ways to gather business intelligence

Gathering market research on your competition is easier than it seems. One of the most straightforward (if counterintuitive) ways to begin is to be your competitor’s customer.

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Ways to Gather Market Research on the Competition

If you want to conduct the research on your own, start by visiting their website. See how their shopping cart works. Sign up for their newsletters. Register for customer web forums and take a look at what other customers have to say about their experience.

Inc. Magazine rightly suggests that you could also consider having a knowledgeable colleague shop at your competitor’s for you. Just make sure you’re clear about what you need them to report on. If that doesn’t work, you might also think about interviewing your own customers (who you know are also already doing some business with your competitor) to get an idea of whether they would buy similar types of products or services from you. Do what you have to do to get the data you need (but do it legally).

While conducting market research on the competition, don’t make the mistake of drinking your own kool-aid and thinking they’re dumb but lucky, bound to be pushed aside by you when your plan comes together. They’re already set up with a business plan, marketing strategy, supply chain and a product that people are already buying. You’re only able to access a lot of information because of their success – so be very clear about what it is that they’re doing right. Ultimately, you’re going to have to do it better than them.

In the long run, you’ll want to conduct formal in-depth surveys via library databases, the Internet and with other personal interviews with stakeholders external to the competitor, such as trade associations, other competitors, suppliers and sales channels.

If you find out after the market research process that the competition has got a market position you can’t beat with the resources, timeline or expertise you have on hand, don’t be discouraged. Reexamine your strategy for entering the market and re-focus your competitive edge. If you still come up with nothing and decide that your competitor has too much of an established position, at least you’ve saved yourself from throwing everything you’ve got – including your investors’ capital – at a brick wall.

Hopefully, your research into the competition will yield critical business intelligence that you can use to make your business model work. If you discover your competitor’s customers are unhappy with customer service, maybe that’s where you can compete. Perhaps they’ve been asking for years for functionality that your competitor hasn’t met – and you’ve got just the app extension to convert those customers into your own clients. Look for competitive advantage – and when the time comes, use it.