Conducting a Competitor’s Analysis

Conducting a Competitor’s Analysis

The advantages of conducting a competitor analysis are many. You must know who your competitors are, what their products and services are and how they compare to your own company’s products and services.

It would be impossible to list all of your competitors so what you would need to do is determine a few of your top competitors. More importantly you will want to know how your competitors market and who their target audiences are.

Some sources to use to check out your competitors include annual reports, internet, websites, newspapers and yellow page ads. You can also use your company’s sales reports and sales team to determine why prospective clients are choosing your competitors instead of choosing your company.

It is very important to analyze your services or products and how they compare to your competitors. You will need to look at your company’s growth and how it compares to the growth of your competitors.

Write down every thing you like about your product or service and compare the information to what you find out about your competitors. You must investigate the following categories:

Define your industry

Determine who your competitors are

Determine who your customers are and what benefits they expect

Determine the key success factors in your industry

Determine what the key success factors are of your competitors

To determine detailed profiles on each of your company’s competitors involves collecting information in the following categories:

Company Background

Financials

Products or Services

Marketing (Advertising Effectiveness)

Physical Facilities

Personnel

Corporate and marketing strategies

Sales and Profits by products and relative costs

New Product Strategies

A competitor analysis is a valuable resource and a great business tool to increase your sales and to grow your company.