A methodical and legitimate mechanism of garnering the information of rival businesses and markets is called Competitive Intelligence (CI). Collecting actionable information from various sources, explicit and implicit, to analyze and formulate feasible sales strategies.
It directly helps the Top Management, Sales Heads, and Sales Reps, to analyze the market and generate reports in the pecking order. It also gives a unique insight into the market and rival strategy and suggests actionable and far-reaching objectives.
CI amasses and sketches the blueprints of competitors’ sales – strategies, limits and delimits, strengths and weaknesses, customers, and geographical presence. It gives rudiment recommendations, to disintegrate and disrupt the rival’s sales. It reveals how vendors, suppliers, and distributors can be dislodged and influence the key players and stakeholders.
CI aims to prevent businesses from being caught off guard. It guides to execute better-informed decisions and enhance organizational performance by discovering risks and opportunities. In the same way, the nature of Sales Using competitive intelligence varies from industry to industry and geographical areas.
Types of sales using Competitive Intelligence
Sales using Competitive Intelligence activities are categorized into two groups, Tactical Intelligence, and Strategic Intelligence.
Tactical intelligence is for a short-term approach, which influences increasing sales, market share, and revenues. Whereas, Strategic intelligence focuses on long-term issues like key risks and opportunities faced by the company.
Sales using Competitive Intelligence is Not Corporate Espionage
Sales using Competitive intelligence is not corporate or industrial espionage, neither it adapts nor advocates any illegal and unethical methods for competitive advantage. In the technology era of present-day, substantial but fragmentary information of the companies are available online, but sales using Competitive intelligence is to reach beyond such parameters to provide the reticent information.
Simple Competitive Intelligence Methods of Corporate Reconnaissance
Anticipating something, knowing beforehand what your rivals are up to, is a skillful way to be fortified. Forewarning what your competitor is doing so that you can realign your sales strategy. You can plan your tactical moves based on strategical information gathered. Additionally, corporate reconnaissance will benefit all the departments in the firm, the most benefited will be the sales.
Scope Of Sales using Competitive Intelligence And Areas To Be Covered
Sales using Competitive Intelligence covers under-wrap areas of business, and various resources are accessed to collect the information. The fiefdom related to the firm like news & media, customers, competitors, vendors, industry experts, and private and public records are researched. It also pursues the stakeholders, distributors, suppliers, and rivals.
Press & Media
Information about any company is easily available publicly. The real deal is collecting the information and analyzing it, which is the game-changer. Thus, both printed and digital media can be used to ascertain the rival’s sales strategy and future restructuring road map.
Product & Brand Demand Among Customers
Descriptive statistics and surveys are designed to access the customers’ emotional responses to the brand of your rival and its weak and strong points. This will give you the right footing to pitch the sales of your product. Consumer decision process research can highlight, what motivates your customers to buy, and what decision-making process they use.
Market Research To Determine The Price
Conjoint analysis and Statistical techniques & various pricing researches are used to determine, how people value your rival’s product.
Price lists and other sources of information are used to determine the prices of competitors’ products and services. This information serves as the benchmark against your products.Hence, a competitor price study will determine whether your product is over-priced or under-priced.
Competitor Evaluation
One of the most challenging areas of research is competitor insight. It is very valuable information if Senior Management can share this information. To gain access and liaison with the elite management group to gather information is done by research and intelligence means. Thus, Mystery Shopping is one of the crucial tools of research to gather this critical information.
Customer’s Interpretation And Views
Customers can shed the most valuable and unbiased information of the competitor. Hence, if they are persuaded rightly then fair judgment can be obtained.
Vendors and Distributors Are the Key-players
Vendors, distributors, and suppliers are the real nerve centers of any industry. They have in-depth knowledge of the industry, market, industry gossip, financial turmoil in the industry. Also, administrative directives affect any particular firm or the industry as a whole.
Output Of Competitor Intelligence Studies
SCIP (Strategic & Competitive Intelligence Professionals) is the global community of choice for professionals who collect, synthesize and use intelligence to make critical decisions. It advocates for the professional use of intelligence to enhance business decision-making and organizational performance.
Understanding the competitor, their anticipatory moves, and foresight is the real key to the success of CI. Therefore, any sales team well armored with rival’s information will have a competitive edge.
Toolyt, as leaders in Sales Productivity Automation System, can make your Sales using Competitive Intelligence sales process easy by giving you seamless insight and tracking your relationships with the customers and competitors.
The user-friendly mobile App guides the salesperson to complete the sales process easily and professionally. Intrinsic alters and reports to the Management will give the prevision of the industry, happenings, and preparedness for better sales strategy.
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