The Five Factors: Sun Tzu’s Original SWOT Analysis
Sun Tzu opens The Art of War not with battle tactics, but with a strategic assessment framework. Chapter 1, “Laying Plans” (始计篇), establishes that victory is determined before the battle begins — through careful calculation of five constant factors and seven comparisons.
“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”
— Sun Tzu, Chapter 1: Laying Plans
This opening sentence, perhaps the most famous in all of strategic literature, applies with equal force to modern business. In B2B sales, every deal is a battle for resources, trust, and market position. The companies that win consistently are not those with the most aggressive sales tactics — they are those that assess the terrain most accurately before engaging.
The Five Constant Factors (五事)
Sun Tzu identifies five factors that must be evaluated before any military campaign:
一曰道，二曰天，三曰地，四曰将，五曰法。
道 (Dao) — The Moral Law / Way
In military terms: the cause that unites the people with their leader, making them willing to follow unto death.
In B2B sales: your company’s mission and value proposition. Does your team believe in what you’re selling? Do your customers feel aligned with your purpose? The strongest sales organizations have a clear “why” that transcends quarterly targets. When Salesforce says “Customer 360,” when HubSpot champions “inbound,” when Stripe commits to “increasing the GDP of the internet” — these are Dao. They give every sales conversation a foundation deeper than price.
Without Dao, your sales team is selling features. With Dao, they’re inviting prospects into a movement.
天 (Heaven) — Timing and Seasons
In military terms: the cycle of seasons, weather, darkness and light, cold and heat.
In B2B sales: market timing and buying windows. Are you entering a market that’s rising or falling? Is your prospect’s budget cycle aligned with your sales cycle? Are there regulatory changes creating urgency? The difference between a great product that fails and a good product that dominates often comes down to timing. Zoom thrived because remote work became necessary overnight. Countless excellent products died because they were too early or too late.
A skilled sales strategist reads “Heaven” by tracking: budget cycles, industry conferences, regulatory deadlines, competitor product launches, and macroeconomic indicators that trigger buying urgency.
地 (Earth) — Terrain and Distance
In military terms: distances, danger and security, open ground and narrow passes, the chances of life and death.
In B2B sales: competitive landscape and account geography. Who already owns this account? What’s the distance between your current position and the decision-maker? Are you on “open ground” (greenfield opportunity with no incumbent) or “narrow passes” (tightly held by a competitor with high switching costs)?
Mapping Earth means building a detailed account plan: organizational chart, existing vendor relationships, budget ownership, technical requirements, and political dynamics. Every piece of terrain intelligence reduces the chance of walking into an ambush.
将 (General) — Leadership
In military terms: wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.
In B2B sales: the quality of your champion and your own sales leadership. Sun Tzu’s five virtues of a general — 智 (wisdom), 信 (trustworthiness), 仁 (benevolence), 勇 (courage), 严 (strictness) — describe exactly what makes a great enterprise sales leader.
But there’s a second layer: your internal champion within the prospect organization. Does this person have the wisdom to navigate their own procurement process? The trustworthiness to carry your message accurately? The courage to advocate for a controversial purchase? The strictness to hold internal stakeholders accountable to the evaluation timeline?
法 (Law) — Organization and Discipline
In military terms: the marshaling of the army, the regulation of ranks, the control of expenditure.
In B2B sales: your sales process, methodology, and systems. MEDDIC, Challenger, Sandler, SPIN — these are all “法.” But Sun Tzu’s insight is deeper: law is not just about having a process; it’s about the consistency of execution. A mediocre process executed with perfect discipline beats a brilliant process executed inconsistently.
The Seven Comparisons (七计)
After establishing the five factors, Sun Tzu applies them through seven comparative questions:
主孰有道？将孰有能？天地孰得？法令孰行？兵众孰强？士卒孰练？赏罚孰明？
These map directly to competitive sales intelligence:
- Which sovereign has the Dao? — Which company has the stronger vision and market alignment?
- Which general has ability? — Which sales leader and champion are more capable?
- Who has Heaven and Earth? — Who has better market timing and account intelligence?
- Whose laws are enforced? — Whose sales process is more consistently executed?
- Whose troops are stronger? — Whose product and solution are objectively superior?
- Whose officers are better trained? — Whose sales team is more skilled and knowledgeable?
- Whose rewards and punishments are clearer? — Whose compensation and accountability drive better behavior?
Answer these seven questions honestly before committing resources to a major deal pursuit, and you’ll know the outcome before you begin.
中文版：五事七计——B2B销售的战略评估框架
孙子兵法开篇不讲课战术，而讲战略评估。第一篇《始计篇》确立了胜利在战前已经决定的原则——通过五个常量和七个比较的精密计算。
五事在B2B销售中的应用
道（使命与价值观）：你的销售团队是否真的相信自己在卖的东西？如果销售人员的唯一动力是佣金，他们会在困难面前退缩。如果他们的动力是”我们正在改变客户的工作方式”，他们会坚持到成交。道的本质是”令民与上同意”——让团队与使命对齐。
天（时机与周期）：B2B销售中，时机是一切。客户预算周期、行业政策变化、竞争对手事件——这些都是”天时”。最优秀的销售策略师不是最能说的，而是最懂”什么时候说”的。
地（竞争地形）：每个客户都是独特的战场。谁是现有供应商？决策者的痛点是什么？切换成本多高？全面了解客户的”地形”——组织架构、预算归属、技术需求和政治关系——是避免失败的前提。
将（领导力）：孙子的”将者五德”——智信仁勇严——恰好定义了优秀的销售领导者。但还有一个关键角色：客户内部的”内线”。一个有力的内线能帮你导航采购流程、传递正确信息、推动内部共识。
法（流程与纪律）：你的销售方法论是否被严格执行？MEDDIC、Challenger、Sandler——这些都是”法”。但孙子洞察更深：流程的好坏取决于执行的一致性。平庸的流程配完美的纪律，胜过完美的流程配松散的纪律。
结论
凡此五者，将莫不闻，知之者胜，不知者不胜。
在B2B销售中，“知道这五者”意味着在投入资源追逐一个大单之前，先冷静评估：道（我们为什么做这件事）、天（时机对吗）、地（竞争格局如何）、将（我方和客户方的人够强吗）、法（流程能支撑吗）。这五件事评估完了，胜负就已经知道了。