12 Market Research Strategies To Discover What Makes Competitors Win

Losing a deal stings. Watching it go to a competitor stings worse. The question isn’t just “why did we lose?” It is also “why did they win?”

Most teams stop at surface-level answers: “They were cheaper.” “The timing wasn’t right.” “The buyer ghosted us.” However, those answers don’t fix the problem, so you don’t lose the next customer.

Understanding exactly what made the competitor more attractive, learning from it, and adjusting your positioning, pricing, and process can help you win the next deal. 

Here are twelve research strategies that uncover the truth about why buyers choose your competitors and what you can do about it.

1. Win/Loss Interviews

The most direct method: talk to the buyers who didn’t pick you. Win/loss interviews are structured conversations designed to find out what factors influenced the decision.

Key questions:

• “What problem were you trying to solve?”

• “What stood out most about our solution?”

• “What tipped the scale toward the competitor?”

• “What could we have done differently?”

Keep interviews neutral and non-defensive. Remember, your goal isn’t to win them back mid-call. It’s to collect honest feedback you can act on.

2. Competitive Positioning Analysis

Sometimes it isn’t your product. It’s your messaging framework. Map competitor messaging side by side with yours:

• How do they describe the problem?

• What benefits do they lead with?

• What proof points do they offer?

  
  

If their positioning feels clearer, bolder, or closer to the buyer’s pain, you’ve found a gap you can close.

3. Pricing and Packaging Research

“Price” is often blamed for losses, but it’s rarely just about the number. Research competitor pricing models, tiers, and value framing. Ask buyers:

• Did they perceive the competitor as cheaper or just simpler?

• Were they offered incentives you didn’t match?

• Did their model fit budget cycles better (monthly vs. annual)?

Understanding price perception helps you adjust without racing to the bottom.

4. Feature Comparison Studies

List the features you lost. Then dig deeper: are they truly must-haves, or just well-marketed?

• Survey prospects about which features were decision-critical.

• Track competitor feature announcements and adoption claims.

• Pair findings with your product usage data to see what actually drives retention.

Comparison studies keep you from chasing every competitor feature and focus you on the ones that win deals.

5. Mystery Shopping

Go through your competitors’ sales process yourself. Book a demo. Download their white papers. Watch their onboarding. Notice:

• How quickly they respond

• How clearly they communicate value

• How easy they make it to say yes

You’ll find gaps where you can improve your own buyer experience or highlight where you’re already stronger.

6. Digital Listening and Social Monitoring

Competitors’ customers talk online, in forums, on review sites. Use tools to monitor brand mentions and keywords related to pain points. Watch for patterns:

• Do customers rave about their support speed?

• Do they complain about the complexity that you could solve better?

• Are they sharing ROI wins you haven’t made visible yet?

Social listening provides unfiltered, real-world data you can’t get from your own CRM.

7. Review Site Analysis

Sites like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius are gold mines for understanding why buyers switch or stay. Read both five-star and one-star reviews. Five stars tell you what competitors get right. One-stars tell you where they drop the ball and where you can differentiate.

8. Sales Team Debriefs

Your sales team hears buyer objections every day. Collect their insights systematically:

• Log lost-deal reasons in CRM with detail, not just a checkbox.

• Hold monthly debriefs to identify patterns.

• Pair anecdotal data with your research to confirm trends.

Sales sees the “why” earlier than anyone else. Use their frontline knowledge.

9. Post-Churn Interviews

Lost deals aren’t the only clue. Talk to former customers who churned. Ask:

• “Why did you switch?”

• “What do you like better about the competitor?

• “What would make you come back?”

Churned customers have lived with both solutions. Their insight is gold for understanding not just why you lose, but what wins loyalty long-term.

10. Customer Journey Mapping

Analyze where prospects drop out of your funnel compared to where competitors seem to close quickly.

If drop-off spikes at your proposal stage, maybe your pricing presentation confuses people. If it’s after demos, maybe competitors explain the benefits more clearly. Mapping the journey shows you where the competitive edge is sharpest.

11. Analyst and Market Reports

Industry analysts and research firms often publish comparative reports. Even if you’re not featured, these reports reveal what buyers value most in the category.

Align your roadmap and messaging to those value drivers so you compete on what matters, not what’s trendy.

12. Competitor Client Interviews (Ethically)

If you have friendly relationships with competitors’ former clients, talk to them. Ask why they left, what disappointed them, and what made them switch to someone else. You’ll understand what makes clients dissatisfied enough to move.

Each of these research strategies works on its own, but the real power is in combining them. Layered together, you get a clear picture of why competitors win and how you can close the gap or flip the advantage.

At Borrowed Pen, we turn competitor research into messaging that wins buyers back. Work with us, and let’s turn those lost deals into your next success stories.