competitive-intelligence-market-research

What this skill does

## **🎯 Multi-Dimensional Navigator**

**This skill serves B2B SaaS companies across multiple dimensions. Find your path:**

### **STEP 1: What's Your Industry Vertical?**

Your industry determines:
- Which competitors to track
- What research is critical vs nice-to-have
- Regulatory constraints
- Competitive positioning strategies
- Risk tolerance for aggressive tactics

```
→ Sales Tech (Gong, Outreach, Salesloft) - See Section A
→ HR Tech (Culture Amp, Lattice, BambooHR) - See Section B  
→ Fintech (Razorpay, Happay, Stripe) - See Section C
→ Operations Tech (FieldAssist, Locus, logistics/retail) - See Section D
→ Other B2B SaaS - Use Sales Tech as base, adapt as needed
```

### **STEP 2: What's Your Company Stage?**

Your stage determines:
- Research budget available
- Tool sophistication
- Time you can invest
- Depth of analysis needed
- Who does the work

```
→ Series A ($1M-10M ARR, 10-200 employees) - Path 1
→ Series B/C ($10M-50M ARR, 200-1000 employees) - Path 2
→ Series D+ ($50M+ ARR, 1000+ employees) - Path 3
```

### **STEP 3: What's Your Primary Market?**

Your geography determines:
- Competitor set (local vs global)
- Pricing benchmarks
- Market size calculation methods
- Research sources available
- Language/cultural considerations

```
→ India-first market - India guidance
→ US-first market - US guidance  
→ Global/multi-market - Hybrid approach
```

### **STEP 4: Who's Doing This Research?**

Your role determines:
- Autonomy level
- Approval workflows
- Time available
- Output format needed

```
→ Founder/Co-Founder - Full autonomy
→ VP/Director - Manager approval
→ Product Marketing Manager - Team collaboration
→ Strategy/Insights Team - Stakeholder coordination
```

---

## **Quick Navigation by Common Scenarios**

**Most Common Use Cases:**

1. **"I'm a Series A founder building battle cards for my sales team"**
   → Go to: **Section A1** (Sales Tech, Series A, Founder-Led Research)

2. **"I'm a PMM at Series B HR Tech, need competitive analysis for upmarket move"**
   → Go to: **Section B2** (HR Tech, Series B, Professional Research)

3. **"I'm CMO at Series C fintech, board wants market landscape"**
   → Go to: **Section C3** (Fintech, Series C+, Strategic Intelligence)

4. **"I'm VP at ops tech selling to India retail, need to size market"**
   → Go to: **Section D1** (Operations Tech, India Market Sizing)

---

# 📊 SECTION A: SALES TECH COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

**When To Use This Section:**
- Your product: Sales engagement, conversation intelligence, sales enablement, coaching
- Your competitors: Gong, Outreach, Salesloft, Chorus, Apollo, ZoomInfo
- Your buyers: Sales leaders, CROs, RevOps
- Your go-to-market: PLG or sales-led for SMB/Mid-market

---

## **A1: Sales Tech @ Series A (Scrappy Founder Research)**

### **Your Reality Check:**

```
COMPANY PROFILE:
- Size: $1M-10M ARR, 10-100 employees
- Stage: Series A, finding PMF → scaling
- Team: Founder or PM doing research (side of desk)
- Budget: $0-500/month for ALL tools
- Timeline: 2-3 days max (need it for pitch/sales enablement)
```

### **The Sales Tech Competitive Landscape:**

**Your Competitor Tiers:**

```
TIER 1: Enterprise Incumbents (NOT your competition... yet)
- Gong ($500M+ valuation, enterprise-focused)
- Outreach (public, enterprise)
- Salesloft ($2.3B valuation, mid-market+)
WHY THEY MATTER: Buyers know these brands, you'll be compared
YOUR ANGLE: "Too expensive/complex for SMBs"

TIER 2: Growth-Stage Competitors (Your Real Competition)
- Chorus (acquired by ZoomInfo, mid-market)
- Revenue.io (Series B, conversation intelligence)
- Wingman (India-based, SMB focus)
WHY THEY MATTER: Similar stage, similar ICP
YOUR ANGLE: Feature differentiation, regional focus

TIER 3: Emerging Startups (Watch List)
- Seed/Series A conversation intelligence startups
- AI sales coaching tools
- Regional players (India, SEA)
WHY THEY MATTER: Could pivot into your space
YOUR ANGLE: Speed, innovation, local expertise
```

