Competitor Research

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Competitor research…

… is the practice ofresearching and analysingyour business competitors

It can involve pretending tobe a competitor’s customer –but it’s not spying

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- 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:

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Methods of competitor research:

- Research website- Survey own customers- Test customer experience:

- Phoning - Mystery shopper

- Research public records - Buy industry reports

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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

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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?

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Step three: Plan your tactics

- Create customer surveys

- Prepare phone scripts- Find mystery shoppers

and brief them- Automate web research

with alerts

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Step four: Maintain records

Follow up research on a regular basis and update records as new information is found

Find Out More

Facebook.com/business.govt.nzTwitter.com/business_govtNZLinkedin.com/company/business-govt-nzSlideshare.net/MED-Business business.govt.nz