# Sales battlecard templates: 6 formats with filled examples (copy as Markdown)

Six sales battlecard templates, each with its fields and a filled example: objection handling, feature comparison, customer stories and three more.

URL: https://www.hiresteve.ai/blog/battlecard-template
Updated: 2026-10-14

Start with the Objection Handling battlecard template: one card per objection, with a headline in the buyer's words, a one-sentence answer, one dated proof point and the competitor's comeback. Add Feature Comparison, Customer Stories, Single Competitor, Multi Competitor and Canvas as your deals need them; each comes below with its fields, a length limit per field and a filled example for Acme, a sample competitor.

To copy all six templates at once, open [this page as Markdown](/blog/battlecard-template/index.md). Steve's [template site](https://battlecard-templates.hiresteve.ai/) offers PDFs with the same six names after a short form.

**The Objection Handling template filled for Acme, one objection per card.**

Objection Handling: "Acme quoted us half." Acme's quote is its Starter tier; SSO and the audit log are on Business. Proof: Acme's pricing page, checked 2 Oct 2026.

*A sales battlecard template filled in for Acme, a sample competitor: one objection, a one-sentence answer, a dated proof line and Acme's likely comeback.*

## Which battlecard template should you use?

Most downloadable templates put every section on a single card. The [Product Marketing Alliance's](https://productmarketingalliance.com/battlecard-template) has eight: overview, pain points, features, differentiators, proof, sales tips, pricing and testimonials. A rep in a live call cannot find one answer in eight sections while the buyer waits, so pick the template by the question being asked.

| Template | Use it when | Who opens it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Objection Handling | A buyer repeats a competitor's claim or pushes back on yours | Reps, during the call |
| Feature Comparison | The buyer asks "do you have X?" about a short list of features | Reps and sales engineers |
| Customer Stories | The buyer needs proof from a company like theirs | Reps, before and after the call |
| Single Competitor | You need the whole picture of one competitor | PMM, CI owner, new reps |
| Multi Competitor | The buyer is evaluating three vendors at once | Reps, in a competitive deal |
| Canvas | You are collecting research before writing any card | PMM and CI owner |

Every filled table below uses the same deal. You sell a B2B workflow tool, and Acme is the cheaper rival; Emca joins in the multi-competitor case. The customer, prices and dates in the filled tables are sample text, not a real account.

## Objection Handling template

Use the Objection Handling template when the same objection comes up in more than one deal. Write one card per objection, never one card for all of them.

| Field | What goes in it | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Headline | The objection in the buyer's own words | One quoted line |
| Answer | The whole answer, with no setup | One sentence |
| Proof | One fact, with its source and the date you checked it | One line |
| Their comeback | What the competitor says next, and your reply | Two lines |
| Owner and checked date | Who keeps the card true, and when the proof was last opened | One line |

| Field | Filled for Acme |
| --- | --- |
| Headline | "Acme quoted us half." |
| Answer | Acme's quote is its Starter tier; SSO and the audit log are on its Business tier, so the like-for-like price is close to ours. |
| Proof | Acme's pricing page lists SSO under Business only (checked 2 Oct 2026). |
| Their comeback | "Most teams don't need SSO in year one." Reply: ask when the buyer's security review is scheduled. |
| Owner and checked date | PMM lead; 2 Oct 2026 |

For more answers to the price objection specifically, see [five talk tracks for "your competitor is cheaper"](/blog/competitor-cheaper-objection-talk-tracks).

