3 Ways CI Leaders Can Use AI Chatbots to Their Advantage

A few days ago, we started collecting responses for our 2024 State of Competitive Intelligence survey. As I’m writing this, the sample size is still very small (42 responses), but the early results are interesting nonetheless.

So far, 26% of respondents say they use AI to assist them with their CI responsibilities. 55% say they don’t use AI yet, but they plan to in the near future.

Unsurprisingly, those who use AI say ChatGPT and Google Bard are their favorite tools. If you want to start using (or get better at using) these tools, this blog post is for you.

Here are 3 ways CI leaders can use AI chatbots to their advantage:

1. To generate the first draft of talking points
2. To periodically validate talking points
3. To prepare sales reps for tough questions/objections

Let’s walk through how to use chatbots for each of these purposes.

1. To generate the first draft of new talking points

The next time a sales rep asks for talking points on a new competitor, submit this prompt to Google Bard (it requires up-to-date knowledge, which ChatGPT does not have):

👉 “In one sentence, tell me what [company name] does.”

Wait for Bard to generate an answer, and then ask this:

👉 "What sources of information did you use to answer my question?"

If Bard lists G2 or a similar website as one of its sources, ask this:

👉 "What do [company name] customers dislike about their product?"

The answer will help you draft your talking points.

2. To periodically validate talking points

If your sales reps plant FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) in competitive deals, you should periodically validate that their talking points are still relevant. Here’s how you can use either Bard or ChatGPT to help you:

👉 Step 1: Pick a competitor and go to their G2 profile.

👉 Step 2: Go to the most recent review and copy the text in the section labeled "What do you dislike about [competitor name]?"

👉 Step 3: Paste that text into the chatbot prompt field. Do NOT hit enter yet.

👉 Step 4: Repeat steps 2 & 3 for your competitor's 5 most recent reviews. When you're done, you should have 5 quotes in the prompt field. Again, do NOT hit enter yet.

👉 Step 5: At the beginning of the prompt field, write "Summarize the following 5 quotes in 3 bullet points."

👉 Step 6: Hit enter.

👉 Step 7: Review the bullet points. How aligned are they with your reps' talking points? If the answer is anything other than "very aligned," you may need to do some extra digging and make some updates.

3. To prepare sales reps for tough questions/objections

Like it or not, your buyers are submitting this question to AI chatbots: “How do [your company] and [your competitor] differ from one another?”

If you haven't already, you should ask the chatbots this question yourself—like, ASAP.

Why? Because the information that buyers get from chatbots will influence the questions they ask your sales team. And your sales team needs to be prepared to answer those questions.

For example, here's a snippet of the answer I got from Bard when I asked, "How do Klaviyo and Omnisend differ from one another?"👇

"Klaviyo is generally more difficult to use than Omnisend."

Is that true? I have no idea. It probably depends on a million factors.

But that doesn't matter. If I were a buyer in this market, I'd be under the impression that Klaviyo is more difficult to use—and I'd expect my Klaviyo sales rep to convince me otherwise.

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I hope you found these tips helpful. If you did, I suggest reading this blog post: The Future Is Here: Testing Out ChatGPT with Win/Loss Analysis.