# Respond strategically to a competitor's major move

A calm assessment of a competitor's launch, price cut, funding, or acquisition, with response options and what not to do.

- Topic: Business Strategy & Startups
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Strategy, Analyze, Brainstorm, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/respond-strategically-to-a-competitor-s-major-move

## Prompt

```text
Help me decide how to respond to a major move by a competitor.

**Competitor and what they did:** [e.g. "raised $100M", "cut prices 40%", "launched our core feature", "acquired a company"]
**Source and what's confirmed:** [PRESS RELEASE, rumor, customer report]
**Our position:** [our strengths, weaknesses, customers, pricing]
**Early signals of impact:** [lost deals, customer questions, team anxiety, or "none yet"]
**What my team is proposing:** [IDEAS on the table]

Analyze:
1. What the move likely means: their probable goal, how sustainable it is for them, and which of our customers or segments it actually affects. Distinguish facts from assumptions.
2. Real impact vs. perceived impact: will it change buying decisions, or mainly create noise and internal anxiety?
3. Response options, each with cost, risk, and timing:
   - Ignore and stay the course.
   - Reinforce strengths and messaging.
   - Targeted response (protect at-risk segments or key accounts).
   - Match or counter the move directly.
   - Change strategy.
4. Second-order effects: how a price response affects margins and existing customers, and what it signals to the market.
5. Recommendation, and the leading indicators that would tell us to escalate.
6. Talking points for sales and customer teams.
7. A short internal message to the company that keeps people focused.

Don't overstate the competitor's capabilities or ours. Mark unverified claims as [UNVERIFIED].
```

## What to fill in

- PRESS RELEASE, rumor, customer report
- our strengths, weaknesses, customers, pricing
- lost deals, customer questions, team anxiety, or "none yet"
- IDEAS on the table

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.