We are standing up a new competitive intelligence function at my current company. What do you consider must-haves?

Question

Jane Reynolds · Accepted Answer

First off, congrats! The positive impact that can have on revenue and growth is pretty remarkable. When standing up a new function, I always think broadly to start. For example, when considering “competitors”—think beyond your direct competitors so you can cover a more robust scope. A company in a parallel industry can be just as helpful a case study as one in the same industry. At OkCupid, we’re often looking to social media and self-improvement apps for inspiration.

Analysis will also be key. Be sure to have the tools in place so that analysis will be accessible for all stakeholders. Transparency is so important when analyzing data. And on that note, make sure everyone’s aligned on the function’s KPIs from the start; plan a weekly email or sync to review updates and unforeseen issues.

Finally, it’ll be important for the function to be closely aligned with the product and marketing teams. These teams will help bring the learnings to life. Let them know about the analysis you’re most excited about so they can add any pieces that may be helpful for their teams in creating new features.

Liz Tassey (she/her) · Answer

A good competitive intelligence function starts with great listening. Engaging your frontline (both sales AND customer success...why you are losing deals is good insight, but why you are losing customers is incredibly powerful), win/loss reports, gleaning insights from your customer experience and brand tracking programs, dark funnel data, first party research when possible....

Establishing listening upfront will help you then get a clearer picture of where you need to focus. Which competitors in which segments should you focus on, where / how are they winning. This is where layering in some 1st party research can be helpful. And then being really clear about which deliverables and training will be most helpful to your stakeholders (e.g. Sales) - and getting into a motion where you build those out and socialize (e.g FUD respose docs, trap setting, strong differentiated messaging backed by product truths, etc)

Another key part of the function should be around competitive alerts and wallows. Having a structure where you can deep dive quickly into a competitive move (e.g. acquisition, new announcement, etc.) and get out a perspective and guidance to your front lines so they know how to react if a customer brings it up. This is often a big pain point in a highly competitive industry, so may be a good place to focus first.

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