How to Use Competitive Intelligence to Gain an Advantage
How to Use Competitive Intelligence to Gain an Advantage
Snooping in business is legal, spying is not- it is a tin line. Who decides borders on that?
I guess-nobody, until one gets caught physically (as Toledo-based importer Gary Marck was ) or one’s consiousness blocks him from wrong doing.
Fact is that it is difficult to advance your business in today’s market without knowing what are your competitors are up to. Yes, competition rules the market and it makes organizations, producers, sellers and marketers to become more and more creative, to advance the quality, design, invention, convenience and price of their product or service to the max (and we as customers only win in this race).
But how does one know how far it has to go with creativity, strategy, expenses and all other production components if one has no knowledge about competitor’s achievements. It could be that you thought you went overboard by perfectionizing your product and it is ready to be released and it will bring all the public attention and success only to find out that your rival company has released something like that just a week ago!
This is what Qworky’s Mikal Lewis was able to avoid by getting information about his rival competitor and its almost ready to release application. Problem was, Mikal Lewis could not just find out about competitor’s plans from media or some good neighbor, he had to strategize information gathering and timing on how this information will be used to succeed against his rival. It was very intense process for him, but it paid off-his company released the application first. Not everybody is so lucky.
I agree with an article’s phrase “you are only as good as your sources” – it is nothing illegal to ask here and there for the insider’s information (as long as it is not so obvious, because the opposing company may do exactly same thing to you), but make sure your infomration is verified, truth to the source and your name will not be exposed on the opposite side
Snooping in business is legal, spying is not- it is a tin line. Who decides borders on that?
I guess-nobody, until one gets caught physically (as Toledo-based importer Gary Marck was ) or one’s consiousness blocks him from wrong doing.
Fact is that it is difficult to advance your business in today’s market without knowing what are your competitors are up to. Yes, competition rules the market and it makes organizations, producers, sellers and marketers to become more and more creative, to advance the quality, design, invention, convenience and price of their product or service to the max (and we as customers only win in this race).
But how does one know how far it has to go with creativity, strategy, expenses and all other production components if one has no knowledge about competitor’s achievements. It could be that you thought you went overboard by perfectionizing your product and it is ready to be released and it will bring all the public attention and success only to find out that your rival company has released something like that just a week ago!
This is what Qworky’s Mikal Lewis was able to avoid by getting information about his rival competitor and its almost ready to release application. Problem was, Mikal Lewis could not just find out about competitor’s plans from media or some good neighbor, he had to strategize information gathering and timing on how this information will be used to succeed against his rival. It was very intense process for him, but it paid off-his company released the application first. Not everybody is so lucky.
I agree with an article’s phrase “you are only as good as your sources” – it is nothing illegal to ask here and there for the insider’s information (as long as it is not so obvious, because the opposing company may do exactly same thing to you), but make sure your infomration is verified, truth to the source and your name will not be exposed on the opposite side