© 2011 Judy Willis Marketing, LLC

Competitive Intelligence What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You!

Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the Core of a Competitive Strategy

• Companies and industries prosper through improvements in competitiveness, leveraging core competencies

• Competitive Intelligence is at the core of the objective to improve an organization’s competitive advantage

• Competitive advantage has a lot to do with leveraging the knowledge assets of a firm, while at the same time determining how competitors are likely to leverage theirs

What is Competitive Intelligence?

Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the Core of a Competitive Strategy

• Whatever strategic framework a company chooses to embrace, no one element remains more fundamental to competitive strategy than competitive intelligence

• Competitive Intelligence should have a single-minded objective: to develop the strategies and tactics necessary to transfer market share profitably and consistently from specific competitors to your company

What is Competitive Intelligence?

CI Provides A Competitive Advantage

• Competitive Intelligence revolves around decisions made by managers about the positioning of a business to maximize the value of the capabilities that distinguish it from its competitors.

• Failure to collect, analyze and act upon this competitive information can lead to poor company performance and perhaps failure of the company itself.

What Is Its Value?

The CI Process is Usually Composed of Five Main Areas:

1. Assessment of Strategies

2. Competitor Perceptions

3. Effectiveness of Current Operations

4. Competitor Capabilities

5. Long-Term Marketing Prospects

What is the CI Process?

It Is Performed Under Three Main Approaches:

1. Strategic Intelligence – Concerned with competitive analysis and

gaining an understanding of a competitor’s future goals, current strategy, assumptions held about itself and the industry, and their capabilities

2. Tactical Intelligence – Concerned with tactical issues including

competitors’ terms of sale, pricing policies, and plans they have to differentiate their products from yours

3. Counter Intelligence – Concerned about defending your company’s

secrets

What is the CI Process?

And, It Includes the 4 “C’s” for Monitoring Competitors:

– Collecting the information (decide what to collect)

– Converting information into intelligence • Collate and catalogue • Integrate it with other pieces of

information • Analyze and interpret

– Communicating the intelligence

– Countering any adverse competitor actions (using the intelligence)

What is the CI Process?

Information Comes from a Variety of Sources:

• Within the organization – sales reps, R&D departments, purchasing, market research with existing customers

• The Internet – Most companies now advertise their services online – D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) for both private and

public companies – Hoovers ( a D&B subsidiary) for public companies – Thompson Scientific’s Patent Service for patent

information – LexisNexis and Dialog (from the Thompson group)

for global press • Trade shows and conferences • Interviews with industry experts • Competitors’ customers and supplies via primary market

research

How Do You Collect Info?

All Information Needs to Be Filtered, Indexed and Catalogued

• Like a jigsaw puzzle, each piece of information can help build a complete picture of the competitive environment

• Even if some pieces are missing, you can often get a good idea of what the competitive situation looks like

• And, each piece of information needs to be interpreted and analyzed – on its own and in conjunction with other information – to become actionable intelligence

How Do You Convert Info Into Intelligence?

You Need to Answer the Following Seven Questions Before Beginning a CI Engagement:

1. What do we need to know?

2. What do we already know?

3. Why do we need to know it?

4. When do we need to know it?

5. What will we do with the intelligence once we have it?

6. What will it cost to get it?

7. What could it cost not to get it?

How Do You Get Started?

Want To Know More?

Contact Me and I will be happy to assist you:

Judy Willis

President & CEO

Judy Willis Marketing, LLC

D: 678-613-2096

jswillis2011@live.com

www.linkedin/in/judyswillis

www.judywillismarketing.com