tools may signal broader stack re-evaluation |

Signal stacking

Multiple signals compound readiness. Score each prospect:

| Signals present | Priority | Action | |---|---|---| | 3+ signals (e.g., new CTO + researching alternatives + contract renewal) | Immediate | Direct outreach, top of queue | | 2 signals (e.g., new leader + hiring) | High | Prioritized outreach within 1-2 weeks | | 1 strong signal (researching alternatives) | Medium-high | Standard outreach cadence | | 1 weak signal (funding, tech change) | Medium | Add to nurture, monitor for additional signals | | ICP fit only, no signals | Low | Long-term nurture, not active outreach |

Step 4 — Build the displacement list

Tiered output

| Tier | Criteria | Volume target | Outreach approach | |---|---|---|---| | Tier 1 — Active | ICP fit + 2+ displacement signals | 10-15% of base | Hyper-personalized, multi-channel, reference specific signals | | Tier 2 — Primed | ICP fit + 1 signal or very strong fit | 25-35% of base | Personalized at segment level, competitor-aware messaging | | Tier 3 — Latent | ICP fit, no active signal | 50-60% of base | Nurture content, thought leadership, not direct displacement pitch |

Per-prospect messaging angles

For each Tier 1 prospect, identify the specific displacement angle:

| Prospect situation | Messaging angle | |---|---| | New leader (first 90 days) | "As you evaluate your stack..." — frame as helping them succeed in their new role | | Researching alternatives | "I noticed companies like yours are evaluating [category]..." — don't reveal your data source | | Hiring for roles your product addresses | "I see you're scaling [function]..." — position as enabling growth, not replacing tools | | Negative competitor reviews | "Many [competitor] customers tell us..." — reference common pain points, not specific reviews | | Contract renewal approaching | "Before you renew..." — create urgency around the renewal window |

Competitive battle card framework

For the outreach team, create a quick-reference battle card:

1. Their pitch: What the competitor says about themselves (1-2 sentences)
2. Their weakness: Where they genuinely fall short (be honest, not FUD)
3. Your differentiator: What you do that they can't or won't (specific, provable)
4. Proof point: Customer story, benchmark, or data point that proves it
5. Landmine question: A question the prospect should ask the competitor that exposes the weakness

Step 5 — Displacement playbooks

Design signal-specific outreach strategies:

Playbook: New leader (job change)

• Timing: Wait 30-60 days after start date (let them get settled, but before they've committed to the existing stack)
• Entry point: Congratulate → offer industry insight → soft ask
• Don't: Pitch immediately. They're drinking from a firehose.
• Sequence: 5-touch over 3 weeks — see /sales-cadence for detailed design

Playbook: Active evaluator (researching alternatives)

• Timing: Immediately — they're in-market now
• Entry point: Lead with value, not "I saw you're looking at alternatives"
• Don't: Reference the intent data directly. It's creepy.
• Sequence: 4-touch over 2 weeks, faster pace — see /sales-cadence

Playbook: Contract renewal window

• Timing: 60-90 days before estimated renewal
• Entry point: "Before you auto-renew, here's what's changed in [category]..."
• Don't: Assume you know their renewal date. Use it as a hypothesis.
• Sequence: 6-touch over 4 weeks — longer cadence to build case before deadline

Playbook: Long-time user, general dissatisfaction

• Timing: Ongoing nurture until a trigger event occurs
• Entry point: Thought leadership, not direct pitch — "Here's what best-in-class [function] teams do differently"
• Don't: Trash the competitor. They've used it for years and may have champions internally.
• Sequence: Monthly nurture touchpoint — see /sales-cadence

Before recommending a specific platform skill

This skill covers a strategy domain across many platforms. Before pointing the user to any specific platform skill (any /sales-{platform} listed in ### Related skills, e.g., /sales-leadmagic), read that platform skill's actual SKILL.md first. The 1-line description in ### Related skills is enough to identify a candidate — it's not enough to commit to it or to write a prompt that invokes it well.

