Since competitive intelligence is a group effort where everyone in the company is responsible for gathering information, it makes sense to form a special group that is in charge of the information.The owner can hand select the group based on what he or she knows about the employees. Or they can ask for volunteers. It doesn’t matter, as long as the members are dedicated to managing the information.
When choosing members of the group, be careful to choose people who have an emotional, political, or even financial investment (such as those in sales who work on a commission basis) to increasing the competitive nature of the business.
Once the members are selected, they need to understand that they have the sole responsibility for managing the information. They will also be the chief gatherers. Instruct other employees to inform the group members when they find new data.
Your responsibility as the owner is to not only encourage your employees to gather the information, but to motivate the group and impress on them the importance of adopting the competitive intelligence method as their own personal cause.
Competitive Intelligence