hermes-skills/skills/research/competitive-research/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
competitive-research	Scrape target + competitors for features, pricing, and market positioning. Produce structured comparison reports with pricing tables, feature matrices, and strategic recommendations.

Competitive Research & Analysis

Systematic scraping and comparison of a target company against its competitors — features, pricing, positioning — producing a structured markdown report.

Triggers

• "Scrape X and competitors for features/pricing/market positioning"
• "Build a competitive comparison report for Y"
• "Analyze competitors in the Z space"
• "Produce a market landscape / competitive analysis"
• Any request to research a company + N named competitors and output a report

Workflow

Phase 1: Parallel Scrape (web_extract)

1. Build the URL list: target homepage + ~8 competitor homepages.
2. Scrape all homepages in a single web_extract call (up to 5 URLs per call).
3. In parallel, scrape pricing/product pages for target + competitors.
4. Look for: /pricing/, /features/, /plans/, /business/, /plansandpricing.html.

Key pitfall: Many enterprise VoIP/SaaS sites render pricing tables via JavaScript. web_extract will return page chrome but not the actual dollar figures. When you see truncated pricing pages with no numbers, move to Phase 2.

Phase 2: Fill JS-Rendered Gaps (web_search)

For each competitor where pricing didn't come through:

1. web_search for "[Company] pricing plans per user 2025 2026"
2. Use third-party aggregator pages (Nextiva blog pricing comparisons, Forbes Advisor, G2, Quo, Cloudtalk, etc.) — they extract and publish competitors' prices.
3. Cross-reference 2-3 sources per competitor for accuracy.

Phase 3: Check Target Site Quality

Before investing in a full report, verify the target site is real:

• Browse the target with web_extract on multiple subpages (/features/, /pricing/, /about/).
• If pages return 404s or placeholder/Lorem Ipsum content, flag this prominently in the report. Don't fabricate data — report the actual state.

Phase 4: Compile the Report

Write the report to a markdown file. Use this structure:

1. Target Current State Assessment — honest assessment of what the target actually has (or doesn't have)
2. Side-by-Side Pricing Table — all providers, entry/mid/top/enterprise plans, target audience
3. Pricing Visualization — ASCII chart showing where each competitor sits on price spectrum
4. Feature Comparison Matrix — 15-20 features across all providers, with indicators for included/tiered/add-on/missing
5. Market Positioning Map — ASCII chart + positioning summary table (Primary Positioning + Differentiator)
6. Competitor Deep Dives — per competitor: tagline, pricing tiers, key features, notable clients, target market, compliance, strengths, weaknesses
7. Key Findings & Strategic Recommendations — where the target could position, recommended pricing, MVP feature set, competitive threats, urgent actions

Phase 5: Flag Report as Subagent Output

The report is a synthesis of scraped + searched data. Label it clearly:

*Report generated by Hermes Agent subagent. All data current as of [DATE].*

No fabricated pricing, no invented testimonials. When data is unavailable, say so.

Pitfalls

• JS-rendered pricing: RingCentral, Dialpad, 8x8, and similar use React/Next.js with pricing behind JS. Don't waste time with the browser tool for these — go straight to web_search for third-party pricing writeups.
• Stub/placeholder sites: If the target has 404s, Lorem Ipsum, or stock WordPress themes, report it honestly. Don't pretend it's a real service.
• Browser tool failures: Chrome may fail to start in headless environments (missing dbus, missing display). Fall back to web_extract + web_search. Don't retry the browser.
• Parallel scraping limits: web_extract takes max 5 URLs per call. Batch independent URLs together. When pricing pages depend on homepage context, scrape homepages first, then pricing pages.
• Source attribution: When using third-party pricing data (e.g., Nextiva's blog about RingCentral pricing), cite it as "per third-party analysis" rather than presenting it as primary source data.

Template

See templates/competitor-report.md for the full report skeleton.