What are the best ways to improve your team's competitive knowledge?

Use their products, know their advantages and disadvantages. Use that to your strengths and focus on that and then go close the deal!

Do the competitive research first. It's often helpful to have someone on your team who does this full time, or who is primarily responsible for it. You can do the research using online research, an external agency, interviewing customers who have switched over to you from competitors, etc. Then set up regular enablement sessions with your team. Create battlecards, find snackable ways for them to retain the information.

- Experience competitors' products along with pre-/post-sale and customer support (if that's an option) - Mine online/social listening for insights, incl. from advocates and detractors - Research website, digital presence, ads, SEO/SEM, etc, and - Observe them and even connect at in-person events, speaking engagements, etc to understand whom they target, how, where and with what - Get on prospecting calls to glean where you are relative to the competition - Talk to their customers, detractors, and even to the competitors themselves - Talk to suppliers that know the industry pretty well - Watch what their employees are posting about, not just what the brand is posting about

Speak with current & potential customers: you must understand (current & potential) customers' needs and what you can/can't fulfill + why they might switch products. Use your competitors products: It's incredibly important to try the products of your competitors (we're lucky in games that this means...playing games). Revisit regularly and compare to your roadmap with the goal of remaining differentiated. Find disruption early: Constantly speak with with people who are connected across the industry (VCs, CEOS, Advisors, etc.) to understand potential new companies / products on the horizon that are likely to disrupt the status quo.

Use your competitors products. Even if you gather qualitative and quantitative research, teams will miss critical insights if they’re not familiar with a competitive product. It’s also hard to subjectively compare one product or feature against another if you don’t put the time in to experience it yourself. How easy was it to pick up and learn/use? Is it intuitive?

Creating competitive intelligence reports involves a multifaceted approach that gathers, analyzes, and presents information about competitors, industry trends, market dynamics, and other relevant factors. Here's a comprehensive guide with detailed insights and strategies for developing effective competitive intelligence reports: - Identify Key Competitors - Define Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) - Gather Data from Multiple Sources - Analyze Strengths and Weaknesses - Monitor Industry Trends and Emerging Technologies - Benchmark Performance Against Competitors - Develop Actionable Insights and Recommendations - Visualize Data Effectively - Maintain Regular Updates - Protect Confidential Information

- Research and Analysis - Competitive Intelligence Gathering - Training and Development - SWOT Analysis - Benchmark your team's performance and use KPIs to track progress over time. - Networking - Continuous Learning Culture

I believe in doing yearly SWOTS to make sure everyone is aware of the marketplace, the competitors, the opportunities etc. It helps me focus the team on revenue generating activities

1. Summarize essential information about competitors and their activities. 2. Monitor competitor actions and anticipate their strategies. 3. Gather data from diverse sources like websites, social media, reviews, and industry reports. 4. Utilize tools like Google Alerts, Feedly, or Crayon for efficient data collection and analysis. 5. Share the report regularly with team members and stakeholders to inform decision-making.

Improving competitive knowledge: - Research industry trends. - Offer regular training. - Attend networking events. - Analyze competitors. - Encourage continuous learning. - Foster open feedback. - Utilize competitive intelligence tools for effective monitoring.

In my experience this is very important to leverage the Company’s position in the Market and also keeping its team motivated and imparting timely training on current trends and technologies will help the company maintain its position in the market. One can also hire additional coach from outside to impart not only technical but also other communications skills and People Management skills.

Organize training sessions to address the key strengths and weaknesses that can provide valuable insights for sales and marketing. Moreover, I suggest leveraging a centralized database to access competitor data in real-time, encompassing their offerings, pricing, and market positioning. Typically, we conduct regular updates every quarter and establish a feedback loop to enhance our strategies. The objective is to foster a culture of ongoing learning, empowering our team to effectively utilize this knowledge and sustain our competitive advantage.

1. Ensure team awareness of market position, value proposition, and differentiation. 2. Enhance team ability to communicate effectively with prospects and customers. 3. Develop engaging content like slides, videos, quizzes, or cheat sheets for training. 4. Utilize tools such as Loom, Kahoot, or Gong for creating and delivering training content. 5. Test team knowledge periodically and offer feedback and coaching for improvement.

Create a competitive matrix of products and services offered by yourself and competition. Complete a SWOT analysis on your company, and perceived SWOT analysis for the competition in the field. Share widely to insure all are on the same page.

Where does competition occur? Not in documents & ppts or training rooms & webinars - for these are only knowledge of competition. Competition occurs in the field - in the mind of the buyer and in the mindset of the seller. Your ability to articulate value in what your prospect/customer can do "MORE" "BETTER" "NEW" OR "DIFFERENT" with you over your competitor is the foundation of competition management. Knowledge is great, the skills to convert that knowledge into articulated value for your customer is the key & consistent behaviours to identify, navigate & defeat your competition is the play in the field......BTW it has nothing to do with your competitor :-)

Generally speaking, in B2B we over-index on competitive information and get distracted by it. I care most about how their USPs are landing with customers and how I stack up on those. Customer Support or Customer Success is best positioned to collect this information directly from the customer.

