Here is a list of practical action steps that will help you find information as quickly as possible.
- Obtain your competition’s marketing materials and brochures
- Survey your customers to gain insight into how they perceive your product or service compared to your competition’s
- Ask suppliers to share any information they may have learned from one of their customers
- Visit suppliers’ websites to see if you can find client lists. This will help you determine who your competition’s suppliers are
- Buy products or use your competitors’ services and perform your own analysis
- Visit product and service review websites
- Read consumer reports and reviews in magazines
- Become a “customer” of your competition by visiting their stores or locations.
- Sign up for any newsletters or ezines your competition may provide their customers
- Obtain information from the competitions’ websites
- If the company is public, find a way to receive any stockholder reports. You may need to buy some shares in order to get this information.
- Survey or ask your customers if other companies have approached them about using their products or services.
- Ask your customer service department and help desk to take any notes concerning complaints, compliments, questions, etc.
- Attend relevant conferences and corporate events.
- Become a member of any industry membership groups or associations. This presents a great opportunity to network and receive any literature that will have information about your competition and the industry in general.
- Subscribe to relevant magazines, newspapers, government mailing lists, journals, etc…
Competitive Intelligence