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A Practical Approach to Gain Superior Competitive Intelligence What you can do right now to gain superior knowledge about your competition
Citation preview
A Practical Approach to Gain
Superior Competitive Intelligence
What you can do right now to gain
superior knowledge about your competition
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
Chicago
312-735-5022
Elements of Competitive / Business Intelligence
1. Competitive intelligence - what information is important to
us?
2. Customer/supplier intelligence - what do we want to know?
3. Customer relations - what do we want our customers to
think of us?
4. Protecting the company - how do we manage what others
know about us?
5. Internal relations - managing ourselves – what is our
attitude?
© 2010 MCH Management Associates 2
Competitive Intelligence
• What do we want to know?
– Who gathers this information for the company?
– Who should get the information you obtain?
• What can we learn from our mutual customers/prospects?
– Customers that have been burned often are willing to talk
• What can we learn from mutual suppliers?
3© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• What can we learn from competitor’s employees?
– Organizational chart for competitor’s key employees
– Who is disgruntled or looking for a job?
– Interviewing former employees (never miss a chance?)
– The impact of alcohol – excessive lubrication
• Often you can trade competitive information about a common competitor with a competitor
4
Competitive Intelligence
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• What do we already know and can piece together from our own employees?
• What can we learn from public information sources?
– Scour the internet? LinkedIn?
• Industry associations – who participates?
– Statistics? Other data?
– Making good contacts – have a visible, open profile
• Ethics – what is acceptable and what is wrong?
– What do you do with confidential information that “falls in your lap?”
– Your risks?
5
Competitive Intelligence
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
Customer / Supplier Intelligence
• Who are our key accounts?
– Key targets - “conquest” accounts?
• Who are our key suppliers?
• What should we be trying to learn?
– Key customers, other customers, key prospects
– Key suppliers
• What should we do with this information once we obtain it?
6© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• Who are we cultivating as customer/prospect sources of information?
– Who are the decision makers?
– Who are the abusers of power?
• How do we determine what they are really thinking of us?
– What do they use to measure us?
7
Customer / Supplier Intelligence
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
Customer Relations
• Who is “The Company”?
– Phone calls - What can we do better?
• Image
– Who do you want to do business with?
• Attitude
– Winners smile
8© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• How do we promote our company?
• How do we get credit for the good we do?
• How do we combat anticipated “bad mouthing” by competitors?
• What do we do when we make a mistake?
– Damage control – quick action versus letting it fester
– Ask the customer what they think is fair
– Turnaround opportunity
9
Customer Relations
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• Purchasing negotiations
– Their opportunity to make a good deal
– Their routines (good cop/bad cop)
• How to get higher prices
– Every change is an opportunity to increase the price, make it easy
• Making commitments
– Who makes price commitments?
– Who makes delivery commitments?
10
Customer Relations
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• Never criticize your own in front of others!
• Never lie, but don’t tell what they do not ask
– When to stop talking
• How to handle unreasonable requests
• How to stall - higher authority
11
Customer Relations
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
Protecting The Company
• What do we need to keep confidential?
– “Loose lips sink ships”
• Protecting confidential information:
– Who has need to know?
– What information is valuable?
• Qualifying who we openly talk to
– What should you assume?
– Scams
12© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• Who should be informed of attempts to gain information about us?
• What you should and should not tell headhunters
– Gain respect versus tell all you know
• What do we ask of our employees?
– What can we expect?
13
Protecting The Company
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
• Whose property is “company work product?”
• What should/can you tell employees who leave?
– What about documents they take home?
– Confidentiality of information on computers?
– Patents, copyrights, confidentiality agreements?
– Usefulness of non-compete, non-solicitation, non-disparagement agreements?
14
Protecting The Company
© 2010 MCH Management Associates
Internal Relations
• Referrals for good potential employees – a referral is a wonderful compliment!
• Importance of morale– Who is responsible for good company morale?
• Recognition – your co-workers are “customers” as well• How to handle “malcontents”
– What do you do if you see inappropriate actions that clearly could damage the company?
15© 2010 MCH Management Associates
Conclusion• Intelligence gathering = awareness plus common sense• Management must set high expectations! • Your choices:
A systematic, purposeful ethical process that is ingrained into the company culture
orA haphazard, hit-or-miss process
with no specific expectations
16© 2010 MCH Management Associates