One of the keys to a company’s success is to understand your competition’s products or services as well as you do your own. This requires a constant need to gather information and ensure that you are regularly doing your homework on what your competition is up to. In today’s fast paced and ever changing business environment, the tools we use to gather this information have become more important than ever. This challenge can seem daunting while we try to juggle our overflowing inbox and our ever increasing list of daily tasks. Our natural response is to put this homework on the back burner or to tell ourselves that we are just too busy with more important items. By doing so, we may be missing out on a great opportunity to differentiate your product or service from the competition. Knowing the features and benefits of your product or service is important but it is only half the battle. We also need to know the strengths and weaknesses of our competitor’s products or services so we can highlight the areas where we have a competitive advantage.
Here are some resources that will make it easier for you to gather information on your competition and give you a competitive edge:
1. Google Alerts: sign up at http://www.google.com/alerts to receive alerts via email whenever your competition is in the news. This will push information to you so that you don’t have to go searching for it.
2. Listen to your competition’s quarterly earning calls. These earnings calls allow you to hear what the company’s corporate strategy is and often highlight new products or services. Schedules and transcripts can be found under the Investor Relation section of their web site. You can also locate them on various web sites. Here are a couple that I use:
· http://www.123jump.com/
· http://www.seekingalpha.com/
3. Purchase something from your competitor so that you can experience the buying process first hand.
· Return the item so that you can understand how easy or cumbersome their return process is.
Here are some resources that will make it easier for you to gather information on your competition and give you a competitive edge:
1. Google Alerts: sign up at http://www.google.com/alerts to receive alerts via email whenever your competition is in the news. This will push information to you so that you don’t have to go searching for it.
2. Listen to your competition’s quarterly earning calls. These earnings calls allow you to hear what the company’s corporate strategy is and often highlight new products or services. Schedules and transcripts can be found under the Investor Relation section of their web site. You can also locate them on various web sites. Here are a couple that I use:
· http://www.123jump.com/
· http://www.seekingalpha.com/
3. Purchase something from your competitor so that you can experience the buying process first hand.
· Return the item so that you can understand how easy or cumbersome their return process is.
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