Why Your Company Needs Competitive Intelligence

Published: August 21, 2019

No matter what your industry is, you are continually facing new challenges and new competition. The market is constantly changing, which is why you need competitive intelligence (CI) to stay ahead of the pack. What is competitive intelligence, though, and why do you need it to succeed in today’s world?

Why Your Company Needs Competitive Intelligence - Benefits of CI

What Is Competitive Intelligence?

Competitive intelligence is another term for market intelligence or research into your competitive landscape. Utilizing CI means you’re looking at your competitors as well as their operational, organizational and commercial practices to give you the tools to make informed decisions for your business.

CI makes it easier to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your competition, which improves your business intelligence. CI can also help you anticipate their next moves, analyze their customer base and compare it to your own, as well as stay ahead of new market trends.

What Are the Benefits of Competitive Intelligence?

First, CI removes all of the guesswork from your business. You don’t have to guess about your competitors or what the industry is doing because you’ll have accurate facts on hand. Having up-to-date information at your fingertips means you have everything you require to guide your company through any upcoming changes you’ll need to make to stay ahead of industry trends.

CI also improves your decision-making ROI, helping you to close any gaps you might find in your business. For new product and services, CI helps you improve your time to market, market-entry and market defense — which can secure a successful product launch.

In an ever-changing market, having the ability to predict your competitor’s behaviors can give you that edge and allow you to even beat them to the punch if they’re planning something new that might set them apart.

CI also helps you improve your marketing efforts and can even help you make better business decisions. Having concise, accurate information gives you all the tools you could possibly need to make data-backed choices that will help your company thrive well into the future.

What Does a Timeline of Competitive Intelligence Look Like?

CI starts with aggregation. The investigative campaign targets specific concerns, and then those concerns are compiled to help provide insight. This is where you’ll decide what you’re really concerned about. If you’re looking for industry trends or competitor data, CI will start by collecting as much accurate info as possible. The data collected will be split into two sets — micro and macro insights.

Next is synthesis. You’ll need to sort through the CI data and extract vital pieces of insight that will help you in the next step.

The final step is action. Now that you’ve got the most important pieces of information, you can create a milestone roadmap so you can close any performance gaps and repair any pain points while still growing your business. Having that information can mean the difference between success and failure in today’s incredibly competitive market.

What Companies Will Benefit the Most From Using CI?

The technology industry is constantly changing, sometimes faster than we can keep up. CI can help keep companies abreast of new industry trends, making it easier to stay ahead of the competition.

The healthcare industry, as well as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, can also benefit from CI. These industries provide services, but they’re also concerned about profit, industry trends and competition. It’s hard to succeed without the information that CI can provide.

Manufacturing, industrial sectors, consumer goods and financial services can all benefit from CI as well because they’re industries that are constantly in flux and are ultra-competitive.

The Importance of Competitive Intelligence

If you run a business in today’s world, even if you don’t work in one of the industries we’ve listed above, then you can likely benefit from CI. Competitive intelligence gives you the tools to make informed decisions, keeping you ahead of the competition and ahead of industry trends.

Contact us today to learn more about how CI could benefit your business.