Competitive Alerts
Narrative read on competitive dynamics affecting the sales motion — material wins / losses to specific competitors, observed pricing or packaging moves in the market, new entrants, M&A in the competitive set. Boards use this surface to bring outside intelligence (their other portfolio companies, advisors) to bear on the competitive picture. Common pitfall: listing competitor names without quantifying how often they show up in deal cycles — a "Competitor X is being aggressive" entry without "we saw them in 8 of 20 active deals last quarter, up from 3 of 18" is too vague to act on. — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier)
No public third-party standard anchors this KPI yet, so I'mBoard authors and maintains the definition — transparently labeled as editorial tier. See the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system and the back-attribution workstream.
Rogue ID: sales.competitive_alerts
Type: Text
Domain: Sales
Definition
Narrative read on competitive dynamics affecting the sales motion — material wins / losses to specific competitors, observed pricing or packaging moves in the market, new entrants, M&A in the competitive set. Boards use this surface to bring outside intelligence (their other portfolio companies, advisors) to bear on the competitive picture. Common pitfall: listing competitor names without quantifying how often they show up in deal cycles — a "Competitor X is being aggressive" entry without "we saw them in 8 of 20 active deals last quarter, up from 3 of 18" is too vague to act on.
Formula
Free-text narrative — no calculation. Convention: per-competitor sub-sections covering deal-frequency observed, win/loss split when statistically meaningful, and any observed pricing / packaging moves.Why it matters
Competitive intelligence is the most under-shared information in board packs and the most useful for cross-portfolio learning — boards can validate or refute observations from other companies they sit on.
How to interpret
Track entries quarter-over-quarter: a competitor whose mention frequency rises consistently is a leading indicator of market positioning erosion. Pair with sales.win_rate trend cut by competitor when possible.
Related KPIs
sales.win_ratesales.closed_lost_countsales.closed_lost_valuesales.key_concernssales.strategic_context
Source
I'mBoard editorial — authored and maintained by I'mBoard, first published 2026-04-01. No third-party standard is cited for this KPI; when one emerges, the definition is back-attributed and promoted to the published tier (a minor version bump). Read the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system, attribution rules, and dispute process.
Stage relevance
| Company stage | Priority |
|---|---|
| Series A | Recommended |
| Series B | Recommended |
| Series C+ | Recommended |
| Public | Recommended |
Suggested for stages: Series A, Series B, Series C+, Public.
Default owning functions
- Sales
Machine-readable
- This KPI as JSON:
/api/ontology/sales/competitive_alerts.json - All Sales KPIs:
/api/ontology/sales.json - Full catalog:
/api/ontology/index.json
Deals Won Value
Total dollar value of all opportunities closed-won during the period — the period's realized bookings from the pipeline motion. Reconciles to (sales.new_business + sales.expansion) when split by deal type. Common pitfall: reporting TCV (total contract value) here when the rest of the dashboard uses ACV — pick one and apply it consistently across closed_won_value, weighted_forecast, and pipeline_value, or the dashboard math stops reconciling. — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
Downgrade ARR
Annualized recurring revenue lost from existing customers who reduced spend mid-term or at renewal (seat reductions, tier downgrades, removed modules) — without leaving entirely. The "contraction" line of the ARR waterfall, distinct from full churn. Often a more sensitive leading indicator than churn because customers tend to contract before they cancel. Common pitfall: lumping downgrades into churn obscures the early-warning signal — boards looking only at logo churn miss the slow-bleed pattern. Surfaces in the KpiVarianceTable widget alongside expansion and churn so the net-retention math is auditable. — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).