In this article, we will endeavour to show you how to write a competitor profile, but first of all lets suggest what we think what is a competitor profile is?
What is a competitor profile?
A competitor profile is a summary document to give you a basic understanding of one of your competitors. It’s a baseline document which cam also written before a war game to help prepare the players to understand their role int he game better. So a competitor profile should contain a brief overview of the company, insights on their strategic direction, SWOT analysis, and the latest press releases.
How to write a competitor profile
You will be able to find a mountain of information about your competitor, but it is wise to understand what to include within your profile. Take a look at your needs and the market you are playing in. What information will be helpful, what’s needed to know and what would be nice to know? Here is a list of some of the information you may want to put in your competitor profile:
Contact information
- Brands
- Trade names
- legal name
- address
- phone number
- website
Structure
- How is the business structured? Limited Company, sole trader etc
- Is the company public or private?
- Who owns the competitor?
- What’s their mission statement, philosophies, vision and beliefs?
Nature of competition
- How much of a threat are they to you?
- Are they a direct or indirect competitor?
- How much of a threat are they to you?
Finances
- What can you find out about their finances?
- What are their assets?
- Their profits?
- Are there any trends and patterns in their current and past financial information?
Their brand
- What does their branding consist of?
- How do consumers identify with them?
- What are they saying to the market?
- What’s their tone of voice?
Product/Service
- Firstly, list their product/services.
- Then, what support do they give their product or service?
- And do they provide a quality service
- How do customers perceive their quality?
- Do they have satisfied customers?
- Why are they better than you?
- Also, why are you better than them?
- Finally, how loyal are their customers?
Product development
- What’s happening in the product development process?
- Are new products in the pipeline?
- Do they have a product team?
- What’s their product teams background?
- What patents and trademarks do they have?
- Can you develop something similar or better?
Customer service
- What can you find out about their customer service?
- How do customers perceive their customer service capabilities?
Resources
- What resources do they have and how powerful are they?
- Do they subcontract?
- What are their team like and what skills do they possess?
- Also, what qualifications would you need for a position in their company?
- What are they recruiting for?
- And what’s the background of their key players?
- Also, what types of equipment do they have available to them?
Sales
- So, what’s their revenue?
- Can you break their income down by product and market?
- How do they compare in the market?
- What’s their sales team like?
- How big is it?
- How do they sell?
- And how can you compete against them?
The market
- What’s their target market?
- What are their expansion plans?
- Also, what’s their market strategy?
- And their pricing strategy?
- Whom do they consider their direct competitors to be?
- What’s their perception of the market? How does it compare to your thoughts?
- Do you share the same customers?
Distribution
- How do they move their product?
- Where do they send their product? Nationally, locally, international?
- What’s their distribution channel?
- Who are their suppliers?
Decision makers
- Who the real decision-maker in the company?
- Is it an individual or a board?
- What skills do the decision-makers possess?
- What’s the decision-makers background?
- Are there plans to change or add to the management?
Finally
It’s a good idea to find as much information you can about your competitors. Try and compile a profile on each of your competitors and keep it updated. It will help you understand them more and also learn their strengths and weaknesses. Once you have a picture of your competitors will also offer you the opportunity to gain more industry-wide insights and trends. In this article, we endeavoured to show you how to write a competitor profile. We suggested looking their finances, products, sales teams, their market, distribution and the resources open to them.