How to read it:

• If ~/.claude/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md exists locally, Read it.
• For sales-* skills, WebFetch directly from this repo: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md — e.g., for sales-mailshake: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/sales-mailshake/SKILL.md.
• For non-sales-* skills (third-party), look up {org}/{repo} in ~/.claude/skills/sales-do/references/skill-sources.md if installed and fetch the same skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md path under that repo.

After reading, ground your recommendation in something concrete from the SKILL.md (its scope, a sub-flow, its argument-hint shape, or a "Do NOT use for..." negative trigger). Align any generated invocation with the platform skill's argument-hint. If the platform skill turns out not to fit the user's situation, swap to another or handle the question here directly rather than recommending a poor fit.

Related skills

• /sales-prospect-list — Build general prospect lists (non-competitive)
• /sales-cadence — Design the multi-channel sequence for displacement outreach
• /sales-intent — Interpret buying signals beyond competitive displacement
• /sales-leadmagic — LeadMagic competitive ad intelligence, technographics, and company enrichment
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do

Gotchas

• Don't trash-talk the competitor in outreach. Lead with your value, not their flaws. Negative selling triggers defensiveness — especially if the prospect chose the competitor and feels personally attached to the decision.

• Don't assume technographic data is real-time. Tech installs in Apollo and similar tools can be 3-6 months stale. A company may have already switched away from the competitor, or the install may be a free tier/trial they never actually use. Always validate with additional signals.

• Don't target the entire installed base. Most competitor users are happy — or at least not unhappy enough to switch. Blasting 10,000 competitor customers with "switch to us" messages wastes effort and damages your brand. Focus on those with displacement signals.

• Don't forget switching costs. The prospect isn't just evaluating your product vs. the competitor — they're evaluating your product vs. the competitor PLUS the pain of migrating. Address migration support, onboarding help, and data transfer upfront or the prospect won't engage.

• Self-improving: If you discover something not covered here, append it to references/learnings.md with today's date.

Examples

Example 1: Targeting Datadog customers

User says: "Help me take customers away from Datadog" Skill does:

1. Clarifies the user's product, displacement angle (price, simplicity, or specific capability)
2. Builds a technographic search for Datadog users within ICP
3. Layers intent signals (researching "Datadog alternatives", new engineering leaders, hiring SREs)
4. Creates tiered displacement list with per-prospect messaging angles
5. Designs signal-specific outreach playbooks Result: Targeted displacement campaign with tiered list, battle card, and signal-specific sequences

Example 2: Prioritizing known competitor customers

User says: "I know 50 companies use [competitor]. Which ones should I target first?" Skill does:

1. Applies signal stacking to all 50 accounts
2. Scores and ranks by displacement readiness
3. Creates a prioritized hit list with specific outreach approach per tier Result: Prioritized list with clear "start here" guidance and per-account messaging angles

Example 3: New CTO at a competitor account

User says: "A competitor's customer just hired a new CTO. How do I approach?" Skill does:

1. Identifies the job change displacement playbook
2. Recommends 30-60 day timing, congratulate-first approach
3. Designs the outreach sequence with CTO-relevant messaging
4. Suggests what NOT to do (don't pitch immediately, don't trash their current stack) Result: Timed outreach plan for the new leader displacement window

Troubleshooting

Technographic data shows few results

Cause: Competitor's technology isn't well-tracked in your data provider, or they use a private/custom deployment Solution: Try multiple data sources (Apollo + BuiltWith + G2). Use competitor name in intent topics as an alternative signal. Check CRM win/loss data for known competitive encounters.

High intent but no responses

Cause: Messaging is too aggressive ("switch from X") or too generic (doesn't address the prospect's specific situation) Solution: Revisit messaging angles — lead with the prospect's pain, not your product. Test whether softening the competitive angle improves response rates. Consider whether the intent signal was false positive.

Competitor customers say "we're happy"

Cause: They may genuinely be happy, or they're brushing you off because the pitch wasn't relevant Solution: Shift from displacement to education — share thought leadership that makes them question whether "happy" means "optimal," then address the loyalty objection specifically.