Category: Competitive Intelligence

Essentially, sales win-loss analysis/research is obtaining insights from your buyers about how your sales team performed in pitching new business. The goal is to get feedback to improve messaging and uncover reasons when they did not win the business. Questions Who else was competing for your business? What were the keys reasons for choosing another provider? Why didn’t we win your business? Was our presentation interesting? Were our reps convincing? Were they good listeners? Knowledgeable? Well organized? What suggestion do you have on how we can improve?   Guidelines Given we are talking of something very concrete (why you got or did not get the sale) fewer data points are… Read More

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In order to manage CI client expectations, the first step is having the stakeholder complete a CI Brief which is explained below. manage a CI client expectations A CI Brief serves a number of purposes including: Clarifies what their expectations are Spells out the research goals, competitors to investigate, topics to address among other critical elements Gets them to agree to a list of “Must Know Questions – that will form the basis of the investigation Provides you with more insight into the competitor products to be research and the landscape to assess Additionally, it instills confidence in your ability to deliver, because you are taking a leadership role from… Read More

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You can use CI to counter unfair competitor claims. It is the same energy you use to pinpoint a competitor threat, which can be used to counter unfair competitor claims through “Counter Intelligence”. These skills can help save you dollars by uncovering errors in supplier invoicing and offset claims against you by companies you have alliances with. For example, if you are an importer or manufacturer, no doubt you have been faced with complaints by some distributors that you are competing unfairly by undercutting their prices. A carefully planned pricing audit can be an effective counter to these complaints. Let’s assume you head up marketing for “Home Alarm Systems Inc.”,… Read More

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How do you conduct CI ethically? Rule of thumb: Collect only information that is within the public domain. While there is validity in this guideline, it is simplistic.  It does not advise you how to collect intelligence ethically. The following TIPS do:                 Tip                                  How Avoid over-complicating CI’s role The more clearly defined the  CI expectations are, the less chance of going off track and overstepping boundaries. In other words point out to your stakeholder what you will be able to and not able to achieve. Raise the issue of tipping off the competitor to      your stakeholders If you are being pressed to overreach ethical boundaries, advise… Read More

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The key to successfully executing a CI study is careful planning, easy-to-follow action steps and continuously asking yourself, “What else should I be doing to ensure results are thorough, meaningful and accurate?” Let’s first address what the critical steps are in planning your CI study: Step #1 First, have the client fill out a CI brief by answering the following questions: What must this investigation achieve? Who will be using the results? What decisions will be made with the results? What will your role be in this assignment? Which competitor(s) are to be investigated? Why do you think they pose a threat? What must know questions do you need answered?… Read More

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