How to Steal Your Competitors' Customers (3 ways)

Most outreach starts at zero. You explain what you do. You hope they connect the dots.

The Assumed Knowledge approach skips all that.

When you target competitor users or people using tools you integrate with, you can:

• Skip education. No need to explain your category.
• Address their pains. Speak to daily frustrations they already feel.
• Be the obvious fix. Your solution becomes the answer.
• Gain instant recognition. "This person gets me" effect.
• You're solving their problem. Not just selling.

Part 1: Intelligence Gathering

Three data sources make this work.

1. Competitor Followers

Tool: followingg.co

Pull job titles, company sizes, industries. Mine the comments for pain points and feature requests.

2. LinkedIn Monitoring

Tools: Trigify, Apify Actors

Track competitor mentions, product complaints, and migration discussions. When someone says "thinking of switching from X," that's your signal.

3. Job Description Mining

Tools: Apify Actors, Clay

This is your most reliable source. Job descriptions list required tools by name.

Search "[Competitor Name]" on LinkedIn Jobs. Filter by target size and industry. Pull the required and preferred tools.

When a job post says "Jira experience required," you know they use Jira. No guessing.

Part 2: The Battle Card

Use this prompt to build a battle card for any competitor:

Create a battle card for: [COMPETITOR NAME] vs [YOUR COMPANY].

1. COMPETITOR OVERVIEW
- Products & core value proposition
- Target audience & pricing model

2. THEIR WEAKNESSES
- Key product gaps or missing features
- Common complaints or workflow issues

3. CUSTOMER PAIN POINTS
- Top complaints from reviews & social
- Recurring integration or support problems

4. YOUR SOLUTIONS
- How our product addresses their gaps
- Our superior offering for their pain points

5. PROOF POINTS
- Customer switch stories
- Quantifiable improvements

Output as structured markdown.

Part 3: Find Your "Line in the Sand"

Your "line in the sand" is one big difference that:

• Matters to your buyer
• Exposes competitor weakness
• Highlights your strength
• Fits in one sentence

It's not a feature. It's a philosophy.

Examples:

• ClickUp vs Jira: "Work doesn't happen in silos. So why does your project tool?"
• HubSpot vs Salesforce: "Your CRM shouldn't need a consultant."
• Part 4: The Copy Templates
• Template 1: Pain-Pivot

For targeting competitor users.

Structure:

• [Their tool's pain]
• [Show understanding]
• [Your different approach]
• [Soft ask]

Example (targeting Jira users):

Map out a process, then rebuild it as tickets in another tool?Happens when diagrams and tasks live separately.[Product]: The diagram IS the workflow. Change one, the other updates.Worth a look?

Template 2: Assumed Knowledge Hook

For targeting users of tools you integrate with.

Structure:

• [Acknowledge current setup]
• [Identify tool's gap]
• [Bridge to your solution]
• [Show outcome]

Example (targeting ZoomInfo users):

Contacts are common. Conversations aren't.There's a gap between data and meetings.We handle everything: targeting, outreach, booking. Your team just closes.Struggling to turn data into meetings? See how we book 47 calls a month.

Part 5: Integration Partner Strategy

Instead of targeting competitors, target users of tools you integrate with.

Why this works:

• No defensive reaction
• You're adding value, not asking them to switch
• They already have budget
• Easy integration

The key insight: If you integrate with their stack, you become the obvious choice over alternatives that don't.

Lead with: "We work with a tool you already use."

That one line changes everything.

Part 6: The Job Description Method

Job posts are your most reliable intel source.

Process:

• Search LinkedIn Jobs for target companies
• Filter by size, industry, relevant roles
• Extract required and preferred tools
• Build your targeting list

CompanyToolRoleSignalYour AngleAcme CoJiraPMExplicitPain-pivotBeta Inc"PM tools"OpsImplicitDiscoveryGamma LtdAsana + JiraPMMultipleConsolidation

Implementation Checklist

Phase 1: Gather Intelligence

Identify top 3 competitors

Audit job descriptions

Create battle cards

Phase 2: Analyze & Position

Complete battle cards

Analyze gaps

Define your line in the sand

Phase 3: Develop Copy

Write Pain-Pivot emails

Craft Assumed Knowledge hooks

QA all emails

Phase 4: Target & Execute

Build segmented lists

Launch campaigns

Collect reply data

Do's and Don'ts

DO:

• Reference their context
• Address confirmed pains
• Show the next step
• Use real numbers
• Make the switch easy

DON'T:

Name competitors

Assume which tools. Address categories.

Attack. Offer a new approach.

Overclaim results

Ignore their current investment

Final Thought

The goal isn't to trash competitors.

It's to speak so clearly to the pain their users feel that your message seems written just for them.

Because it was.

When you message competitor users with copy that gets their world without calling it out, you build instant trust. They think: "This person understands my situation."

That's the assumed knowledge advantage.

What's your "line in the sand" against your biggest competitor? Drop it in the comments.

Mitchell Keller | LeadGrow Outreach that converts.