Not everyone is a visionary.聽We can鈥檛 all see the forest when we鈥檙e focused on the very practical, day-to-day business of managing the trees.
That鈥檚 why聽we find a team of smart people with different strengths to advise, guide and correct us. And we listen to them.
That鈥檚 why we implement tools and workflows to capture and track market and competitive intelligence. And we pay attention to it.
That鈥檚 why we cultivate a culture of ownership and engagement among our teams and give them the tools to share and collaborate. And we reinforce it.
That鈥檚 what competitive intelligence is about.聽Together, the right people, the right information and the right tools make us stronger and smarter.聽
Make history, don鈥檛 be history
When things go well, it鈥檚 all back pat this and aren鈥檛 we clever that. We enjoy the moment and cast our eyes towards the next bit of happystance. Everyone wants their share and we鈥檙e happy to spread it 鈥榬ound. Winning, magnanimous us. But.
When things go bad we cast around frantically for someone or something to hide behind. Why? Why! We go back to the process map and the data, devoting resources to uncovering the fault. Rarely is there a smoking gun; a moment we can decisively point to as the one we went off the rails. We blame timing, big Government, small government, the Kardashians and鈥攎ost often, bad luck.
We never saw it coming. We shake our head, dismayed at this unexpected, unfortunate, turn of events. What could we have done? What should You have done?聽
Know the market
You need sunshine to sell lemonade. Whether you鈥檙e making聽something new or making something better, you鈥檒l want a clear picture of the space you鈥檙e moving in. This includes intel from customer surveys, regional analysis and existing product research.
The , not least of which is its rapid expansion based on鈥攚hat seems in hindsight鈥攍imited understanding of the market trends. Heavy bricks and mortar expansion, lack of an online infrastructure and brand, and over-investment in CDs and DVDs ultimately led to the shuttering of the company.
Know the customer
Buyer personas, journey, behaviours鈥ou probably know so much about your customers you could buy them a better birthday present than their family. You track where they go, what they do and when they do it; what they like, what they want, what they buy. You know how long it takes for them to decide and how long it takes until they come back for more.聽
In 2003, Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams turned down聽a $30 million offer from Google. Instead, he and a group of investors who聽were excited about the concept but lacked the basic understanding of the audience became what VC David L. Size calls an 鈥渋conic case of failure鈥�. Ouch.聽was unserved while competitors like MySpace integrated user content and built community.聽
Know the competition
There are many tools, APIs, sites and apps you can use to track your competitors. Google Alerts, Pocket, Evernote, keyword tools, content tracking platforms, social graphing, patent tracking, HR monitoring鈥ust to start. After you collect the data you need to curate it for relevance, timeliness and usability. Then, it needs to get the people who can use it best. The most valuable intel comes from customers who have experience with the competing product or pitch, so gather as much from them as you can.聽
It is both powerful and humbling to know that failure is no more a result of bad luck than success is of chance. When you do the work鈥攚hen you鈥檙e prepared鈥攚inning is no fluke.
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