Competitive Intelligence in Armenia | MARKETING IN ARMENIA
- In-depth study of major competitors.
- Development of a company development strategy based on competitive intelligence data.
- Consultations on the organization of a competitive intelligence service in a company.
- Consultations on organizing the collection, systematization and use of information about competitors and the competitive environment.
The concept of competition is a diagram of external factors of influence that carry both prospects and threats to the business.
Therefore, the concept of competitive intelligence should be extended not only to existing companies that sell similar products or services, but also potential competitors in the future, and also, in part, to suppliers and customers.
Information about counterparties can become a significant competitive advantage, and the extraction of insider information is a separate marketing task.
The purpose of competitive intelligence includes only the actual production of information, and not its analysis. The analysis is present only as a tool for extracting the necessary information from indirect data.
The tasks of competitive intelligence are an auxiliary information function to complement marketing analysis for strategic management purposes.
At the same time, it is always taken into account that opposing a competitor is preferable to copying it, because the "ahead” strategy in the long run is more profitable than the catch-up strategy. In addition, we must remember that each ruble taken from a competitor, in contrast to income from the development of unoccupied niches, not only brings extra income, but also takes away the competitor’s income, which weakens it in the competition. And competitive intelligence is most often aimed at strengthening the negative trends of a competitor, while the rest of the marketing is looking for new niches.
In some activities, the commercial collection of company information is an integral part of the business process, for example, in marketing, journalism, consulting and recruiting.
Competitive intelligence objectives:
Determining the true strategy of competitors to adjust their own strategy True strategy rarely coincides with the mission of the company. Understanding the direction of the trend line of a competitor's development makes it possible to determine how successful competition will be in this field of activity in the future. Perhaps you should speed up the project in the direction of the competitor's movement in order to occupy this field first, or perhaps you should not start a certain project, but use the resources to occupy another market niche.
Determining the potential of competitors (about their strengths and weaknesses) to adjust their own strategy A company can do one really good thing, and only one thing. Like it or not, the buyer believes in it. Therefore, knowledge of what competitors really do well is a warning against competition in this field and the decision to move efforts in another direction. Knowledge of weaknesses is necessary to discredit a competitor, especially if it is presented to them as a competitive advantage.
Identification of organizational, financial, technical and other ways to ensure competitive advantage for possible copying or neutralization. A way of doing business can be a significant competitive advantage. Parts of a set of measures or tools that make the production of a product or service cheaper or better are more often copyable, devaluing this very advantage. The list of these solutions is quite extensive and is called the general word "technology".
Evaluation of the total market capacity through the sum of competitor’s shares to assess the state of the industry by changing dynamics market. If the market capacity is reduced, and the sales volume is unchanged, then in the relative volume it is growing and we are doing everything right. The easiest way to determine the guaranteed market capacity upon the fact of the total sales of all market participants.
Assessment of the degree of profitability of the terms of cooperation with one or another supplier and buyer. Knowledge of the terms of supply and sales helps to correctly determine your own trading field with both. This is the most popular topic of competitive intelligence and exists, in one form or another, in every company.
The concept of competition is a diagram of external factors of influence that carry both prospects and threats to the business.
Therefore, the concept of competitive intelligence should be extended not only to existing companies that sell similar products or services, but also potential competitors in the future, and also, in part, to suppliers and customers.
Information about counterparties can become a significant competitive advantage, and the extraction of insider information is a separate marketing task.
The purpose of competitive intelligence includes only the actual production of information, and not its analysis. The analysis is present only as a tool for extracting the necessary information from indirect data.
The tasks of competitive intelligence are an auxiliary information function to complement marketing analysis for strategic management purposes.
At the same time, it is always taken into account that opposing a competitor is preferable to copying it, because the "ahead” strategy in the long run is more profitable than the catch-up strategy. In addition, we must remember that each ruble taken from a competitor, in contrast to income from the development of unoccupied niches, not only brings extra income, but also takes away the competitor’s income, which weakens it in the competition. And competitive intelligence is most often aimed at strengthening the negative trends of a competitor, while the rest of the marketing is looking for new niches.