## Feature Comparison template

Use the Feature Comparison template when the buyer is checking a list of features. Keep it to six features at most; a 40-row grid invites the buyer to compare on the competitor's terms.

| Field | What goes in it | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Feature | The capability, named the way buyers ask for it | Six rows at most |
| Us | Yes, partial or no, with one line of detail | One line |
| Competitor | Yes, partial, no or not public, with one line of detail | One line |
| Source and date | Where the competitor's cell came from, and when | One link |
| What to say | The sentence a rep uses when this row comes up | One sentence |

| Feature | Us | Acme | Source and date | What to say |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SSO | Yes, every plan | Business tier only | Acme pricing page, 2 Oct 2026 | "SSO is in the price you were quoted." |
| Audit log | Yes, 12 months | Business tier, 90 days | Acme help centre, 2 Oct 2026 | "Ask how long your auditors need history." |
| Salesforce sync | Yes, two-way | Partial, one-way export | Acme integrations page, 2 Oct 2026 | "Ask who will keep the records in step." |
| Uptime commitment | 99.9% in the contract | Not public | Acme trust page, 2 Oct 2026 | "Ask Acme for the number in writing." |

When a competitor does not publish a fact, write "not public", never "no", and tell the rep what to ask.

## Customer Stories template

Use the Customer Stories template when the buyer asks for proof from a company like theirs. Only use a story the customer has approved for that use, and match it to the buyer's industry and size.

| Field | What goes in it | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Customer | Name if approved; otherwise industry and size | One line |
| Switched from | The competitor or the manual process they left | One line |
| Problem | What was not working, as the customer described it | One sentence |
| Result | What changed, with the number and the date it was measured | One sentence |
| Permission | Named, anonymous, or internal only | One word |
| Use against | The competitor and objection this story answers | One line |

| Field | Filled for Acme |
| --- | --- |
| Customer | A 60-person logistics software company |
| Switched from | Acme Starter |
| Problem | SSO needed an upgrade to Acme Business, which doubled the bill the month the security review started |
| Result | Passed its security review on the first submission, March 2026 |
| Permission | Anonymous |
| Use against | Acme, "Acme quoted us half" |

## Single Competitor template

Use the Single Competitor template for the one profile per competitor that every card draws from. New reps read it once; its owner keeps it current.

| Field | What goes in it | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who they sell to | Segment, size and buyer role | One line |
| How they price | Model and public tiers, with the date | One line |
| Where they win | The deals they take from you, honestly | Two lines |
| Where we win | The deals you take from them | Two lines |
| Top objections | Links to the Objection Handling cards for this competitor | Three links |
| Last change | What moved most recently, and when | One line |
| Owner | One named person who keeps the profile true | One person |

| Field | Filled for Acme |
| --- | --- |
| Who they sell to | Teams of 10 to 50, buyer is an operations lead |
| How they price | Per seat; Starter and Business on the pricing page (checked 2 Oct 2026) |
| Where they win | Small teams with no security review; buyers who start a trial alone |
| Where we win | Any deal with SSO, an audit, or a Salesforce requirement |
| Top objections | "Acme quoted us half"; "Acme is easier to set up"; "Acme has more templates" |
| Last change | Moved SSO from Starter to Business, January 2026 |
| Owner | PMM lead |

## Multi Competitor template

Use the Multi Competitor template when the buyer has three vendors on the shortlist and asks how they differ. One row per question, one column per vendor.

| Field | What goes in it | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Question | What the buyer is comparing | Five rows at most |
| Us | Your answer | One line |
| Each competitor | Their answer, taken from that competitor's profile, where its source and date live | One line each |
| Trap question | A question that makes the difference visible | One per row |

| Question | Us | Acme | Emca | Trap question |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Who it's for | Teams with a security review | Small teams | Enterprises with an admin team | "Who will run this day to day?" |
| Pricing model | Per seat, SSO included | Per seat, SSO on Business | Annual platform fee | "What does year two cost?" |
| Setup | Self-serve, one day | Self-serve, one day | Implementation project | "When do you need it live?" |
| Salesforce | Two-way sync | One-way export | Two-way, paid add-on | "Who fixes a record that disagrees?" |

## Canvas template

Use the Canvas template for research, before any card exists. A canvas is a board with one column per topic and one item per claim, so you can see what you know about a competitor, how sure you are, and what is out of date.

