How to research your competitors with competitive analysis questions
It’s important to have a strategy for your business, but it’s even more important to have a strategy that you can use. It’s also important to have the right questions about your competitors and the future of your market. If you can answer these questions about your competitors, you’ll be able to create a valuable and effective strategy. To know how you research your competitors with competitive analysis. The best way to develop a strategy is to start by asking the right questions.
Where are you now?
Develop your strategy into something useful. It’s essential to create the right questions about your business and your competitive environment. This list of questions can be used to look at your own business.
Where does it hurt?
What business problems do they solve for their customers? Do they provide a clear and compelling solution to that business problem?
Description of the business
- What industry do they compete in? Same as yours? Really?
- What’s the central niche in their industry?
- Where do they focus their business development on
- What do they not focus on?
Strategic objectives
- What are their strategic objectives?
- What are their stated goals, and do they reveal what actually happens?
Customers, products and markets
How to research your competitors
1: Set your analysis goals
2: Define your market
3: Create a list of your direct competitors
4: Conduct secondary and primary research
5: Analyse competitors
6: Summarise competitor product and market strategies
7: Compare and contrast competitors with your products
8: Maintain up to date competitive analysis
Assess how they stand out from the crowd. And differentiate themselves by answering questions like these:
- What products do they offer?
- What products do they not provide?
- What markets do you think they are in?
- Who would want their product?
- What clients do they actually prospect?
- In your opinion, who should be their ideal customers?
- How and why do they choose to buy from them?
- How do they make buying decisions?
How are customers going to find them?
What is their market entry strategy? It is essential to understand their most effective ways of reaching prospects. How they convert them into customers and satisfy their needs. Including which key partnerships and joint ventures are involved with. Develop a deep understanding of the common characteristics of your best prospects.
- Why do customers use them?
- What is their unique value proposition?
- What’s their unfair advantage?
Beliefs and assumptions
- What are their beliefs and assumptions?
- How do they believe a competitive advantage is achieved?
- Can you challenge the assumptions?
- Do their employees work to their beliefs?
Distinctiveness and advantage
Understanding how competitors create desire and reason for the change is important. If not, you are unlikely to engage with their prospects early enough in the buying process. Just understanding your direct competitors is not enough. You need to know other options available to prospects. Including a “do nothing” and or doing it themselves. So, answering these questions will help:
- What distinguishes them from you to give them a competitive advantage?
- What is their compelling reason for your customers to use their services/products?
- And what trends and trigger events cause their prospects to search for solutions?
- What are a prospect’s alternative options?
Features and benefits
Understanding their features and benefits is important. Why? If customers can’t relate to their solution for their problems, then opportunity beckons. Dont learn from their mistakes, and then you’re likely to offer prospects irrelevant information. So, what are the most important features and capabilities of their solution? Are they communicated clearly and consistently?
Is it urgent?
There is no point in creating a category or product a prospect doesn’t understand or cannot relate to. You need to know what they think when searching for solutions and finding your competitor. So, what category of problem and solution does their solution fall into? And why is this important?
How much is it going to cost?
Understand the cost and effectiveness of their sales and marketing mix. So you know their strategy for maximising lifetime customer revenue. To find the answer to their key costs of sale and sources of income?
Management
What are the key metrics they use to manage their business? Identify the indicators to determine the effectiveness of their sales and marketing activities.
How to research your competitors with competitive analysis questions
In conclusion, having a strategy is important, but it’s more important to have a strategy you can use. To know how to research your competitors with competitive analysis questions. Make sure to ask the right questions about your competition and future so you can make the most informed decisions for your business.