In some activities, the commercial collection of company information is an integral part of the business process, for example, in marketing, journalism, consulting and recruiting.
Determining the potential of competitors (about their strengths and weaknesses) to adjust their own strategy A company can do one really good thing, and only one thing. Like it or not, the buyer believes in it. Therefore, knowledge of what competitors really do well is a warning against competition in this field and the decision to move efforts in another direction. Knowledge of weaknesses is necessary to discredit a competitor, especially if it is presented to them as a competitive advantage.
Identification of organizational, financial, technical and other ways to ensure competitive advantage for possible copying or neutralization. A way of doing business can be a significant competitive advantage. Parts of a set of measures or tools that make the production of a product or service cheaper or better are more often copyable, devaluing this very advantage. The list of these solutions is quite extensive and is called the general word "technology".
Evaluation of the total market capacity through the sum of competitor’s shares to assess the state of the industry by changing dynamics market. If the market capacity is reduced, and the sales volume is unchanged, then in the relative volume it is growing and we are doing everything right. The easiest way to determine the guaranteed market capacity upon the fact of the total sales of all market participants.
Assessment of the degree of profitability of the terms of cooperation with one or another supplier and buyer. Knowledge of the terms of supply and sales helps to correctly determine your own trading field with both. This is the most popular topic of competitive intelligence and exists, in one form or another, in every company.
In the consumer’s head is fixed one, or at most two, associations of the trademark and its defining quality. If Windows is the most versatile system, then competition in this field will require enormous financial resources. USP can be partially neutralized by adding a second one, which is an inherent disadvantage, for example, "constantly hangs”, or by contrasting the quality in a different plane - "Linux is a free operating system.” It is far from always that the USP is widely known - it may not coincide with the declared one. Windows UTP is a wide selection of compatible applications, secured by its monopoly position in the market, and it is the investigation of real UTP that is the subject of competitive intelligence.
Determining a competitor's pricing policy
The most common marketing tool is competitor price monitoring. The subject of exploration is not a price list, but a table of discount factors for it. In the b2b area, this is most often classified information, a carefully camouflaged system of individual discounts and bonuses. The smaller the client market, the more difficult it is to find out the prices, the more unique they are for each client. Competitive intelligence is especially important when participating in tenders.
Defining methods for promoting an activity or product
The distribution method, the organization of sales, can be copied, and the main and additional distribution channels are repulsed. The most successful payment schemes for sales representatives, discounts and remuneration systems, little-known distribution channels, new markets, the prospects of which have been proven with the funds of the marketing department of competitors, are all of interest.
Determining a competitor’s development line
What direction is the competitor most actively developing and why, is it worth fighting with him in this field, what he will easily "give up”, and what he will fight for "to the last bullet” - all you need to know when planning your own development strategy. Perhaps you are just about to get involved in vending machines for selling PIN codes, at which time staff has already been recruited to the same department of the largest Internet provider in your region. Does it make sense to fight?
Identification of the range of real competitive advantages
Knowing the strengths of a competitor allows, at least, avoiding stupidities when discrediting a competitor, directing efforts to obvious advantages. They should be nobly agreed and extolled and improved on the more important, from your point of view, benefits of cooperation.
Determining the circle of significant competitor weaknesses
This knowledge, especially little known to customers, impresses them when it is voiced. In addition, the weakness of a competitor, especially if it is inherent, is a field of development and promotion of one’s own advantage. "We have a shorter turn” - the classic parry of a small company versus a large one.
Knowing prices, deferred payments, the size of commodity lending and similar conditions for cooperation makes it possible to achieve conditions for themselves no worse than those of competitors, or, at least, determines the facet of competition opportunities
Determination of the terms and conditions of cooperation of counterparty buyers of a competitor
The same is true for customers. Buyers often, if not always, exaggerate the merits of working with your competitors to achieve the desired, not possible, conditions.
