Strategy Competitive Positioning

Competitor analysis with a source for each weakness

What should your sales team know about the competitors you meet most?

Works checks which three to five competitors appear most often in your deals. It researches each one in five sources. Each profile covers positioning, pricing, strengths, weaknesses and the go-to-market approach. Each weakness cites a source. All profiles use one template and are stored in one shared place. Your sales team is briefed on how to use them.

Sign Up See it run →

Updated

What you get
Competitor profiles · Fenwright Systems
Shared with sales
4 / 4
profiles in one shared template
16
weaknesses, each with a cited source
Established competitor 1 · in 96 deals 5 weaknesses, all sourced
Established competitor 2 · in 72 deals 4 weaknesses, all sourced
Low-price competitor · in 54 deals 4 weaknesses, all sourced
Regional competitor · in 41 deals 3 weaknesses, all sourced
Sales team briefing Done

Your sales team can open a profile before each competitive deal.

See it run

Profiles in progress

Closed deals checked
300 · Last 12 months, from HubSpot
Profiles with a source for every weakness 2 / 4
Run log
  1. You
    “Profile the four or five competitors we lose to most.”
    Your instruction
    ✓
  2. C
    Shortlist of 4 competitors Competitive Analyst
    You named 5 competitors. Competitor tags on 300 closed deals in HubSpot show 4 of them in 41 or more deals. The fifth is in 3 deals, so you dropped it.
    ✓
  3. C
    4 competitors researched Competitive Analyst
    Each competitor was researched in five sources: the website, review sites, your sales team, win/loss interviews and LinkedIn. The reasons buyers gave come from at least 3 deals for each competitor.
    ✓
  4. C
    Checking the source for each weakness Competitive Analyst
    2 of 4 profiles have a cited source for every weakness. 2 claims about the low-price competitor have no source yet. They are marked unverified.
    •
  5. You
    Brief your sales team on the profiles You
    The profiles go in one shared Notion page. Brief your 14 salespeople on how to use them.
  6. ↓
    Competitor map used Upstream
    The competitor map comes from Map the Competition.
    ✓
How it works

Profiles built from evidence, not from what the team assumes

The work starts from your competitor map. You choose three to five competitors, and the shortlist is checked against your deal data. Each competitor is researched in five sources: the website, review sites, your sales team, win/loss interviews and LinkedIn. Each weakness needs a cited source. You decide whether a claim without a source is left out or marked unverified. Every profile uses the same template, so you can compare them side by side.

What it needs
A map of the competition that names your top competitors
Access to competitor websites and marketing materials
Sales team experience with each competitor
Win/loss interview data or notes from competitive deals
What you get

A profile library that covers the positioning, pricing, strengths, weaknesses, go-to-market approach, and win/loss patterns of your top competitors, and a briefed sales team.

Run sequence

Start to finish

The work starts from your competitor map. Four stages produce the profile library.

  1. 1
    Competitor Shortlist

    Choose the competitors to profile

    You name three to five competitors
    Each one checked against your deal data
    You decide whether to keep rarely seen competitors
    You + Competitive Analyst
  2. 2
    Competitor Research

    Gather evidence on each competitor

    Website, review sites and LinkedIn checked
    Sales team experience and win/loss interviews added
    You add the reasons buyers gave
    Competitive Analyst + You
  3. 3
    Strengths and Weaknesses

    Confirm each claim with evidence

    Real strengths written down for each competitor
    Each weakness cites at least one source
    You review the evidence for each weakness
    Competitive Analyst + You
  4. 4
    Profile Library

    Store the profiles in one place

    Every competitor in the same profile template
    One shared library your sales team can reach
    You brief the sales team on the profiles
    Competitive Analyst + You
Before it starts

What Works asks you

A few questions in plain words. The answers set up the run for your business.

Should you rank the shortlist by how often each competitor appears in deals or by its effect on win/loss results?
YouBy effect on win/loss results, with frequency to break ties
What will you use to confirm how often each competitor appears in your deals?
YouA CRM export of competitor tags on closed deals
What do customers or prospects usually say when they choose a competitor over you?
YouThey felt the competitor was a safer, more established choice
Each weakness needs at least one cited source. What counts as acceptable evidence?
YouA customer review, a win/loss quote, or a documented deal observation
What pricing detail can you share or estimate for each competitor?
YouPricing model and an approximate price, marked as estimated where uncertain
Where should the profile library live so sales can reach it before a competitive deal?
YouA shared workspace the sales team already uses, linked from the CRM
Who runs it

The agents behind this workflow

The Competitive Analyst does the research and builds the profiles. You choose the competitors and review the evidence.

