In the Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists, editor Gene Marks has compiled 600 pages of easily digestible advice on topics ranging from venture capital to tax considerations. In one section, Canada’s Ministry of Public Works and Government Services offers the following tips for gathering information about your competitors:
Get their customers’ perspectives. Request sales brochures and download information from your competitors' Web sites. Sign up for newsletters and promotions. Buy products or services for competitive analysis, and chat with employees at retail stores. Attend their public seminars.
Get your customers’ perspectives. Ask how your products or services compare to the competition and how other companies’ marketing efforts differ from your own. Make sure your customer service representatives take note of complaints, compliments and other comments callers make about competitors.
Get their investors’ perspectives. If the company is public, buy some shares so you’ll receive annual reports and other corporate notices. Use a monitoring service to track print, broadcast and online coverage of your competitors. Join industry associations, and subscribe to trade and government publications that focus on your field.
The Po!nt: Gathering competitive information isn’t as hard as it sounds. Much of it is easily available and relatively inexpensive to obtain.
Source: Gene Marks's Small Business Book of Lists.
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