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Marketing & Competitive Intelligence FAQ
Identifying key competitors
We are a corporate long-term care pharmacy providing a prescription service for skilled nursing facilities, board and care, etc. How do we find out who are our direct competitors in our region and some significant marketing information on each?
One way you can approach this is as follows:
- Ask yourself what type of company would be a competitor. Are you only interested in long-term care pharmacies or in all pharmacies? What about suppliers to hospitals, hospices and similar organizations? What about suppliers to old age and convalescent homes?
- The next step will be to identify potential customers in the region and phone them to ask them about pharmacy vendors. I would also ask my customers the same questions, as this will give information as well. (Ideally, this should NOT be done by your organization, but by an independent company to ensure bias free answers. If the company has a prejudice for or against your company, you will not get good answers. An independent company should not need to divulge your name).
- Having a list of competitors, I would follow up with conventional competitor research. Get their annual reports. (Use company registries or company information providers). Look to see what is in the press about them. I would also try and get copies of marketing material - perhaps directly from the competitor.
- Finally I would also look at who is exhibiting in trade shows in my area - as these are potential competitors too, and collect information on these companies.
Using this kind of approach you can generally find out who your competitors are some basic information on each. However this will not generally tell you what they are going to do next, how they view you, or similar information. It also won't tell you about companies from outside your area (geographical or current business sector) who may be planning to move in - especially if they see it as a lucrative business target.
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Quick Tip
Quick Tip: Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Business Sins
1) Greed - Are you satisfied with what you've achieved or are you always seeking more, and never consolidating and strengthening what you currently have?
2) Opinion - Do you ever dismiss ideas without analysis? There have been many opportunities that were missed because opinionated management failed to see the wider picture.
3) Routine - Just because something worked in the past does not mean that it will continue to work in the future.
4) Emotion - Is the reason for your decision based on analysis, or emotion? Many managers are driven by their fears and desires without ever stopping to justify the reason for their fear or hatred or love. Often these prove to be unjustified and unjustifiable.
5) Ego - Do you make decisions because you are the cleverest, the biggest, the market leader? Are you obsessed with your own image and abilities? Many leaders in the past also thought that they were invincible. A quick look at history shows that they were not!
6) Success - Over-confidence is dangerous and can blind you to competitors seeking to emulate your success.
7) Hope - Can you justify your reasons why things will improve, or are you just burying your head in the sand, and refusing to see reality?
These seven deadly business sins are based on some work by Ben Gilad, one of the foremost Competitive Intelligence experts. Businesses need to understand their blindspots - what they would rather not see, and work to remove them. Each of these seven sins is a type of blindspot if it dominates the thinking within the company. It's OK to have each to a certain degree, balanced by the others. (All businesses need to believe in themselves, have hope, aim to make money....). The problem is when one aspect starts to govern the way things are done in the company, preventing rational and logical thought.
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Books - Art of the Long View
Recommended Book
The Art of the Long View
Peter Schwartz
Buy UK £ or US$
This is an excellent introduction and guide to scenario planning.
Read our review of this book
If there is one book that is head and shoulders above all the other on the subject of scenario planning, this is it. Schwartz's book is a joy to read and gives a tremendous introduction to the subject, leaving the reader with a firm grounding and understanding in the way that scenario planning has helped many companies gain competitive advantage in their industries. The text includes many case studies and anecdotes making it a must-read book. Peter Schwartz is not only one of the world's leading scenario planners - but an excellent writer also.
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