competitor research competitor research… … is the practice of researching and analysing your...
TRANSCRIPT
Competitor research
Competitor research…
… is the practice ofresearching and analysingyour business competitors
It can involve pretending tobe a competitor’s customer –but it’s not spying
- You can make better planning decisions
- You can target competitors’ weaknesses
- You can identify your own weaknesses and improve them
Benefits of knowing your competitors:
Methods of competitor research:
- Research website- Survey own customers- Test customer experience:
- Phoning - Mystery shopper
- Research public records - Buy industry reports
Choose them by similarities in target markets between your own company and your competitors, not by broad product categories…
… Drive-throughs and five-star restaurants don’t share target customers, for example
Step one: Identify competitors
Step two: Define parameters
What questions do you need answered? For example…-What are they good at?-What are they bad at?-How long does it take to be served?
Step three: Plan your tactics
- Create customer surveys
- Prepare phone scripts- Find mystery shoppers
and brief them- Automate web research
with alerts
Step four: Maintain records
Follow up research on a regular basis and update records as new information is found