# Agency competitive research worksheet

Use with: https://agencyfieldguide.com/guides/how-to-research-agency-competitors

Open this Markdown file in your own editor or copy it into a document. Duplicate the agency section for each alternative, including your own agency. AFG does not save your completed research.

## Buyer situation
- Buyer and business model:
- Job to be done:
- Budget or resource constraints (known versus assumed):
- Important implementation conditions:
- Search queries / filters:
- Date and researcher:
- Alternatives outside AFG to investigate (in-house, freelance, delay):

## Agency comparison (duplicate)
- Agency and website:
- AFG profile:
- Why a buyer might choose it:
- Direct alternative / adjacent specialist / larger option / our agency:
- Target buyer as publicly described:
- Problem and offer:
- Brief paraphrase of promise:
- Supporting work and source URL:
- Date checked and project date where stated:
- Named agency role:
- Results and measurement context provided:
- Client implementation responsibilities:
- Public pricing / minimum / terms (or not published):
- Next step requested of a buyer:
- Our interpretation:
- Unanswered questions:
- Does this firm fit the buyer brief? Why?

## Findings
### Common promises
- Claim repeated across the sample:
- Agencies and source links:
- What a buyer would need to believe it:

### Our proof gaps
- Claim we want to make:
- Evidence already available:
- What needs to be explained or published:
- Owner and due date:

### Potential difference to validate
- Our approach or capability:
- Supporting evidence:
- Buyer situation where it could matter:
- Trade-off or situation where another option may fit better:
- Question to test with buyers:
- What would disprove our hypothesis:

## Sales note
- Why the buyer may favor this alternative:
- When our approach may fit:
- Evidence supporting our approach:
- Question that reveals the relevant trade-off:
- Review date:

## Next three actions
1. Message improvement:
2. Proof improvement:
3. Buyer conversation:

## After a win/loss conversation
- How the buyer actually compared options:
- What mattered more than we expected:
- What to change in the comparison:

Missing public evidence is not proof that a competitor lacks a capability. Do not infer price, quality or capacity from logos or directory position. Use the same standard for your own agency.