Benefits of Competitive intelligence for the company

The reasons why every company must implement a competitive intelligence system are multiple. Let us know what Competitive Intelligence is, what I can monitor with it, and what are its advantages in the company.

What is a Competitive Intelligence system?

Technology Watch is just one part of Competitive Intelligence, which is a broader concept. Keep in mind that you can find many related terms in the bibliography, such as competitive intelligence, strategic intelligence, technology watch, company intelligence ... and that many authors randomly exchange them and use them incorrectly. However, we will address that issue in the future.

You can find many definitions of Competitive Intelligence, either from individual authors or from professional organizations like SCIP. The one we like the most in Antara is derived from Wikipedia and is this:

“Competitive Intelligence is the action of defining, collecting, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, and any aspect of the environment; necessary to help make tactical and strategic decisions in an organization. "

Competitive Intelligence is a function within the company, as is Quality Control or Talent Management. Like these other functions, the Intelligence Function can be partially outsourced, but to do it correctly you will need Competitive Intelligence software such as Antara Mussol that allows you to integrate the information with the external consultant.

What can I monitor with Competitive Intelligence?

We can distinguish two perspectives: what I want to monitor and when I have to make a decision.

• What do I want to monitor? We can monitor the activities of competitors, customer interests, supplier launches, technology or emerging business models that may impact our business, new regulations that may affect us, etc.

• When do I have to make a decision? From this point of view, you can organize your Intelligence Objectives in three horizons: short, medium and long term. In the short term, you will focus on what leads you to immediate reactions (for example, identify potential customers to contact them immediately). In the medium term, you will focus on Strategic Intelligence: on following trends in your market, but especially in markets preceding yours. Those in which you know that solutions, products, or business models are launched first. When you consider advancing information for strategic decision making, you will carry out prospective, gathering information to review your long-term strategic plan.

What are the benefits of implementing a Competitive Intelligence system?

 The advantages that Competitive Intelligence brings to any company are multiple. These are the most important.

Reduce costs

In the first place, with good Competitive Intelligence software, we will reduce the costs of being well informed, capturing differential information, and integrating all the information and news providers in the sector. But the true cost reduction is based on minimizing risks thanks to early warnings and taking advantage of opportunities. For example, anticipating and monitoring market trends will allow us to prepare our plans. Being late is very expensive. Another example is the identification of potentially suitable partners to develop our projects. Choosing a bad partner for not having the correct information can be very expensive.

Strengthen sales

It is common to hear that "the sales team is very busy" and does not have time to monitor the market, to conduct market intelligence. However, any savvy salesperson knows that market intelligence is critical to boosting sales. For example, to guide sales initiatives towards the right prospect, or to reinforce your arguments, whether about technical, sustainability, or any kind of issues. Without forgetting the great impact of Competitive Intelligence in the preparation of attendance at fairs or in market research missions (in a post-COVID-19 scenario, of course, in which there will be international mobility again).

Just two days ago, Lee R., Category Sales Manager of a multinational company, wanted to subscribe to alerts from all other areas of the company that were using Antara Mussol: innovation, regulatory oversight, sustainability, news from other product categories, ... because he was clear that any relevant information in these areas would help him reinforce his sales strategy. I had to convince him to focus his thirst for information more since the excessive volume of information is counterproductive for the effectiveness of the Intelligence Function.

Drive innovation

Innovation and R&D are critical in an increasingly competitive and agile market. Technology watch is key to developing robust innovation in times of uncertainty. We should not launch any development project in the medium term without incorporating a task of technology watch and market intelligence throughout the project timetable. With technology watch, we can detect and incorporate new components or technology in our product or in the internal processes of the company. Monitoring the technology not only of our competitors, but also of suppliers, or new players in the market, is essential for our innovation project to achieve its objectives in the most efficient way possible. Beyond focusing on technology, strategic intelligence will allow us to identify and analyze new business models that may disrupt our market.

In addition, it turns out that Competitive Intelligence and Technology Watch are the largest and most qualified source of innovative ideas for the company.

Improved decision making

According to a global survey by the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, CEOs ask for Competitive Intelligence to be able to integrate employee knowledge when making decisions. It makes no sense to seek and incorporate the best possible talent if then that knowledge is not used in the form of intelligence analysis to support strategic decision-making. For this, we must rely on collaborative Competitive Intelligence software, which integrates the team. One of our international clients has calculated a positive impact of more than EUR 1 M in the first year of use of Antara's solutions, derived from the improvement in product and technology decision-making, and correct prioritization of projects.

Conclusions

The positive impact of the Intelligence Function can be extended to any area of ​​the company, reinforcing all of them with key information and early warnings that improve the performance of individuals and the entire organization.

 However, it is not convenient to implement Competitive Intelligence all at once throughout the organization, but rather to develop it step by step. But let us address this issue another day.