For B2B: Use AI to scour sales calls, chat conversations, and SDR qualifying calls to identify patterns in obstacles/unmet customer needs. Similarly, use review sites and call center transcripts to see what creates the biggest disappointment and the biggest delight. Same thing applies to B2C: Analyze post-purchase reviews for you and your competitors on marketplaces. Conduct surveys at regular intervals to see how brand perception is changing over time.

It is important to gather and analyze feedback from various sources. This includes internal feedback from valued customers through surveys and support interactions and external feedback from social media, online directories, and review platforms like G2 or Capterra. By incorporating specific questions, you can gain valuable insights about competitors and closely monitor social media and review sites using listening tools. This two-pronged approach allows you to get a comprehensive and multi-faceted view of your competitive strengths and weaknesses from the customer's point of view.

Maximize the value of asking clients why they purchased what they own/use including why they selected your product. Instead of celebrating a win or whining a lost deal will increase understanding of competition. Have you viewed your competitors sales presentation online? It may amaze you that the key benefit or feature they position is something your offering does or does better.

Customer feedback is essential to ensuring your products are going in the right direction. Without that you are driving into an abyss

One of my personal operating principles is "Know Your Business". I have always challenged myself and my team to be curious about the business and understand all aspects; competition, market dynamics, retailer strategies, macroeconomics, consumer trends, political influences, etc. With full knowledge of the business you can make fast, sound decisions to win!

In today’s world where things are changing rapidly and new frontiers are evolving every day, there is no other way than “collective wisdom” to be able to keep up pace. Gone are the days when a leader was the “know it all”, now we are in the era of “all to learn it all”. Leaders should create small squads within their teams and let them explore/develop in a couple of areas and then train/educate everyone else.

In my experience in the ever changing tech industry, there is no time for those that are not curious. My mantra has always been that we want to work with learn it alls, not know it alls. The industry is always evolving so that curiosity has to be a trait you seek out when building your teams.

Nurturing a curious and collaborative team culture is vital in the dynamic business environment. Here's my general approach: 1. Model curiosity by staying informed and open. 2. Encourage and value every question asked. 3. Offer access to learning resources and professional development. 4. Arrange sessions to exchange knowledge and foster a growth mindset. 5. Promote collaboration across functions for diverse perspectives and problem-solving. 6. Allow the team creative freedom to explore new project ideas. 7. Prioritize open communication using effective tools. 8. Celebrate teamwork and collective accomplishments. 9. Embrace and encourage diversity for a more creative team dynamic.

One thing I’ve found helpful is understanding that my most obvious “competitors” aren’t often who I should be attempting to replicate. In my world, I have as much to learn from apps like Amazon and Nike than I do others in the restaurant vertical. I want my team to always be thinking about how our own properties could be improved based on experiences they live everyday in their world as a consumer. Got a video game that has an easy to follow option menu? Let’s put it on the whiteboard, what parallels can we draw to our stuff and how does that help us improve our processes/structure? Good user experience and support is everywhere.

Read… if you want to engage your clients, sharpen your mind. Not just about your Industry, company or opposition, but general knowledge. Put yourself in a position to add value. #read

I'm a big proponent of experiencing the competitor's product. If it's a consumer product: - order it or buy it in store - what does the packaging look like - how does the product perform - what does the site page/store presentation look like - what is the post-sale experience like If it's B2B product service: - sign up for a demo - sign up for the newsletter - how quickly and how often is there follow-up - what's the positioning - does it seem like the ICP is identical or just similar - how do they position themselves and the problem they solve? - Look at their search (paid and owned) and other advertising But don't do competitive research to copy - do it to identify opportunities to improve your positioning or delivery.

Living the customer experience/journey provides the strongest foundation. Explore every aspect: pre-sale, sale, post-sale, along with ongoing qualitative/quantitative work for trends, etc.

Customer focus; not competitor obsession. That doesn’t mean you sleep at the wheel while your competitor eats your lunch or spreads FUD. Understand their jobs-to-be-done to identify unmet needs & get a leg up on the competition. Treat VoC as a means to gather G2. Engage w/ key customers/evangelists through QBRs, etc. Leverage PM, AM, CS, & sales teams to get customer feedback on how solutions resonate & are perceived. Utilize customer-facing teams, tradeshows, sales/BDR & contact center call data, partners, and analysts as listening posts to collect G2. Distill to update sales enablement material such as sales plays, case-studies, battlecards, objection handlers, win-loss analysis, etc. Use feedback to recalibrate messaging/positioning.

Create subject matter experts within your teams and assign them to tasks to gather information, scouring the internet, completing surveys, and gathering pertinent competitive information. Bring it together to analyze product and depth of assets and leverage this in quotations (ie: terms and conditions flexibility, product mix, testing certification, quality standards, and other items to differentiate yourself from others.). This takes price out of the equation.