# Competitive Discovery Question Set

> The exact, word-for-word questions to surface which competitors are already in the deal, how serious the threat is, and how the prospect really feels about them, without sounding paranoid or trash-talking anyone.

Free script/swipe for sales reps. Topic: [Discovery & Qualification](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/topic/discovery-qualification/). Published by PeerLab in the [Sales Enablement Resource Library](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/). Source: https://www.peerlab.ai/library/competitive-discovery-question-set/

## How to use it

Pick 2-3 questions from the category that matches where you are in the call, weave them naturally into the conversation rather than reading down the list, and always follow a sentiment question with silence.

## What's inside

- Opening / low-friction competitive questions
- Status-quo and "do nothing" questions
- Named-competitor surfacing questions
- Perception and sentiment questions
- Incumbent vendor / renewal questions
- Evaluation-criteria questions
- Red-flag / losing-ground questions
- Late-stage confirmation questions
- Rules for using these without sounding like an interrogation

24 questions across 8 categories. Weave 2-3 naturally into a call, never read the list top to bottom.

## 1. Opening the Door (low-friction)
1. "Where are you in the process of looking at options: just starting to look around, or already got a shortlist?"
2. "Besides us, who else is on your radar for this?"
3. "Is this the first time you've tried to solve [problem], or have you been through an evaluation like this before?"

## 2. Status Quo / "Do Nothing" Competitor
4. "If you did nothing and kept things exactly as they are today, what happens to [specific consequence] six months from now?"
5. "What's stopping the current way of doing this from being 'good enough'?"
6. "Who internally would be fine with things staying exactly as they are?"

## 3. Named-Competitor Surfacing
7. "When you say you're 'looking around': is that a formal RFP, or informal conversations like this one?"
8. "Which vendors have you actually had a call with, versus just requested pricing from?"
9. "Is there a clear front-runner right now, or is it genuinely open?"
10. "Who put [Competitor] on your radar: inbound from them, or did someone on your team bring them in?"

## 4. Perception & Sentiment (how they REALLY feel)
11. "What's your honest reaction after talking to [Competitor]: impressed, underwhelmed, somewhere in between?"
12. "What's the one thing [Competitor] said that made you go 'hm, not sure about that'?"
13. "If [Competitor] weren't in the picture at all, would your shortlist look any different?"
14. "On a scale from 'just doing due diligence' to 'genuinely torn between us', where's this at?"

## 5. Incumbent Vendor / Renewal-Specific
15. "What's working well enough with [current vendor] that we'd need to match or beat to earn this?"
16. "What's the actual trigger for looking elsewhere now, versus renewing on autopilot like last time?"
17. "Does [current vendor] know you're evaluating alternatives: and if so, what have they offered to keep you?"

## 6. Evaluation Criteria & Weighting
18. "When you sit down to actually compare us, what are the 2-3 things that will make or break the decision?"
19. "Of those, which is non-negotiable versus 'nice to have'?"
20. "Who on your team is most skeptical of change, and what would it take to win them over regardless of vendor?"

## 7. Red Flags / Losing Ground
21. "Has anything come up in these conversations that's made [Competitor] look better than expected?"
22. "If you had to bet today, who wins this?"

## 8. Late-Stage Confirmation
23. "Before we go further, is there anything about [Competitor]'s offer we haven't addressed that's still sitting in the back of your mind?"
24. "What would need to be true for us to be the easy, obvious choice by [decision date]?"

## Rules for Using These
- Never disparage a named competitor: ask sharp, fair questions instead of making claims about them yourself.
- Ask one competitive question at a time, woven into the natural flow of the call, never stack them into a block that feels like an interrogation.
- After any sentiment question (11-14), stop talking. The honest answer usually comes in the pause, not the first sentence.
- If a prospect won't name a competitor directly, questions 4-6 and 18-20 still surface the comparison indirectly without requiring a name.