Determination of the terms and conditions of cooperation of counterparties of a competitor's service
Suppliers that serve the business of competitors, such as transport companies that provide communications, provide rental, affect the overall level of expenses. Surely among them there are very successful solutions that you yourself did not expect.
Identification of a group of key competitor counterparties
Knowledge of a group of competitor's key customers is necessary when planning your own sales. Usually they are not "encroached upon", for it is a war not for life but for death. But if the war suddenly started, this knowledge will also help to deliver the most powerful blow.
Identification of key persons of a competing organization and their real status
It happens that the director of the company decides little, and the fifty-fifth deputy influences the policy of the company. The definition of top personnel can help predict the future policy of a competitor, based on psychological characteristics, helps to better understand the boundaries of possible actions of a competitor. Impact on "agents of influence” is sometimes technically simpler and more effective than on the leadership of a competing firm.
Identification of external key support figures and the degree of their relationship
Identification of personalities supporting the competitor and providing him with administrative, financial and other resources allows us to know the boundaries of the competitor's capabilities and makes it possible to weaken or even destroy these ties. It even happens that everything "holds on” them, it is enough to quarrel them for the complete destruction of the competitor. To do this, you need to know the nature of this connection. The most stable ties are family ties, backed by mutual financial obligations.
Identification of sources of current competitor financing
The source of the initial capital and funds for development — bank loans, private loans, own investments — determines the competitor’s financial stability margin and, as a rule, clarifies the previous point.
The possibility of attracting additional loans, loans, and investments determines the financial capabilities of the competitor, which allows us to predict its development. The possibility or inability to borrow money on time can decide the outcome of both the battle and the entire war.
Determining the structure of income by type of activity or product
Determining the size and structure of revenue allows you to judge the stability, priorities and the main "food area" of a competitor. If the main income of the consulting company is brought by audit services, it can afford to advance the help of legal systems both at dumping prices and calmly part with this direction in the future.
Determination of cost structure by type of activity and product
The cost structure allows you to judge the methods of managing a competitor’s own resources, and, taking into account the previous paragraph, compare them with their own, determine the profitability of each competitor’s products. Competitor pricing is easy to predict with such information. High fixed costs of a competitor can thoroughly undermine him in the matter of price war.
Determining the profitability of activities or products
The effectiveness of the products allows a comparative analysis to improve their performance, and also shows the boundaries of the possibilities of competition. With a profitability of 15%, a competitor has the same discount threshold - then you know that he will work at a loss.
Determining the mechanism and structure of creating added value in the context of the enterprise economy
Knowing the nature and place of occurrence of added value, you can easily predict what a competitor will fight for most fiercely, where you can inflict maximum damage to him if necessary. For example, the main income of many enterprises in the West is the "inflated" stock exchange growth of the company's shares in the stock market, and not the profit of activity at all.
Defining the structure of business processes for creating added value
In what place and at what moment the greatest added value arises allows us to judge what the competitor will "hold on to”, what is well organized, and where are its weak points. You may easily be sold an oil refinery, but not gas stations. It must be remembered that in business, non-profitable areas become much more unprofitable than profitable.
Defining technical development plans for an activity or product
Identification of technical innovations, usually called industrial espionage, allows you to either copy or resist their appearance on the market. It is the theft of technical solutions, technologies and inventions that is most often called competitive intelligence.
Direct and indirect
Direct are methods for obtaining information of direct interest. For example, obtaining the sales volume from a quarterly report of a joint-stock company published in the media is a direct method.
An indirect method is a method of calculating an indicator of interest for others related to it. Most competitive intelligence methods are indirect, since indirect data is more accessible.
For example, the value of real profit is easily extracted from the official statement of cash flows, because revenue data are most often reliable, and expenses can be determined on the basis of common sense by calculating the necessary organizational resources and their market value.
Outdoor surveillance and penetration
External is observation without contact with representatives of a competitor, as they say, at a distance. Any method that uses contacts with members of a competing organization involves invading it. You won’t see much from a distance, so most of the methods of competitive intelligence are connected with obtaining information from competitor’s company employees under some specious pretext, more or less common in ordinary business life. Penetration is better, of course, to be carried out not by the forces of one’s own personnel, but by forces brought in by employees of consulting companies providing this type of service, or acquaintances, friends and relatives, at worst. In especially serious cases, it is advisable to residents from another city.
