1. Chapter 5: Reading and Beating the Competition – Finding Marketplace Gaps
Learning Objectives:
Define competition in terms of size, growth, profitability, innovation, and market leaders
Discover your Target Customer’s competitive touchpoints
Understand the value of positioning in relationship to competitors and Target Customers
Evaluate competitors using primary, secondary & “new eyes” research
Develop skills to become the best marketplace detective you can be
Evaluate the competitive landscape broadly
Develop a competitor matrix
Create uniqueness to compete
Develop skills to become a lifelong scanner of the competitive landscape
Prosper in a rapidly changing competitive marketplace

2. Why The New Market Research?
Changes in the way businesses view competition
Fierce competition
Speed of information and change
Accelerated product life cycles
Too many companies and too few consumers
Pace of new product offerings

3. Who Is Your Competition?
Your competition is not necessarily who YOU think it is: Direct and Indirect
Your customers define the competition in terms of those who can best satisfy their needs and wants
Your invisible competitor may not be anywhere on your horizon and may only appear after you are successful

4. Competitor Profile Elements
Company Identification:
Legal Name & Contact Info.
Organization & Ownership
Culture & History
Environmental Forces:
Ability to respond to change
International issues
Competitive advantage
Five Forces Analysis
Credibility & Assets of the Firm:
Size, Stability Reputation & Credibility
Proprietary Assets
Operational Capability
Internal Resources & Abilities
Outside Assets
Product Design / Services & Innovation:
Product or Service & Design
Product Life Cycle
Revenue:
Sales & Market Share
Market Strategy:
Target Markets
Key Players:
Key Employees
Board of Directors
Management Team Additions
Financial Resources:
Financial Statement Analysis
Industry Averages

5. Action Step 28: Evaluating Customer Touchpoints
Investigate your customer’s perception of the competition
Walk through purchasing your competitors’ products with a group of your target customers
Identify customer touchpoints
Ask the target customers to rank the five most important touchpoints
Decide which touchpoints are worth competing for
Capitalize on the touchpoints that make you stand out in a crowd in your Business Plan

6. What is Competitive Intelligence?
Competitive Intelligence is:
Information that has been analyzed to the point you can make a decision
A tool to alert management to both threats and opportunities
A means to deliver reasonable assessments of the market and the competition
Comes in many flavors and can mean many things to many people
A way for companies to improve their bottom line
A way of life, a process
Part of all best-in-class companies
Directed for the executive suite
Seeing outside yourself
Both short and long term
Competitive Intelligence is Not:
Spying – that implies illegal or unethical activities
A crystal ball – it does not predict the future
A database search – databases do not analyze data
The Internet or rumor chasing – be selective in the content you use
Paper – try to focus on face to face discussions or phone calls
A job for one smart person
An invention of the 20th century – it has been around for a long time
Software
A news story
A spreadsheet

7. Continue Scouting the Competition
Awareness of your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses will increase your confidence
Become your competitors’ customer:
Review their websites and join the loyalty programs
Visit their stores at several times of day
Call their 800 numbers
Purchase items and investigate how they are made
Research public records
Talk to potential suppliers
Attend trade shows and ask questions

8. Secondary Research Sources and Reports
Review speeches, TV and radio programs, podcasts, blogs, government documents
Attend workshops and conferences
Use the Internet but don’t believe everything you read
MarketResearch.com
Science and Technical Information network
Online networks and competitor websites
Library and Internet References for companies and industries
Educator’s Corner

9. Action Step 29: Scouting Competitors and Finding Your Position on the Competitive Ladder
Complete secondary research on competitors – the more you find the more you learn
Develop a competitor review sheet for each competitor
Start snooping

10. Global Village: ISO in Brief
International Organization for Standardization
Network of national standards in 164 countries
Forms a bridge between the private and public sectors
Solutions that meet the requirements of business and the broader needs of society
Standards provide technological, economic and societal benefits
A lack of standards would hinder many aspects of production and trade and even the quality of life

11. Competition and Positioning
Three Value Disciplines to Distinguish Yourself:
Operational Excellence
Product Leadership
Customer Intimacy
Focus on a value that sets you apart from your major competitors
Use your positioning strategy to distinguish yourself
Perform a SWOT analysis

12. Competition and the Product Life Cycle
The Embryonic Stage
High failure rate, costs and sales prices
Low sales volume and no competition
The Growth Stage
Product innovation and brand loyalty
Peaking profits and strong competition
The Mature Stage
Peak customer numbers and a concentration of product differentiation
Decreasing prices and heavy competition
The Decline Stage
Extreme depression in the marketplace
Going out of business sales and fight for remaining core market

13. Competition And Positioning In A Mature Market
Change in the arena can spell opportunity
Discover an area of vulnerability
Beat the competition with superior service
Create a new arena
Create uniqueness by continually changing your product or service

14. Action Step 30: Construct a Competitor Matrix
List major competitors on the vertical axis
List important benefits to your Target Customers and elements for success on the horizontal axis
Rank each competitor on a scale of 1 to 10
Rank your new venture and rate yourself
You may find an underserved market
You will have an excellent overview of your competitors and your opportunities

15. Create Uniqueness Through Change
Always be ready with Plan B
You can do it!
Know your business, Target Customers and competition
Know the benefits of your product or service
Develop strategies to capture & maintain your position
Give free rein to your creativity – surprise your Target customers and yourself!
Passion: A Green Landscaping Company Focused on Strong Relationships

16. Think Points for Success
Know your niche
Disarm the competition by being superior, safer, or more user-friendly
Remember that a new firm seldom can win a price war
Know that old habits are hard to break; provide your target customer a compelling reason to switch
Develop your own monopoly
Talk to your target customer constantly and truly listen
Thrive, just don’t survive!
Do it smarter
Do it faster
Do it with more style
Provide more features
Adjust your hours
Provide more service
Treat your target customers like family; consider their needs
Be unique
Change the arena through innovation