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This playbook requires the following signals:
Monitored Signals
1. Why should I care about a new feature launch?
Here’s why it’s a big deal:
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2. Examples of new feature launches
New feature launches are a constant in the SaaS world and are the primary way companies compete on product.
For example, a project management tool that has always focused on task management might suddenly launch a new "Time Tracking" feature. This single feature expands their use case, attracts a new segment of customers who require time tracking, and puts immediate pressure on competitors who lack that native capability. It forces the market to re-evaluate which product is truly the most "complete" solution.
3. How to monitor competitors for new feature launches
A new feature launch is a public event, but the signals can come from multiple sources. You need a system to catch these announcements as they happen.
Zimt is the go-to competitor monitoring tool for B2B SaaS companies. We have over 35 competitor playbooks you can launch on autopilot, including one designed specifically for this scenario. Activating the playbook allows you to:
Monitor Product Announcements: Automatically track competitor blogs, "What's New" pages, and social media for announcements about new features.
Track Website & Pricing Page Changes: Get alerted when the feature lists on their product and pricing pages are updated to include a new capability.
Access This Playbook: Put this playbook, and many more, to work. Automated.
If you're not using Zimt, you must manually check competitor blogs, changelogs, and pricing pages to keep up with their product velocity.
4. Playbook Response Options
4.1 Assess the Impact and Defend
ⓘ Best for: The default first response for any significant feature launch, prioritizing a measured, data-driven approach before overreacting. | ||
Goal: Quickly understand the new feature's true impact on your market position and protect your sales pipeline from FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). | ||
Strategic Rationale: This approach prevents an overreaction to a feature that may be a "paper tiger." It focuses on arming your customer-facing teams and gathering real-world data from deals before committing significant development resources. |
Analyze the new feature's capabilities and target audience.
Quickly get a demo or watch a video of the new feature to understand its strengths, weaknesses, and which customer segment it is designed for.
Create an internal "FUD-buster" FAQ.
Develop a one-page internal document for the sales team that provides concise, factual talking points and rebuttals to claims the competitor might make about their new feature.
Update sales battle cards with objection handlers.
Revise competitive battle cards with talking points that help sales reps effectively position your product against the competitor's new feature and handle objections.
Monitor win/loss data for mentions of the new feature.
Track how often the new feature is mentioned as a key factor in competitive deals to gauge its actual impact on your pipeline.
4.2 Counter with Aggressive Marketing
ⓘ Best for: When the competitor's new feature is a flawed "V1.0" or is a feature you already have but haven't marketed effectively. | ||
Goal: Seize control of the narrative by highlighting the weaknesses of their new feature or re-asserting your leadership with your own, more mature version. | ||
Strategic Rationale: This is an offensive marketing play that turns their announcement into an opportunity for you. It can neutralize their "newness" advantage and remind the market of your established strengths and product maturity. |
Identify the weaknesses or gaps in their new feature.
Conduct a rapid analysis to pinpoint the limitations of their "V1.0" feature. Is it buggy? Does it lack key integrations? Is the user experience poor?
Launch a "get it right" marketing campaign.
Run a targeted campaign with messaging that highlights the importance of a mature, stable, and fully integrated solution, subtly contrasting your offering with their new, potentially flawed feature.
Publish a detailed comparison.
Create a blog post or datasheet that provides an honest, in-depth comparison of your mature feature versus their new one, focusing on the specific areas where you are superior.
Train sales on the offensive counter-narrative.
Enable the sales team with talking points that proactively expose the weaknesses of the competitor's new feature in competitive conversations.
4.3 Accelerate Your Own Roadmap (Fast-Follow)
ⓘ Best for: When the competitor's new feature exposes a critical, undeniable gap in your own product that is already causing you to lose deals. | ||
Goal: Rapidly develop and launch a competitive version of the feature to close the product gap and protect your long-term market share. | ||
Strategic Rationale: This acknowledges that the competitor has correctly identified a market need that you have missed. While it involves reshuffling priorities, it's a necessary move to maintain feature parity on a critical capability. |
1. Schedule a product roadmap meeting.
Hold a session with Product, Engineering, and GTM leadership to assess the market impact of the feature gap and determine if a "fast-follow" is necessary.
2. Define the MVP for your version of the feature.
If the decision is made to proceed, create a detailed PRD for the Minimum Viable Product required to compete effectively, focusing on speed to market.
3. Secure engineering resource commitment.
Formally get buy-in and resource allocation from the development team for the fast-follow project and confirm its scope.
4. Develop a "whisper campaign" for key stakeholders.
While the feature is being built, create a plan to selectively pre-brief key customers and analysts (under NDA) about your upcoming solution to prevent churn.