Always feel someone is watching me

I attended an excellent networking lunch last week in Nottingham and I got into a conversation with a senior accountant about one of his clients.

The name of the client was of course not revealed but the accountant stated that they were suffering from rivals out competing them and being consistently one step ahead of the game.

They were out performing them, beating them to work and seemed to know everything they were doing.

No such thing as a coincidence

My first reaction is that it is likely their competitor is conducting some sort of Competitive Intelligence activity on them and the first priority is to look at their systems and communications to tighten up unintended information leaks.

If a competitor is growing faster than you, they appear to be more profitable and more innovative despite the general industry saying what they are doing is daft there must be more to it than a fabulous management team.

If they anticipate and respond quicker to industry changes and other competitor actions, if they counter your products very quickly, seem to know your pricing, launch their products just before yours, attack new markets with ease and manage to get the best people into their organisation the chances are they using Competitive Intelligence to some degree.

Never over react

I have not met this company yet (and may never do so) , but if I do rather than selling a Competitive Intelligence service to them I would recommend they act strategically in a calm and considered way.

I would ask them questions to ensure they are aware of their strategic battle ground and point them in the right direction to get to know their competitors better.

Internal examination

Before looking externally they must look at themselves to define their own strategies and determine what they are getting from them. What factors are affecting their strategies and these factors based on true facts or urban myths/ industry experience?

I would ask the company what are they are doing to understand, monitor and respond to their competitors actions and strategies.

External environment

Looking at their competitive external environment a number of questions would be asked to help them distinguish what’s really happening. Questions like: 

• What issues are facing your industry?
• What does your competitor appear to believe about its relative position? In terms of cost, product quality, technical sophistication
• What is the strategy of each competitor?
• How do they compete? Cost, speed, niche or service?
• What do they do better than anyone else (and you!)?
• Where are their weaknesses compared to others?
• Where are they similar to you and others in your industry?
• Who are their main customers?
• What business do they focus on and avoid (and claim not to do)?
• What are they doing that is interesting?
• Who are the key players in your competitors?
• What is your competitor’s annual revenue?
• How many people are employed? Is that the right level?
• Are their teams managed to achieve financial or human objectives? How does this affect the company?
• What skills are emphasised during recruitment?
• Is the company results orientated?

I would really love to conduct a War Game with this company challenging their thinking to help them understand their market place and where they fit within it.  They would gain a lot from the exercise.

Once they have a good picture of their competitive environment, the first stage of any Competitive Intelligence fight back is the isolation of what they actually want to know in detail about their competitors.

Graeme Dixon, Director of www.Cast:csi.co.uk  and www.aimstrategic.com one of the UK’s premier Competitive Intelligence practitioners.  

Based in Nottingham, he also runs a niche Recruitment company specialising in MBA level placements, sport, employability/training and Business Analysis professionals.

Midlands Chairman of the Association of MBAs, Graeme has nearly 10 years Military Intelligence and 14 years Professional Recruitment and Headhunting experience.