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Know What You
Want. Be clear on the information you are looking for. Much of what you
are seeking
is readily available. Talk to your staff, customers and
suppliers. Go out equipped with a list of the specific information you
require. Look for the competitors' price plans, additional services, and
staff capabilities. Review their product line and determine how much overlap
there is with your own offerings.
2. Get To Know Your Competitors. Make sure you balance older
established businesses with ones new to the market. Talk to them at trade
shows when they are more inclined to be chatty. But be cautious, as a sharp
competitor they may feed you misinformation or embellish sales figures to
make themselves look good.
3. Competitive Links. If you have many competitors put the
information on a spreadsheet. Look for the common themes of successful and
unsuccessful competitors. Overall try to determine their individual
strategies. Don’t be surprised if several share the same strategy.
4. Internet. Use the Internet for a quick insight into a competitor.
The information is freely available and easily accessible. As a starting
point find out if they have a website and review it thoroughly. Look to
association or industry specific sites for upcoming trends in your area of
business.
5. Conclusions. Quantity and quality are very different. Masses of
statistics are only good if you can draw a conclusion from them and
determine actionable steps. Take action and use the information you gather.
If competitors lower prices to get business you may wish to offer additional
services instead of price cutting.
6. Competitors. Call or visit competitors both direct and indirect
(related businesses) and talk to their staff. Employees can unwittingly be
tremendous sources of valuable information. You may need to make several
calls or visits to develop a complete picture.
7. Alert Your Staff. The trouble with point 6 is it can work against
you as well. Educate your own staff about confidentiality. Train them to ask
why a caller might need the information they are seeking. Develop a company
policy regarding the information that is allowed to be discussed with
outsiders.
8. It Takes Time. Don’t expect to gather all the information you need
to make sound business decisions in a few telephone calls or store visits.
Take your time. Avoid the trap of using old information. You should be
gathering information on an ongoing basis and routinely adjusting your
marketing plan.
9. Read Their Brochures. Competitive literature will tell you many
things including strategy, positioning, products and services, target group,
key staff. Check to see if the literature is out of date or up to the
minute.
10. Call Them. Examine how their staff answers the phone and how they
approach a prospective customer or opportunity. Make a call to them and act
like a new business prospect. Have others do the same thing and compare
notes.
11. It's Not All Bad. Not everything the competitor does is right or
wrong. Copy the good and avoid the bad.
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