| Field | What goes in it | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Column | Positioning, product, pricing, customers, recent activity, open questions | Six columns |
| Item | One claim about the competitor | One sentence |
| Source and date | Where the claim came from, and when you checked it | One link |
| Status | Confirmed, needs verification, or unverified | One word |
| Feeds | Which card uses this claim | One link |

| Column | Item | Source and date | Status | Feeds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing | SSO is on the Business tier only | Pricing page, 2 Oct 2026 | Confirmed | Objection: "quoted us half" |
| Product | Salesforce sync is one-way export | Integrations page, 2 Oct 2026 | Confirmed | Feature Comparison |
| Recent activity | Hiring two enterprise account executives | Careers page, 30 Sep 2026 | Needs verification | Single Competitor |
| Open questions | Is a Teams app coming? | Forum post, undated | Unverified | Nothing yet |

An unverified item stays on the canvas and off every card until someone confirms it.

## How to keep a battlecard current

Update a battlecard when its evidence changes, not when the calendar says so. A quarterly sweep leaves a wrong price on the card for weeks after the competitor changes it, and the rep often hears it first from the buyer. Give each field its own trigger.

| Field | What changes it | When to check |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing and packaging | The competitor's pricing page | Every week; edit the same day it moves |
| Feature claims | Release notes and changelog | Every week; rewrite the card the day a release closes a gap |
| Security and compliance | The competitor's trust or security page | Monthly |
| Customer stories | Permission changes, a customer leaving | Monthly |
| Positioning | Their homepage and messaging | Quarterly |

Three more rules. Every proof line carries the date it was checked, so a rep can see how fresh it is. A line whose source can no longer be opened comes off the card that day. Reps can propose corrections, but one owner approves each change, so reps do not end up quoting two versions of the same answer. For how to write the card so sellers use it, read [the three-line battlecard format](/blog/battlecards-sales-actually-uses); for how AI tools draft and maintain cards, see [AI battlecards](/blog/ai-battlecards).

## Where Steve fits

Steve includes six templates with these names, Objection Handling, Feature Comparison, Customer Stories, Canvas, Single Competitor and Multi Competitor, and you can build your own. It drafts each card from its competitor research; every line shows Confirmed, Needs verification or Unverified with links to its sources, and claims are checked against the live web for up to ten rounds. When news or an uploaded document affects a claim, Steve drafts the replacement, and a person approves it before reps see it. Cards reach the team in Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom Team Chat and the CRM.

The tradeoff: Steve drafts and checks, but it does not decide your positioning. A named person still approves every update, so a programme with no owner ends up with drafts nobody approves. See how the cards work on [the Steve battlecards page](/products/competitive-intel).

**Methodology**

Pages ranking for this query and Steve's product page were read on 14 Oct 2026. Acme, Emca, the customer, and every price, number and date in the figure and filled tables are invented sample text. The checking intervals in the cadence table are the author's recommendation, with the trigger beside each.

## Frequently asked

### What should a sales battlecard template include?

Every template needs short answers and a source, with the date it was checked, for each claim. The Objection Handling template adds the buyer's words as the headline, a one-sentence answer and the competitor's comeback. Anything longer belongs in the Single Competitor profile.

### Which battlecard template should I start with?

Start with Objection Handling. It is the card a rep reaches for during a live call, and the objections you hear most tell you which Feature Comparison or Single Competitor cards to write next.

### How many battlecards do you need per competitor?

One per recurring objection, plus one Single Competitor profile. Plan for four or five objection cards for a competitor in most of your deals; one you meet twice a year needs only the profile.

### How often should battlecards be updated?

Update a card when its evidence changes, not on a calendar. Watch pricing pages and release notes every week and edit the day something moves; recheck security pages and customer stories monthly; review positioning once a quarter.

### What is the difference between a battlecard and a competitor profile?

A battlecard answers one question during a call; a profile holds everything you know about a competitor. Of these six templates, Single Competitor is the profile and Canvas is the research behind it; the other four are cards.

### Can I copy these battlecard templates into my own docs?

Yes. Open this page as Markdown and copy the tables into any editor that reads Markdown. Steve's template site, battlecard-templates.hiresteve.ai, offers PDFs with the same six names after a short form.