2. Competitor research

3. Competitor research… … is the practice of researching and analysing your business competitors It can involve pretending to be a competitor’s customer – but it’s not spying

4. -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:

5. Methods of competitor research: -Research website -Survey own customers -Test customer experience: - Phoning - Mystery shopper -Research public records -Buy industry reports

6. 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

7. 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?

8. Step three: Plan your tactics -Create customer surveys -Prepare phone scripts -Find mystery shoppers and brief them -Automate web research with alerts

9. Step four: Maintain records Follow up research on a regular basis and update records as new information is found