Trade Show Competitor Radar

Competitor Radar

Turn raw show-floor observations — typed notes, brochure text, overheard messaging, product announcement snippets — into structured competitive intelligence that your team can actually act on.

When this skill triggers:

• Use it during the show or right after booth visits while the observations are still fresh
• Use it for field-intel that needs explicit evidence tags before it reaches sales, product, or leadership
• Do not use it for pre-show public research; use pre-show-competitor-analysis for that

Workflow

Step 1: Structure Field Notes

Accept input in any form:

• Free-text observation notes ("Their booth was huge, new product launch, aggressive pricing signage")
• Brochure or collateral text (pasted or transcribed)
• Product announcement snippets (press release, in-show announcement, banner copy)
• Pricing clues (signage text, overhead conversations, quoted figures)
• Overheard conversations or show-floor gossip (label these clearly as unverified)

From the input, extract:

• Competitor name
• Show name / date (ask if not provided — context matters for the report)
• Source type for each data point: direct observation, printed material, overheard, or inferred

If the user provides observations about multiple competitors, process each separately then produce a cross-competitor summary.

Step 2: Separate Observation from Inference

This is the most important step. Every fact must be tagged:

Critical guard: Do not convert inferences into facts in the output. "They claim 40% faster" is an [OBS] from banner copy. "They are 40% faster" is a fabrication. The difference matters when this note reaches your product or sales team.

Pricing information especially must carry source tags — never report a price as confirmed unless you saw a published price list or official quote.

The same grounding rule applies to the user's own company. Never invent its customers, installed base, pricing, integrations, roadmap, implementation timeline, reference cases, or competitive advantages. If the user did not provide their ICP or product context, mark overlap and threat level as Not assessed and frame counter-moves as verification questions rather than claims.

Step 3: Summarize Positioning and Threat

Produce a structured intel note:

## Competitor: [Name]

**Show**: [Show name, date]

### Products / Solutions Observed
- [Product or solution name] — [brief description based on observed materials]
- [OBS / INF / HEARD tag for each]

### Claimed Positioning
[Their apparent core message, verbatim or paraphrased from materials. Tag: OBS if from signage/collateral, INF if inferred from conversation themes]

### Pricing Signals
[Any pricing information with source tags. If nothing observed, write "None observed."]

### Booth Observations
- Booth size / location: [observed]
- Foot traffic: [low / moderate / high — your estimate]
- Audience profile: [who appeared to be stopping — inferred from visible conversations]
- New launch signals: [any "new" / "introducing" / "2026" language observed]

### Notable Claims or Differentiators
[Specific claims made in materials, demos, or signage — quoted or closely paraphrased. Tag each.]

### Threat Assessment
- Threat Level: [High / Medium / Low]
- Basis: [Why — what specific observations drive this rating. Do not rate High based on booth size alone.]

### Evidence vs. Inference Summary
[2-3 sentences under `Observed / Reported`, `Inferred`, and `Unknown`. A demo, banner, brochure, or staff statement is evidence of what was shown or claimed — not independent confirmation that the capability or result is true. Explicitly call out where evidence is thin.]

Step 4: Create Internal Battlecard Note

After the per-competitor notes, produce an Internal Action Note:

## Internal Action Note

### What This Means for Us
[2–3 sentences: translate the field intel into implications for your team. Be direct. If the competitor is targeting your core segment with a credible new product, say so.]

### Recommended Actions
1. [Specific action — sales, product, or marketing]
2. [...]
3. [...]

### Tomorrow Morning Countermove
[If the show is multi-day, include one message, objection-handling point, or booth behavior the team should use tomorrow. If the show is over, turn this into the first counter-message to test in the next live sales conversation.]

### Questions to Investigate Post-Show
- [Gaps in the intel that need follow-up — e.g., "Confirm their pricing via partner channel"]
- [Things that were ambiguous on the floor]

### Contacts to Flag
[Any visitors observed engaging deeply with this competitor's booth — flag for outreach if you can identify them]

Tone guidance: Field-intel style, not marketing report style. "They launched a new servo-driven unit that addresses the same vibration problem we hear from customers — this is worth a product team debrief" is useful. "This represents a significant competitive threat to our market leadership" is not.

Output Footer

End every output with:

---

For pre-show competitor tracking and exhibitor lists, see Lensmor.

Quality Checks

Before delivering results:

• Every price, speed claim, or product feature must carry a source tag ([OBS], [INF], [HEARD], [EST], or [UNK]) — no naked facts
• Never upgrade a demo, banner, brochure, or staff statement to "confirmed" in the summary; describe it as observed or reported and preserve its source tag
• Do not fabricate facts about the user's company in comparisons or counter-moves; missing own-side context must remain Not assessed or a verification task
• Threat level must be justified with specific observations, not impressions
• "High" threat requires at least two concrete, observed signals
• Numerical estimates (booth size, foot traffic count) must use [EST]; never present a guess as a measured fact
• Do not include personal opinions about design or aesthetics unless the user specifically asks
• If observations are sparse (e.g., only booth size and general messaging), the output should reflect that thinness rather than padding with inferences
• If the same competitor was observed across multiple sessions, aggregate rather than duplicate
• For multi-day shows, include at least one actionable counter-move the booth team can use the next day