Competitive Displacement Playbook

DISPLACEMENT TRIGGERS

Opportunity Identification

DISPLACEMENT TRIGGER SIGNALS

CONTRACT EVENTS:
☐ Contract renewal (6+ months out)
☐ Price increase announced
☐ Support issues reported
☐ Feature gaps exposed

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES:
☐ New leadership
☐ M&A activity
☐ Strategy shift
☐ Budget reallocation

PRODUCT CHANGES:
☐ Competitor sunset/EOL
☐ Acquisition integration issues
☐ Major outage or security incident
☐ Roadmap disappointment

RELATIONSHIP SIGNALS:
☐ Account team changes
☐ Support escalations
☐ Executive sponsor leaves
☐ Champions frustrated

Displacement Timing Matrix

Trigger	Urgency	Best Approach
Contract renewal	High	Full competitive pitch
New exec	Med	Executive introduction
Support issues	Med	POC with migration support
Price increase	High	Cost comparison + transition plan
Competitor issues	High	Rapid response team

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COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

Competitor Battle Card Template

COMPETITOR BATTLE CARD

COMPETITOR: _______________

THEIR POSITIONING:
Primary message: _______________
Target customer: _______________
Key differentiators: _______________

OUR ADVANTAGES:
1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________

THEIR ADVANTAGES:
1. _______________
2. _______________

LANDMINES TO SET:
"When evaluating, ask them about..."
☐ _______________
☐ _______________
☐ _______________

FUD TO COUNTER:
What they say about us: _______________
Our response: _______________

Competitive Positioning Framework

We Say	They Say	Truth	Proof
			Customer quote
			Data point
			Analyst report

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OBJECTION HANDLING

Common Displacement Objections

OBJECTION RESPONSES

"We're happy with current vendor"
→ "That's great to hear. Many of our customers
felt the same way before they discovered
[specific gap]. What would have to be true
for you to consider an alternative?"

"Switching costs too high"
→ "I understand that concern. We've helped
[similar company] migrate in [X weeks].
Would it be valuable to see a detailed
transition plan and ROI analysis?"

"Under contract"
→ "When does your contract renew? Many
customers start evaluating 6-9 months
out. Could we stay in touch?"

"Invested too much already"
→ "That's the sunk cost concern. Looking
forward, would [quantified benefit]
justify the change?"

Displacement Win Strategy

Phase	Focus	Actions
Discovery	Pain with current	Document gaps, issues
Value	Why change	Quantify improvement
Proof	Lower risk	POC, references, migration plan
Close	Make it easy	Transition support, incentives

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TRANSITION PLANNING

Migration Support Package

MIGRATION SUPPORT OFFERING

TECHNICAL MIGRATION:
☐ Data migration assistance
☐ Integration reconfiguration
☐ Parallel running period
☐ Validation and testing

TRAINING & ENABLEMENT:
☐ Admin training
☐ User training
☐ Documentation transfer
☐ Go-live support

COMMERCIAL SUPPORT:
☐ Contract buyout consideration
☐ Implementation credits
☐ Extended payment terms
☐ Dedicated CSM

RISK MITIGATION:
☐ Rollback plan
☐ Data backup
☐ Extended trial period
☐ Performance guarantees

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