Competitive Intelligence & Market Opportunity Assessment
Services & Software
The Competitive Intelligence Project...
Our competitive intelligence projects develop a comprehensive analysis of the client's primary competitors (competitor profiles) so that the information can be used by the client as a tool to help them develop competitive business, sales and marketing, product development and management, merchandising, and service and support strategies and programs that will strengthen their overall market position and enable them to gain market share. These studies follow a set methodology and produce a set of deliverables that provide data and analysis that enable the client to...
- Develop effective sell-against strategies
- Develop more precise positioning and value propositions for their products and services
- Determine and prioritize product features and functions
- Adjust / fine-tune their product road maps
- Adjust / optimizing their pricing
- Make better informed by versus build decisions
- Explore alternative technology architectures and infrastructures
- Evaluate quality metrics against their competition
- Determine appropriate investments in staffing and training
We develop a thorough competitor profile...The steps in the process that we follow include developing a comprehensive profile of each of the competitors and their offers, as well as a market assessment. The profile analysis typically covers the following areas, but may be altered depending on the client's industry:
- SWOT analysis
- Key sell-against strategy points
- Sales figures for the past 1-2 years (depending on availability of data)
- Key customers
- Recent wins
- 3-year plan
- Customer satisfaction
- Consulting, service and support
- Technology platforms, manufacturing processes
- Merchandising
- Product marketing
- Offering strategy
- Pricing strategy and practices
- Product feature and functions
- Value proposition
- Messaging about themselves
- Competitor's messaging about the client
- International presence
- Key markets
- Key points of differentiation
The Market Opportunity Assessment Project...
The purpose of the market opportunity assessment is to develop an understanding of the market opportunity that exists for your products / services / solutions in the marketplace. The assessment will provide a picture of where the industry is headed, what the short term and long term demand for your products and services will be and make recommendations for your organization to take advantage of these trends and opportunities. The market assessment will determine:
- What are the market’s perceptions of your organization and your existing products / services / solutions?
- How do customers and prospects perceive your organization's offerings versus competitor’s offerings?
- What do customers want in terms of products / services / solutions?
- What are the current drivers and motivators for obtaining these products / services / solutions?
- What are the future drivers and motivators for obtaining these products / services / solutions?
- What are the unmet market and customer needs?
- What is the current and future demand for these products / services / solutions?
- What is the size and what is the growth rate of this segment?
- What product / service offering does your organization need to develop and offer to this audience to attract a larger percentage of the marketplace?
- What are the market and industry trends affecting the purchase of your products / services / solutions in the marketplaces?
- What are buyers spending on these products / services / solutions?
- What opportunities exist for your organizations existing products / services / solutions?
- Are there opportunities for your organization to create new product offerings / services / solutions?
- Are there opportunities for expansion into new markets and market areas?
- What products / services / solutions does your organization have to develop to attract new customers both domestically and internationally?
- How can your organization motivate prospects to buy your product / services / solution offerings?
- What are the product and service requirements of the marketplace, both short and long term?
- What opportunities exist for creating and establishing partnerships and alliances?
Methodology...
The Competitive Intelligence Project and the Market Opportunity Assessment Project can be combined or done separately depending on your needs. The projects combine primary and secondary research and information from both internal and external sources. The first step in the project is developing a detailed list of factors/characteristics that will be the used in the analysis. This list is submitted to the client for revisions and approval.
Deliverables...
The analysis includes: a profile of each competitor; an assessment of the competitors and the client's strengths and weaknesses along with a ranking of those factors; how well each organization is prepared to deal with threats and opportunities within the marketplace; each organization’s overall new customer acquisition and retention strategies; business and marketing practices; competitive trends; and a financial analysis and comparison (where data is available).
It identifies potential weaknesses in competitor’s strategies and strategies and programs that the client can capitalize on and identify points of vulnerability within the client’s business model, strategies and programs with recommendations for corrective actions that could be undertaken.
It includes an outlook of the client's marketplace including trends, opportunities for growth, growth areas, and other factors that may have an impact on the client’s business strategies.
It will also identify customer perceptions vis-à-vis the marketplace and each of the organizations in the study.
For more information on our competitive intelligence and market opportunity assessment services, call (651) 315-7588 or click this link to email us today. References will be supplied upon request. Our client's for these studies range from startups to Fortune 500 companies across a wide range of industry sectors.
