How to Add Win and Loss Themes to a Competitor Battlecard in Playwise HQ

Table of Contents

About Win and Loss Themes

Win and loss themes on a competitor battlecard capture the recurring reasons your team wins or loses deals against a specific competitor. Win themes document your competitive advantages along with details and talking points your sales reps can use in conversations. Loss themes capture areas where you fall short and provide mitigation strategies to help reps overcome those challenges.

Adding well-documented themes turns your battlecards into actionable playbooks that reps can reference before and during deals.

Key Benefits:

  • Arm your reps with proven talking points — Win themes give reps specific language to highlight your strengths against each competitor.
  • Prepare for competitive weaknesses — Loss themes with mitigation strategies help reps address known gaps before prospects raise them.
  • Categorise themes for easy filtering — Optional theme categories let you tag and filter themes by topic, making it fast to find relevant intelligence.
  • Build a knowledge base over time — As your team adds themes from real deals, battlecards become richer and more valuable.

What You Need to Know Before Adding Win and Loss Themes

User Role Requirements

Only users with an Admin or Editor role can add win and loss themes to a battlecard. Users with the Viewer role can view themes but cannot add or modify them. If you need to add themes and do not have the appropriate role, contact your account administrator.

Theme Categories (Optional)

You can optionally tag each theme with one or more theme categories — colour-coded labels that help organise and filter themes by topic (e.g., “Product Fit”, “Pricing”, “Sales Execution”).

Field Visibility

The fields and steps you see during editing depend on your account’s battlecard configuration. If your administrator has hidden the win themes or loss themes sections, you will not see them in the edit form.

A Step by Step Guide on How to Add Win and Loss Themes to a Competitor Battlecard in Playwise HQ

Follow these steps to add win themes and loss themes to a competitor battlecard.

Step 1: Open the Battlecard in Edit Mode

  1. Log in to your Playwise HQ account and go to your Dashboard.
  2. Click on the competitor battlecard you want to add themes to.
  3. On the battlecard view page, click the “Edit Battlecard” button (with a pencil icon) in the top-right area.

Tip: You can also click the “Add Win Theme” or “Add Loss Theme” button directly from the Win/Loss Themes tab on the view page. This will take you straight to the relevant step in the edit form.

Step 2: Navigate to the Win/Loss Themes Step

  1. In the edit form, navigate to the Win/Loss Themes step (Step 4).
  2. You can get there by clicking the step label in the progress bar at the top, or by using the “Next” button to step through the form.

Step 3: Add a Win Theme

The Win/Loss Themes step displays two sections side by side — Win Themes on the left and Loss Themes on the right. Each section starts with one empty theme card.

To add a win theme:

  1. In the Win Themes section, locate the first theme card (labelled “Win Theme 1”).

  2. Fill in the following fields:

    • Win Reason — A concise statement of why you win against this competitor. 

    • Details & Talking Points — Detailed talking points your reps can use. 

    • Theme Categories (optional) — Select one or more theme categories to tag this theme. You can search and select from existing categories, or create a new category inline. This field only appears if “Theme Categorization” is enabled in your battlecard configuration.

  3. To add additional win themes, click the “Add Win Theme” button (with a plus icon) below the existing theme cards. A new empty theme card will appear.

  4. To remove a win theme, click the trash icon on the theme card. You cannot remove the last remaining theme.

Step 4: Add a Loss Theme

To add a loss theme:

  1. In the Loss Themes section, locate the first theme card (labelled “Loss Theme 1”).

  2. Fill in the following fields:

    • Loss Reason — A concise statement of why you lose against this competitor. Maximum 1,000 characters. Placeholder: 

    • Mitigation Strategy — Strategies and language your reps can use to address this weakness. 

    • Theme Categories (optional, multi-select) — Same as win themes. Only categories applicable to loss themes (or “both”) will appear.

  3. To add additional loss themes, click the “Add Loss Theme” button (with a plus icon).

  4. To remove a loss theme, click the trash icon on the theme card. You cannot remove the last remaining theme.

Step 5: Save Your Changes

  1. Once you have added your themes, you can save in two ways:

    • Click “Save & Exit” to save all changes and return to the battlecard view page.
    • Click “Next” to continue to the next step (Objection Handling), and save later.

  2. A green notification will confirm your changes have been saved successfully.

Troubleshooting

Theme Categories Field Is Not Visible

If you do not see the Theme Categories field on your theme cards, the “Theme Categorization” field has been hidden in your account’s battlecard configuration. Contact your administrator to enable it in Settings > Account Configuration > Battlecard Configuration.

Cannot Add More Themes

Each battlecard supports a maximum of 50 win themes and 50 loss themes. If you have reached this limit, consider consolidating related themes.