When you think of tracking your competitors, what do you think of? Reading up on their product pages, getting feedback from customers, maybe even reading online reviews of their products.
When I speak with executives from various departments and companies across the spectrum, I’ll often ask the question: “What are your competitors doing?”
A common misconception surrounding competitive intelligence (CI) is that its main benefit is for sales teams. While it’s extremely important for sales reps to be prepared, knowledgeable, and armed with competitive battlecards, the benefits of CI stretch far beyond your sales organization. In fact, the benefits of CI expand across your entire organization, helping all of your team members in different ways.
Analyzing your competitive landscape is key to understanding where and how you fit into the market of available solutions. Plotting and comparing solutions in a competitive matrix allows you to gain perspective and insight about where you fit into the overall playing field - how you stack up and where your strengths lie. Effective competitive comparisons start with benchmarking your own company and creating a framework to evaluate each solution across a set of dimensions. Here are a few types of competitive matrices that can provide insight into your market landscape.