In a lie, a sense of proportion should be clearly observed.
All contacts are best made with tired intonation in the voice. Lazy-slowed speech makes it possible to hide interest and time for reflection if you are asked a question, the answer to which you have not thought out.
Competitive intelligence techniques:
A list of fundamentally possible methods and techniques is given below without description, since they are so diverse and their number is so great that a whole chapter can be devoted to each of them. Therefore, in order to save printing space, a detailed description has been removed.
Collection of information from open sources
Open sources - the print media, the Internet, various professional meetings, industry reports, and reports submitted to government bodies that are not trade secrets. The larger the object of competitive intelligence, the more information about it in open sources.
1.1. Analysis of advertising calls and open publications
1.2. Visiting exhibitions, industry conferences and seminars
1.3. Assessment of the volume, structure and cost of advertising costs
1.4. Collection and analysis of financial statements
1.5. Collection and analysis of industry marketing reports
Collection of proprietary information
The less known a competitor, the less information about him in open sources. Most often you have to look for information in the immediate vicinity of the competitor or directly from him.
Here a lot depends on the artistry of the "scout". The ability to inspire confidence, to provoke not the best feelings, vanity, in the first place, provides more than half the success.
2.1. General customer survey
2.2. General Supplier Survey
2.3. Collection of information from former employees
2.4. Collection of information from applicants
2.5. Collection of information from other competitors
2.6. Incomplete trial purchase
2.7. Completed trial purchase
2.8. Organization of attempts to cooperate or cooperate on their own behalf
2.9. Organization of cooperation attempts under the guise of a potential supplier
2.10. Organization of cooperation attempts under the guise of a service provider
2.11. Survey of a competitor in the guise of marketing research
2.12. Provocation of a competitor's employee with an address issue on a forum on the Internet
2.13. Information gathering under the guise of a job seeker
2.14. Organization and maintenance of acquaintance with a third-party competitor’s employee
2.15. Using anonymous Internet dating with an employee of a competing organization Starting from this point, the implementation of techniques makes sense if very, very significant amounts are at stake. Only interests of millions of "non-Russian” rubles can justify costs of several thousand dollars.
2.16. Organization of cooperation under the guise of a service provider on behalf of a third company
2.17. Organizing an attempt to merge on your own behalf
2.18. Arrangement of an investment attempt (full or partial purchase of a competitor’s business) from a third party
Methods starting from paragraph 19 violate both the Laws "On Commercial Secrets", "On Banking Activities", "On Police", "On Public Service", and the criminal code regarding invasion of private privacy, illegal entry into premises, illegal access to information systems, abuse of authority, illegal business activities, as well as more serious crimes related to recruitment - blackmail, the threat of violence, bribery.
Therefore, these methods are given for educational purposes, as well as the organization of counteraction and their use is strongly
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Competitive Intelligence in Armenia
Having complete information about their competitors and the competitive environment, company managers and specialists will be able to develop a development strategy that can quickly bring the company to a level higher than their competitors.
Further systematic competitive intelligence will allow the company to maintain a leading position in its market by promptly responding to the slightest changes in the market situation. Analysis of information about competitors and the competitive environment allows managers and specialists to act ahead of their competitors and make decisions that only increase the competitiveness of the company, excluding the adoption of decisions that lead to the loss of their market positions.Specialists of the "Focus Media Group" agency carry out the following types of main works in this area:
- Competitive intelligence - the collection and analysis of information about competitors and the competitive environment.- In-depth study of major competitors.
- Development of a company development strategy based on competitive intelligence data.
- Consultations on the organization of a competitive intelligence service in a company.
- Consultations on organizing the collection, systematization and use of information about competitors and the competitive environment.
Competitive intelligence is a marketing tool for studying the competitive environment, which is a focused collection of information about competitors for making management decisions on further strategy and tactics of doing business.