### **Series A Sales Tech Research: 3-Day Sprint**

**GOAL:** Positioning deck + battle cards for sales team

**DAY 1: Competitive Landscape Mapping (4 hours)**

```
09:00-10:00 | Define Your Competitive Set

For Sales Tech, consider:
□ Direct: Same solution (conversation intelligence)
□ Indirect: Different tech, same outcome (sales training platforms)
□ Adjacent: Complementary (CRM, sales engagement platforms)

India-specific search strings:
- "conversation intelligence India"
- "sales enablement software India"
- "alternatives to Gong for SMB"
- "affordable sales coaching tools"

US search strings:
- "Gong alternatives for small teams"
- "sales tech for Series A companies"
- "conversation intelligence under $10K"

10:00-11:30 | Categorize Competitors

TEMPLATE:
Company | Tier | ICP | Price Point | Geography | Strength | Weakness
Gong | Tier 1 | Enterprise | $20K-50K+ | US/Global | Deep analytics | Too expensive
Wingman | Tier 2 | SMB | $5K-15K | India | Local | Limited features
[Yours] | - | SMB | $3K-10K | India→US | AI coaching | New brand

11:30-13:00 | Pricing Research (Critical for Sales Tech)

Sales Tech = Price-sensitive market

FREE RESEARCH SOURCES:
□ G2 reviews mentioning price: "Filter by 'pricing' mentions"
□ Reddit r/sales: "What do you pay for [tool]?"
□ LinkedIn polls: "What's your sales tech budget?"
□ Competitor job posts: Sales compensation = pricing signals

WHAT TO FIND:
- Gong: $1,500-4,000/seat/year (from reviews)
- Outreach: $100-150/user/month
- YOUR TARGET: 50-70% cheaper than incumbents

PRICING POSITIONING:
"Enterprise features, SMB pricing"
"Gong-quality insights at 1/3 the cost"
```

**DAY 2: Feature & Positioning Deep Dive (4 hours)**

```
09:00-11:00 | G2 Review Mining (Sales Tech Specific)

Sales Tech buyers care about:
1. Ease of implementation (IT approval hurdle)
2. Call recording quality
3. CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot MUST-HAVE)
4. Coaching insights (actionable)
5. ROI/deal velocity improvement

WHAT TO EXTRACT:
□ Top 3 features mentioned in 5-star reviews
□ Top 3 complaints in 1-2 star reviews
□ "Switched from X because..." patterns
□ "Considering X vs Y" comparisons

SALES TECH SPECIFIC INSIGHTS:
- 67% mention "Salesforce integration" as critical
- 43% complain about "too many features we don't use"
- 31% say "too expensive for our team size"
- 22% want "real-time coaching vs post-call analysis"

YOUR OPPORTUNITY:
✅ Simplified feature set (80% of value, 20% of complexity)
✅ SMB pricing ($200-500/seat/year vs $1,500+)
✅ AI coaching focus (vs pure analytics)
✅ India-first, then global

11:00-13:00 | GTM Strategy Analysis

Sales Tech companies typically use:

ENTERPRISE (Gong, Outreach):
- Channel: Outbound sales (100+ SDRs)
- Content: Thought leadership, podcasts, events
- Pricing: Enterprise sales, no public pricing
- Cycle: 3-6 months

MID-MARKET (Chorus, Revenue.io):
- Channel: Hybrid (inbound + outbound)
- Content: SEO, webinars, free tools
- Pricing: Visible tiers, sales for enterprise
- Cycle: 1-3 months

SMB (Your Target):
- Channel: PLG + inbound
- Content: Tactical guides, YouTube, free tier
- Pricing: Self-serve, transparent pricing
- Cycle: <30 days

COMPETITIVE INTEL:
□ Check LinkedIn: Hiring SDRs = outbound motion
□ Check content: Blog topics = SEO keywords they target
□ Check ads: Facebook Ad Library for messaging
```

**DAY 3: Synthesis & Battle Cards (4 hours)**

```
09:00-10:30 | Positioning Matrix (Sales Tech Specific)

2×2 MATRIX:
X-Axis: Enterprise ←→ SMB
Y-Axis: Pure Analytics ←→ Coaching Focus

WHERE COMPETITORS LAND:
- Gong: Top-left (Enterprise, Analytics)
- Outreach: Left-center (Enterprise, Engagement)
- Chorus: Center (Mid-market, Analytics)
- [YOU]: Bottom-right (SMB, Coaching)

WHITE SPACE IDENTIFIED:
✅ SMB + Coaching focus = underserved
✅ India market (Gong expensive for Indian SMBs)
✅ AI-powered real-time coaching (vs post-call)

10:30-12:00 | Battle Cards (Top 3 Competitors)

BATTLE CARD TEMPLATE - SALES TECH FOCUS:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ VS. GONG (En