Competitive selling
How to win against an incumbent or a shortlisted rival while staying positive, using the competitor files in
_reference/competitors/.
When to use
- Discovery shows an incumbent tool, a shortlist, or the buyer asks “why not X?”.
- An RFP or comparison spreadsheet names competitors.
- Not for internal-only bake-offs where no rival is in play: sell on fit instead.
Goal and metric
Win on fit, not on criticism. We track win rate in competitive deals, deals lost on price, and whether the incumbent is identified by the end of discovery.
Who does what
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| SDR | Ask the incumbent question and log it in BoldSales |
| Account executive | Run the play, pick the competitor file, tailor the proof |
| Solutions engineer | Run a proof on the buyer’s own data, reports or documents |
| Product marketing | Keep competitor files current; review after each loss |
Steps
- Uncover the incumbent early. Ask: “What are you using today for this, and what would make you change it?” Follow with “Who else are you looking at?”
- Open the competitor file (list below) and read Where they’re strong first. Assume the buyer likes their current tool.
- Find the fit gap. Use Where we fit better to pick one or two angles that match what the buyer said: deployment, licensing model, embedding, migration effort, AI, support.
- Prove it on their material. Offer a short proof: their dashboards, reports, documents or tickets. Proof beats claims.
- Map the committee (see personas) and give each gatekeeper their proof: security page, procurement docs, pricing model.
- Handle price with value. Use the “how to talk about price” note in pricing and licensing. Don’t discount to win a comparison.
- Log the outcome and the reason in BoldSales. Send loss reasons to product marketing.
Handling “Why not X?”
- Acknowledge: “X is a good product, and many teams use it well.”
- Ask: “What made you look beyond it?” Let them name the gap.
- Answer with one fit point and one proof link, not a feature list.
- Offer the next step: a proof on their material or a call with a reference (only an approved one).
Checklist
- Incumbent and shortlist recorded in BoldSales
- Competitor file read, including the landmines
- One or two fit angles chosen and tied to the buyer’s own words
- Proof offered on the buyer’s material
- Each committee member has their proof
- Outcome and reason logged
Talk track / messaging
- Lead with what the buyer gains, never with what the rival lacks.
- Use the Positive talk track in each competitor file as written.
- Never quote a rival’s prices, make unverifiable claims, or use their trademarks in ads.
- Positioning: Essential Studio, Bold BI, Bold Reports, BoldSign, BoldDesk, BoldCreate, BoldDocServer. Objections:
_reference/objections/<slug>.md.
Assets
Competitor files by product
- Essential Studio: Telerik, DevExpress, Infragistics, MESCIUS, AG Grid, Apryse, Nutrient, Aspose, IronPDF
- Bold BI: Microsoft (Power BI), Salesforce (Tableau), Google (Looker), Sisense, Qlik
- Bold Reports: Microsoft (SSRS), SAP (Crystal Reports), Telerik Reporting, DevExpress Reporting, Stimulsoft
- BoldSign: DocuSign, Adobe Acrobat Sign, Dropbox Sign, PandaDoc
- BoldDesk (incumbents): Zendesk, Freshworks, Zoho, HubSpot, Salesforce (Service Cloud)
- BoldDesk (AI-native): Intercom, Decagon, Sierra, Ada
- BoldCreate (proposed): Cognition (Devin), Cursor, Factory, Microsoft (GitHub Copilot)
- BoldDocServer: Microsoft (Office Online Server), Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE, Apryse, Nutrient
Examples
TODO: add a real example of a competitive win where a proof on the buyer’s material decided the deal.
Common mistakes
- Attacking the incumbent the buyer chose and still likes.
- Leading with a feature list instead of the buyer’s stated gap.
- Quoting rival prices or claims we can’t verify.
- Discounting to win a spreadsheet comparison.
Product notes
- Bold Reports: most competitive deals are migrations; use the SSRS migration and Crystal Reports migration plays.
- BoldDesk: “built AI-first, not AI bolted on” against incumbents; “a complete help desk, not just an AI agent layer” against AI-native vendors.
- Each product’s GTM plan (
products/<slug>/gtm-plan.md) lists its priority competitors.