Buying competitive intelligence doesn’t mean you have to be mugged off
This article suggests that buying competitive intelligence doesn’t mean you have to be mugged off. There are many benefits of using competitive intelligence in their business. It could be fantastic, and we have highlighted one or twenty on this website :-), but once they start, some will soon realise they may need help.
When the same old story again. All those tears shed in vain nothing learnt. And nothing gained. Only hope remains. But the same old story shows its head again.
The Farm
Big names
There’s a chance they will get their fingers burned. They may have previously used management consultants and researchers who provide nice-looking reports. You know, the expensive reports with a prestigious logo and many pie charts and graphs with no substance or insight but a six-figure bill. There is, of course, the other side of the coin with happy clients given an excellent service and end product. This is what we believe, by the way.
Disappointment
Our discussions with clients and prospects have made us realise many have been taken to the cleaners and sold a Timex for the price of a Rolex. So, not surprisingly, prospective clients can be wary, and we believe this is mainly due to a number of reasons, including:
Lack of experience
It’s not every day that a company asks a supplier to provide a quote for competitive intelligence. Some dont know what the end product could look like. It’s never just a lot of data with more data stacked on top. A competitive intelligence company must talk them through the process, what’s possible and what’s not. How to commence a project, and what to do before you should even consider starting.
Software
Others may sign up for a competitive intelligence software subscription and think they have solved their product. They soon realise that despite the benefits good competitive intelligence platform brings, they haven’t. So they have to start again.
Expectations
From the beginning, expectations for all sides must be clear. The prospective client must be aware of what’s possible and what’s impossible to achieve.
Limited focus
Don’t start a project until everything is defined and clear to everyone. For instance, we will happily talk to you for hours to get any potential project right. Your insight supplier must put the work in at the beginning.
Technology
A competitive intelligence agency should not just give you access to a platform and then let you get on with it. They must also do the work and dig around to find the answers. And yes, we use some technology but are never dependent on or blinded by it. You need people using tech to conduct secondary and primary research followed by analysis. Competitive intelligence agencies should never put a pie chart or a line graph into a report just as filler.
Buying competitive intelligence doesn’t mean you have to be mugged off
This article suggests that buying competitive intelligence doesn’t mean you have to be mugged off. So take time at the very beginning to define what you want to know and what decisions you want to make from the resultant insight that could be found. Create fabulous conversations to get the best return for their investment and trust in them.
We are Octopus, and we’re all about your real competitive advantage.
We are the global bespoke people-powered global competitive intelligence company creating the insight you can do something with.
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How to Keep Ahead of the Competition With Competitive Intelligence