Competitor profiles enable you to see at a glance the information you need on your competitors. We believe that for Competitive Intelligence to be used, it must be targeted at the intelligence users and fulfil their information needs. Before compiling a competitor profile, we encourage clients to think about how they will use the information presented in their business operations. In this way we can ensure that you get what you need, and not extraneous detail used to give an impression of depth but with little strategic or tactical value. One mistake a lot of people make is to start by collecting information without thinking how the information will be used. It is useful to separate the "must know" type information from the "nice to have". Without the former, you risk making a wrong decision. Without the latter, no harm is done unless a lot of time and money was spent collecting this kind of information. So that a competitor profile meets your competitive intelligence needs we do not follow a rigid template, but tailor the content of each profile following client discussions. Typically profiles fall into one of three categories and price levels:
Basic - giving the key details on a competitor. The purpose for this may be as a preliminary exercise looking at competitors so as to assess overall risk. Where key factors are identified then a more in-depth analysis would follow.
Detailed - giving a more thorough look at a competitor, These profiles give a greater understanding of the competitor and allow decisions to be made on next steps to take with respect to competing with the target company.
In-depth - are prepared on key competitors, when you need to know their thinking, their planning, what they are likely to do next and how best to counter the threat that they pose and/or take advantage of any opportunities resulting from identified weaknesses.