Competitor Analysis (Page 4 of 6) in pdf

Answering the question 'what do we already know?' will help to inform the parameters you

set for the first question. It is important at an early stage to make sure you have pulled

together all the existing knowledge you have gathered from trade papers, websites etc,

plus the titbits gleaned through conversations with suppliers, sales people and so on - if

you decide to bring in an outside specialist you don't want to pay for information you

already have.

While there are additional sources of recorded information that can be explored

(such as commercial databases), speaking to people with inside knowledge is the

most effective way to penetrate beneath the facade of the competitor. According to

the information you want, these might include actual employees, ex-employees,

industry experts, suppliers, customers and so on. Gathering information in this way

is fraught with difficulties, and requires a creative mind and lateral thinking to

overcome obstacles and avoid detection. CA professionals will not give away the

tricks of the trade easily, but skilful interviewers are able to structure their

approach and frame their questions in such a way as to elicit huge amounts of

invaluable information.

Case study 1. Company A, the market leader in sales for a type of computer hardware,

was concerned over Company B’s aggressive pursuit of its market share. As a specialist

agency, The Business Advantage Group Plc was commissioned to investigate Company

B’s operations in several European countries, including their distribution models, profit

margins, strategies, strengths and weaknesses. Numerous people were ‘interviewed’ in

the information gathering exercise including Company B’s customer service personnel,

sales representatives, senior managers and telephonists. Their distributors and resellers

were also interviewed in depth. The resulting information and recommendations enabled

Company A to reshape its marketing strategy, and re-structure its pricing matrix to counter

Company B’s strengths and target their perceived weaknesses. Company A has since

started to see an increase in their market share.

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Competitor Analysis Page 4