The concept of competition is a diagram of external factors of influence that carry both prospects and threats to the business.
Therefore, the concept of competitive intelligence should be extended not only to existing companies that sell similar products or services, but also potential competitors in the future, and also, in part, to suppliers and customers.
Information about counterparties can become a significant competitive advantage, and the extraction of insider information is a separate marketing task.
The purpose of competitive intelligence includes only the actual production of information, and not its analysis. The analysis is present only as a tool for extracting the necessary information from indirect data.
The tasks of competitive intelligence are an auxiliary information function to complement marketing analysis for strategic management purposes.
At the same time, it is always taken into account that opposing a competitor is preferable to copying it, because the "ahead” strategy in the long run is more profitable than the catch-up strategy. In addition, we must remember that each ruble taken from a competitor, in contrast to income from the development of unoccupied niches, not only brings extra income, but also takes away the competitor’s income, which weakens it in the competition. And competitive intelligence is most often aimed at strengthening the negative trends of a competitor, while the rest of the marketing is looking for new niches.
In some activities, the commercial collection of company information is an integral part of the business process, for example, in marketing, journalism, consulting and recruiting.
Competitive intelligence objectives:
Determining the true strategy of competitors to adjust their own strategy True strategy rarely coincides with the mission of the company. Understanding the direction of the trend line of a competitor's development makes it possible to determine how successful competition will be in this field of activity in the future. Perhaps you should speed up the project in the direction of the competitor's movement in order to occupy this field first, or perhaps you should not start a certain project, but use the resources to occupy another market niche.
Determining the potential of competitors (about their strengths and weaknesses) to adjust their own strategy A company can do one really good thing, and only one thing. Like it or not, the buyer believes in it. Therefore, knowledge of what competitors really do well is a warning against competition in this field and the decision to move efforts in another direction. Knowledge of weaknesses is necessary to discredit a competitor, especially if it is presented to them as a competitive advantage.
Identification of organizational, financial, technical and other ways to ensure competitive advantage for possible copying or neutralization. A way of doing business can be a significant competitive advantage. Parts of a set of measures or tools that make the production of a product or service cheaper or better are more often copyable, devaluing this very advantage. The list of these solutions is quite extensive and is called the general word "technology".
Evaluation of the total market capacity through the sum of competitor’s shares to assess the state of the industry by changing dynamics market. If the market capacity is reduced, and the sales volume is unchanged, then in the relative volume it is growing and we are doing everything right. The easiest way to determine the guaranteed market capacity upon the fact of the total sales of all market participants.
Assessment of the degree of profitability of the terms of cooperation with one or another supplier and buyer. Knowledge of the terms of supply and sales helps to correctly determine your own trading field with both. This is the most popular topic of competitive intelligence and exists, in one form or another, in every company.
Tasks of competitive intelligence:
Competitive intelligence most often solves the problem of finding out very specific indicators and circumstances, most often, taking the form of a management order to "find out - and how is it with them? Why can they, and we can’t?” ours, in three shifts seven days a week, by illegal emigrants, thereby reducing the share of overhead costs in various ways.Competitive intelligence is a marketing tool for studying the competitive environment, which is a focused collection of information about competitors for making management decisions on further strategy and tactics of doing business.The concept of competition is a diagram of external factors of influence that carry both prospects and threats to the business.
Therefore, the concept of competitive intelligence should be extended not only to existing companies that sell similar products or services, but also potential competitors in the future, and also, in part, to suppliers and customers.
Information about counterparties can become a significant competitive advantage, and the extraction of insider information is a separate marketing task.
The purpose of competitive intelligence includes only the actual production of information, and not its analysis. The analysis is present only as a tool for extracting the necessary information from indirect data.
The tasks of competitive intelligence are an auxiliary information function to complement marketing analysis for strategic management purposes.