Playbook specialist
C

Competitive Analyst

Owns this area

Maps your competitors and sets up the competitive intelligence that keeps the map current.

Sort competitors into direct, indirect, and status quoProfile competitors with evidenceWrite battle cards
On this workflow
C

Competitive Analyst

Researches each competitor in five sources, confirms strengths and weaknesses with evidence, and assembles profiles you can compare

Check the shortlist against deal frequencyResearch competitors in five sourcesCite evidence for every weaknessCapture the pricing model and go-to-market approachAssemble comparable profiles in a shared template
Jeanie, your Chief of Staff Works Crew

Jeanie leads a core crew of seven that runs your company day to day. They direct the specialist and workflow agents in each playbook, including the ones on this workflow.

Connections · apps · integrations

Bring what you already run

The apps and accounts this workflow reads from and writes to. Connect them once and Works keeps them in sync.

Google SheetsLinkedInNotion
  • Google Sheets. The Competitive Analyst connects to Google Sheets.
  • LinkedIn. LinkedIn is one of the five sources the Competitive Analyst uses to research each competitor.
  • Notion. This process uses Notion.

These are starting points, not a limit. Connect the tools you already use.

Related workflows

9 Strategy workflows use these profiles.

Builds on
Map the Competition
This one
Profile Key Competitors
Feeds into 9 workflows
Define the Value Proposition
Identify Key Differentiators
Create Competitive Battle Cards
Set Price Positioning
Run Competitor Win/Loss Interviews
Run a Competitive War Room
Run a Strategic Pricing Review
Run a Competitive War Game
Vet a Partner or Buyer
Works · AI business OS

One workflow inside your whole business

In Strategy, Profile Key Competitors is part of the Competitive Positioning work.

Prebuilt playbooks, plus your own
StrategyMarketingSalesCustomer SuccessPartnershipsProducts & ServicesOperationsFinancePeopleLegal & Compliance + Build your own
The Strategy playbook
73
Workflows
19
Specialist agents
42
Workflow agents
238
Templates
You're here
Profile Key Competitors
One of 73 Strategy workflows · run by 1 workflow agent
Templates

What comes with it

Built for this workflow
DOCX
Competitor Profile Dossier
Holds the full profile of one competitor. It opens in Works after you sign up.
XLSX
Competitor Intelligence Tracker
Tracks what you learn about each competitor. It opens in Works after you sign up.
XLSX
Competitor Strengths-Weaknesses Matrix
Compares the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor. It opens in Works after you sign up.
XLSX
Competitor Research Source Log
Records the source for each finding. It opens in Works after you sign up.
Also included here
XLSX
Competitive Landscape Inventory
Lists the competitors in your market. It opens in Works after you sign up.
DOCX
Competitor Category Map
Sorts your competitors into groups. It opens in Works after you sign up.
DOCX
Competitive Battle Card
Sums up one competitor for your sales team. It opens in Works after you sign up.
XLSX
Competitor Pricing Map
Compares the prices of your competitors. It opens in Works after you sign up.
XLSX
Competitive Position Comparison
Compares how you and your competitors are positioned. It opens in Works after you sign up.

Each template opens inside Works after you sign up.

Questions

What people ask

What do you need before you start?

You need a map of the competition that names your top competitors. You also need access to competitor websites and marketing materials. Your sales team adds what it knows about each competitor. Win/loss interview data or notes from competitive deals show why you won or lost each deal.

How are the competitors chosen?

You name the three to five competitors that appear most often in your deals and most affect whether you win or lose. The Competitive Analyst checks your list against your deal data. A competitor that barely appears in the data is flagged. You then decide whether to keep it or drop it.

What counts as evidence for a weakness?

Each weakness needs at least one cited source. You decide what counts as a source. It can be a customer review, a win/loss quote or a written note from a deal. You also decide what happens to a claim with little evidence. You can leave it out, or include it marked unverified so your team can look for evidence.

What does each profile contain?

Each profile covers the competitor's positioning, pricing, strengths, weaknesses and go-to-market approach. It also records win/loss patterns from your deals. Every competitor goes into the same profile template, so you can compare them side by side. The profiles are stored in one shared place that your sales team can reach before a competitive deal.

Profile the competitors you meet most in deals

Sign up to choose the competitors you want to profile.

Sign Up