- Don’t be constrained by only collecting information that is in the public domain. Go below the radar screen.
- Why? There are plenty of ethical approaches to uncover critical CI that lie outside the public domain. Focus groups and B2B interviews are 2 examples.
- Don’t waste time coming up with the perfect definition for “Competitive Intelligence” .
- Why? There is none. “Competitive Intelligence” is often interchanged with “Business Intelligence” and “Market Intelligence”, making the concept even more ambiguous.
- For every hour you collect CI, spend no less than 5 hours analyzing your data.
- Why? It’s your analysis and interpretation of findings that will matter, not the complex approach you undertake to get this information
- The last source to go to is the competitor.
- Why? Contacting other sources first (e.g. sales reps, customers,) will generate insights to help you fine tune your questions to ask the competitor.