At the same time, it is always taken into account that opposing a competitor is preferable to copying it, because the "ahead” strategy in the long run is more profitable than the catch-up strategy. In addition, we must remember that each ruble taken from a competitor, in contrast to income from the development of unoccupied niches, not only brings extra income, but also takes away the competitor’s income, which weakens it in the competition. And competitive intelligence is most often aimed at strengthening the negative trends of a competitor, while the rest of the marketing is looking for new niches.
In some activities, the commercial collection of company information is an integral part of the business process, for example, in marketing, journalism, consulting and recruiting.
Competitive intelligence objectives:
Determining the true strategy of competitors to adjust their own strategy True strategy rarely coincides with the mission of the company. Understanding the direction of the trend line of a competitor's development makes it possible to determine how successful competition will be in this field of activity in the future. Perhaps you should speed up the project in the direction of the competitor's movement in order to occupy this field first, or perhaps you should not start a certain project, but use the resources to occupy another market niche.Determining the potential of competitors (about their strengths and weaknesses) to adjust their own strategy A company can do one really good thing, and only one thing. Like it or not, the buyer believes in it. Therefore, knowledge of what competitors really do well is a warning against competition in this field and the decision to move efforts in another direction. Knowledge of weaknesses is necessary to discredit a competitor, especially if it is presented to them as a competitive advantage.
Identification of organizational, financial, technical and other ways to ensure competitive advantage for possible copying or neutralization. A way of doing business can be a significant competitive advantage. Parts of a set of measures or tools that make the production of a product or service cheaper or better are more often copyable, devaluing this very advantage. The list of these solutions is quite extensive and is called the general word "technology".
Evaluation of the total market capacity through the sum of competitor’s shares to assess the state of the industry by changing dynamics market. If the market capacity is reduced, and the sales volume is unchanged, then in the relative volume it is growing and we are doing everything right. The easiest way to determine the guaranteed market capacity upon the fact of the total sales of all market participants.
Assessment of the degree of profitability of the terms of cooperation with one or another supplier and buyer. Knowledge of the terms of supply and sales helps to correctly determine your own trading field with both. This is the most popular topic of competitive intelligence and exists, in one form or another, in every company.
Tasks of competitive intelligence:
Competitive intelligence most often solves the problem of finding out very specific indicators and circumstances, most often, taking the form of a management order to "find out - and how is it with them? Why can they, and we can’t?” ours, in three shifts seven days a week, by illegal emigrants, thereby reducing the share of overhead costs in various ways.
In the consumer’s head is fixed one, or at most two, associations of the trademark and its defining quality. If Windows is the most versatile system, then competition in this field will require enormous financial resources. USP can be partially neutralized by adding a second one, which is an inherent disadvantage, for example, "constantly hangs”, or by contrasting the quality in a different plane - "Linux is a free operating system.” It is far from always that the USP is widely known - it may not coincide with the declared one. Windows UTP is a wide selection of compatible applications, secured by its monopoly position in the market, and it is the investigation of real UTP that is the subject of competitive intelligence.
Determining a competitor's pricing policy
The most common marketing tool is competitor price monitoring. The subject of exploration is not a price list, but a table of discount factors for it. In the b2b area, this is most often classified information, a carefully camouflaged system of individual discounts and bonuses. The smaller the client market, the more difficult it is to find out the prices, the more unique they are for each client. Competitive intelligence is especially important when participating in tenders.
Defining methods for promoting an activity or product
The distribution method, the organization of sales, can be copied, and the main and additional distribution channels are repulsed. The most successful payment schemes for sales representatives, discounts and remuneration systems, little-known distribution channels, new markets, the prospects of which have been proven with the funds of the marketing department of competitors, are all of interest.
Determining a competitor’s development line
What direction is the competitor most actively developing and why, is it worth fighting with him in this field, what he will easily "give up”, and what he will fight for "to the last bullet” - all you need to know when planning your own development strategy. Perhaps you are just about to get involved in vending machines for selling PIN codes, at which time staff has already been recruited to the same department of the largest Internet provider in your region. Does it make sense to fight?
