Where to start with competitive intelligence by octopus

1. Where to start with a
Competitive Intelligence Project

3. Contents
Why are you looking to do it? 4
The big questions 5
Who should be invovled 6
Before you start 7
Competition 11
Markets 12
Engagement 13
Questions 14
Actions 15
Structure 16
Future actions 18
and finally 19
We are octopus 20

4. Why are you looking to do Competitive
Intelligence?
Be clear in what is it you are looking for and what you are
looking to ultimately achieve.
Create focus and enhance your chances of success by
defining the problem you wish to solve.
It’s not as simple as collecting all the information you have
on your rivals. All you get is data (history), snowed under
with very little direction as to what to do with it.
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5. The big questions
The initial euphoria of collecting so much good information
is replaced by frustration. To be specific questions to answer
include:
• Why do you need to know the intelligence?
• How will you use the results?
• Who will use the intelligence?
• What actions do you want to achieve?
• When do you want to know the information?
Have a deadline.
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6. Who should be involved?
Contributing to Competitive Intelligence should be part of
every member of the team’s job. They need to be aware of the
importance of intelligence and given guidance as the type of
information that may be useful.
Processes must be in place to assist them. Despite it been
everyone’s responsibility there needs to be a high profile
senior individual tasked with specific responsibility for the
success of Competitive Intelligence.
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7. Before you start
Competitive Intelligence is not just for rich PLCs. Every
business has to engage in it, but most companies do it
without conscious commitment or planning.
The starting points for Competitive Intelligence that delivers
the maximum impact are:
1. Awareness that such a well developed discipline, just like the
marketing team and the accounts team exits.
2. Appreciation of its potential value and placing it at the
heart of the decision making process rather than on the
sidelines.
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9. Before you start cont...
3. Willingness to devote resources rather than lip service to it
is a must.
It’s not just a case of buying fancy software and sitting back
and learning everything you need to know.
We recommend the following process to start any Competitive
Intelligence project
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11. Competition
Agree who you think your main direct and
indirect competitors are.
Page 11

12. Markets
What are the markets you are looking at? Are
they new markets or existing? Do you know
enough about them?
Page 12

13. Engagement
Define what you need to know and what
you will do with the intelligence within an
Intelligence Mission Statement.
Page 13

14. Questions
Agree on a set of Key Intelligence Questions
(and associated actions) which need answering.
Page 14

15. Actions
Once you have the Competitive Analysis,
what are you going to do
with it?
Page 15

16. Structure
Any Competitive Intelligence Agency worth their salt will work
on these questions to find the right Competitive Analysis for
you.
These questions will create structure, clarification, a focus,
reduced mission creep and a certainty that the relevant
intelligence has (or hasn’t) been found.
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18. Future activity
Introduce relevant ongoing monitoring, reporting and
structured analytical techniques to improve the Intelligence
Analysis.
Page 18

19. And finally...
At the same time, you will have the insight to develop a
more committed, knowledgeable and build deeper long-
term alliances and understand business sector decision
makers better.
Page 19

20. We are octopus
The Global Competitive Intelligence Agency
Get the better of your competitors and market
You can’t steal a lead on your competition if you don’t know where or who they are.
Nor can you meet market needs if you have no knowledge of what these are.
In our experience, too many companies find it too easy to dismiss competitors as
irrelevant. Others do not know their market well enough and are missing out on
business.
It’s a dangerous game to play. And it’s why our clients use our range of services to give
them the Competitive intelligence them need to act decisively, armed with meaningful
real-world knowledge. We can do the same for you.
• Turn threats into profit opportunities
• See inside your competitors’ worlds
• Minimise risk and make better decisions
• Create the products your customers want
• Get to know your market inside out
www.octopusintelligence.co.uk

21. Thank you for the
opportunity to impress
www.octopusintelligence.co.uk