How to find out what your competitors are doing
To some it’s ‘corporate snooping’, to others it’s simply research; but ‘competitive intelligence’ (CI) means finding out as much as possible about your competitors - what products they are developing, what the strategic thrusts of their businesses are for the next few years, how they are faring, and their levels of profitability. If you want a more accurate picture of how your competitors are shaping up, here are a few tactical suggestions...
1. Attend trade shows and conferences.
Trade shows are excellent places to check out competitors’ products and services. These exhibitions are more than just booths and displays. Most expositions also offer seminars, product demonstrations, and other special events that can be good sources of competitive information. If you play your cards right, you can even gain access to a competitor’s senior management, often by simply chatting with the salesperson who works the booth. By networking in the right circles at conferences you will learn lots of useful competitor information.
2. Become a shareholder - of your competitor.
There are a number of perfectly legal and ethical ways to get information on your competitors. If your competitor is a publicly-listed company, for example, you can purchase a limited number of their stock making you a recognised shareholder. You’ll be amazed how much financial and strategic information that this tactic will deliver to your door on a regular basis.
3. Trade product with competitors.
Competitors may not let you inside their plants, but there are other ways to analyse their operation - as long as you don’t mind reciprocating. You can start things rolling by offering to provide samples of your products in return for your competitors’ samples.