Identification of the range of real competitive advantages
Knowing the strengths of a competitor allows, at least, avoiding stupidities when discrediting a competitor, directing efforts to obvious advantages. They should be nobly agreed and extolled and improved on the more important, from your point of view, benefits of cooperation.
Determining the circle of significant competitor weaknesses
This knowledge, especially little known to customers, impresses them when it is voiced. In addition, the weakness of a competitor, especially if it is inherent, is a field of development and promotion of one’s own advantage. "We have a shorter turn” - the classic parry of a small company versus a large one.
Determination of the terms and conditions of cooperation of counterparty suppliers-competitors
Knowing prices, deferred payments, the size of commodity lending and similar conditions for cooperation makes it possible to achieve conditions for themselves no worse than those of competitors, or, at least, determines the facet of competition opportunities
Determination of the terms and conditions of cooperation of counterparty buyers of a competitor
The same is true for customers. Buyers often, if not always, exaggerate the merits of working with your competitors to achieve the desired, not possible, conditions.
Determination of the terms and conditions of cooperation of counterparties of a competitor's service
Suppliers that serve the business of competitors, such as transport companies that provide communications, provide rental, affect the overall level of expenses. Surely among them there are very successful solutions that you yourself did not expect.
Identification of a group of key competitor counterparties
Knowledge of a group of competitor's key customers is necessary when planning your own sales. Usually they are not "encroached upon", for it is a war not for life but for death. But if the war suddenly started, this knowledge will also help to deliver the most powerful blow.
Identification of key persons of a competing organization and their real status
It happens that the director of the company decides little, and the fifty-fifth deputy influences the policy of the company. The definition of top personnel can help predict the future policy of a competitor, based on psychological characteristics, helps to better understand the boundaries of possible actions of a competitor. Impact on "agents of influence” is sometimes technically simpler and more effective than on the leadership of a competing firm.
Identification of external key support figures and the degree of their relationship
Identification of personalities supporting the competitor and providing him with administrative, financial and other resources allows us to know the boundaries of the competitor's capabilities and makes it possible to weaken or even destroy these ties. It even happens that everything "holds on” them, it is enough to quarrel them for the complete destruction of the competitor. To do this, you need to know the nature of this connection. The most stable ties are family ties, backed by mutual financial obligations.
Identification of sources of current competitor financing
The source of the initial capital and funds for development — bank loans, private loans, own investments — determines the competitor’s financial stability margin and, as a rule, clarifies the previous point.
The possibility of attracting additional loans, loans, and investments determines the financial capabilities of the competitor, which allows us to predict its development. The possibility or inability to borrow money on time can decide the outcome of both the battle and the entire war.
Determining the structure of income by type of activity or product
Determining the size and structure of revenue allows you to judge the stability, priorities and the main "food area" of a competitor. If the main income of the consulting company is brought by audit services, it can afford to advance the help of legal systems both at dumping prices and calmly part with this direction in the future.
Determination of cost structure by type of activity and product
The cost structure allows you to judge the methods of managing a competitor’s own resources, and, taking into account the previous paragraph, compare them with their own, determine the profitability of each competitor’s products. Competitor pricing is easy to predict with such information. High fixed costs of a competitor can thoroughly undermine him in the matter of price war.
Determining the profitability of activities or products
The effectiveness of the products allows a comparative analysis to improve their performance, and also shows the boundaries of the possibilities of competition. With a profitability of 15%, a competitor has the same discount threshold - then you know that he will work at a loss.
Determining the mechanism and structure of creating added value in the context of the enterprise economy
Knowing the nature and place of occurrence of added value, you can easily predict what a competitor will fight for most fiercely, where you can inflict maximum damage to him if necessary. For example, the main income of many enterprises in the West is the "inflated" stock exchange growth of the company's shares in the stock market, and not the profit of activity at all.
Defining the structure of business processes for creating added value
In what place and at what moment the greatest added value arises allows us to judge what the competitor will "hold on to”, what is well organized, and where are its weak points. You may easily be sold an oil refinery, but not gas stations. It must be remembered that in business, non-profitable areas become much more unprofitable than profitable.
