The goals of this blog are:
1. A place to ask for advice on CI issues
2. Learn about CI trends, techniques, and events
3. Discuss CI topics
Competitive Intelligence is a sensitive subject so please follow these rules. Please do not request or discuss confidential or proprietary information about any individual or organization unless the information has been published in another venue prior to publication on KnowledgeIsPower. All are welcome to express their views and pose questions. However, I reserve the right to edit or remove inappropriate language or postings or those comments which violate the spirit of the site.
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How are your competitors preparing for the end of the recession? They could be increasing their spending on R&D, beginning to hire staff (if so, where), or preparing an advertising campaign. Find out what their plans are and be ready to counter.
Has the recession forced any of your competitors to change their manufacturing strategy? Are their less productive plants closed temporarily or permanently? Are they outsourcing a portion, or all of their manufacturing, to third parties? If so, where in the world are those firms located? How have these changes impacted their financials and their ability to compete?
What are your competitors telling prospects about you and other rivals? Ask your salespeople what they are hearing and how they respond. Summarize the competitor’s attack points and the best responses, or even better, the best pre-emptive position statements to distribute to your whole sales force.
What are your priorities for the fall? With lower, or at best, limited budgets, you must make all of your time count. Review your activities with your stakeholders to assign priorities to your CI work and set appropriate expectations (as much as you can in today’s overworked environment).
Are your competitors simplifying their product lines? And thereby providing an opening for your products and/or services? Changes in offerings force buyers to think more about their choices and provide a possible opening for you. Conversely, is your firm changing its line-up allowing competitors to gain business?
Leading indicators are signaling economy may have hit bottom and be turning around. Are your competitors acting as if they believe the economy has turned around and changing their behavior from cutback to growth (or at least stable) mode? Your future market share may depend on countering any moves on their part quickly and effectively.
Tough times force tough decisions. Your organization and your competitors should be using the current economic environment to closely examine the profitability and prospects of your products and/or services. Watch carefully to where and how your competitors cut back as their cast-offs could be attractive for you.
Have you examined your pricing to see if you can modify your pricing structure or level to add more perceived value for customers? They are seeking more value for their money these days and are the ones who determine what is valuable. Ask them what their pain points are to create a solution that is win/win in this economy.
Form a support network of CI practioners in your industry. As long as you do not discuss any confidential topics, you should be able to help each other understand the broad industry issues and improve your CI skills. Find other practioners in your local chapter of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). If no chapter exists, start one.
Keep up with the basics of CI during these turbulent times. Layoffs result in organizational confusion and focus on internal issues instead of external events and competitive actions. Good CI is needed more than ever and you should use these changes to expand your internal audience for your work.
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