Defining technical development plans for an activity or product
Identification of technical innovations, usually called industrial espionage, allows you to either copy or resist their appearance on the market. It is the theft of technical solutions, technologies and inventions that is most often called competitive intelligence.
Classification of methods:
Direct and indirect
Direct are methods for obtaining information of direct interest. For example, obtaining the sales volume from a quarterly report of a joint-stock company published in the media is a direct method.
An indirect method is a method of calculating an indicator of interest for others related to it. Most competitive intelligence methods are indirect, since indirect data is more accessible.
For example, the value of real profit is easily extracted from the official statement of cash flows, because revenue data are most often reliable, and expenses can be determined on the basis of common sense by calculating the necessary organizational resources and their market value.
Outdoor surveillance and penetration
External is observation without contact with representatives of a competitor, as they say, at a distance. Any method that uses contacts with members of a competing organization involves invading it. You won’t see much from a distance, so most of the methods of competitive intelligence are connected with obtaining information from competitor’s company employees under some specious pretext, more or less common in ordinary business life. Penetration is better, of course, to be carried out not by the forces of one’s own personnel, but by forces brought in by employees of consulting companies providing this type of service, or acquaintances, friends and relatives, at worst. In especially serious cases, it is advisable to residents from another city.
In a lie, a sense of proportion should be clearly observed.
All contacts are best made with tired intonation in the voice. Lazy-slowed speech makes it possible to hide interest and time for reflection if you are asked a question, the answer to which you have not thought out.
Competitive intelligence techniques:
A list of fundamentally possible methods and techniques is given below without description, since they are so diverse and their number is so great that a whole chapter can be devoted to each of them. Therefore, in order to save printing space, a detailed description has been removed.
Collection of information from open sources
Open sources - the print media, the Internet, various professional meetings, industry reports, and reports submitted to government bodies that are not trade secrets. The larger the object of competitive intelligence, the more information about it in open sources.
1.1. Analysis of advertising calls and open publications
1.2. Visiting exhibitions, industry conferences and seminars
1.3. Assessment of the volume, structure and cost of advertising costs
1.4. Collection and analysis of financial statements
1.5. Collection and analysis of industry marketing reports
Collection of proprietary information
The less known a competitor, the less information about him in open sources. Most often you have to look for information in the immediate vicinity of the competitor or directly from him.
Here a lot depends on the artistry of the "scout". The ability to inspire confidence, to provoke not the best feelings, vanity, in the first place, provides more than half the success.
2.1. General customer survey
2.2. General Supplier Survey
2.3. Collection of information from former employees
2.4. Collection of information from applicants
2.5. Collection of information from other competitors
2.6. Incomplete trial purchase
2.7. Completed trial purchase
2.8. Organization of attempts to cooperate or cooperate on their own behalf
2.9. Organization of cooperation attempts under the guise of a potential supplier
2.10. Organization of cooperation attempts under the guise of a service provider
2.11. Survey of a competitor in the guise of marketing research
2.12. Provocation of a competitor's employee with an address issue on a forum on the Internet
2.13. Information gathering under the guise of a job seeker
2.14. Organization and maintenance of acquaintance with a third-party competitor’s employee
2.15. Using anonymous Internet dating with an employee of a competing organization Starting from this point, the implementation of techniques makes sense if very, very significant amounts are at stake. Only interests of millions of "non-Russian” rubles can justify costs of several thousand dollars.
2.16. Organization of cooperation under the guise of a service provider on behalf of a third company
2.17. Organizing an attempt to merge on your own behalf
2.18. Arrangement of an investment attempt (full or partial purchase of a competitor’s business) from a third party
Methods starting from paragraph 19 violate both the Laws "On Commercial Secrets", "On Banking Activities", "On Police", "On Public Service", and the criminal code regarding invasion of private privacy, illegal entry into premises, illegal access to information systems, abuse of authority, illegal business activities, as well as more serious crimes related to recruitment - blackmail, the threat of violence, bribery.
Therefore, these methods are given for educational purposes, as well as the organization of counteraction and their use is strongly
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