A few weeks ago I was watching the 2008 World Series of Poker on ESPN. Please stop laughing. I know that event happened last year and yes I know who won but there wasn’t a ton of other things on and I like to watch poker on TV from a strategy standpoint. Most professional poker players would say that in order to be successful, you need to read the other players better than playing your cards. In essence, know the competition, know their tendencies, understand them . . . really understand them and you will probably beat them.
I paused for a minute or two and asked myself is the same true about all industries and specifically the market research industry. If you are a finalist for a piece of business:
- Do you know who the competition is?
- Do you know what your strengths are compared to them?
- Do you try and highlight their weaknesses?
To me it was interesting to think about and relate it to our company.
Yes in this economy, price is a deciding factor on lots of projects–more than many people would like to admit. But with that said, there has to be a number of projects where highlighting your strengths vs. the competition should come into play.
If that is the case what are you doing about it?
- Do you ask clients who else is in the bidding process?
- How much information do you know about the competition?
- Are you on their websites?
- Do you review their ads and marketing materials?
- Do you get their newsletters?
- Do you know their pricing strategy? (Okay, I’m pushing the envelope a little bit and know that most people WON’T admit that.)
I look forward to reading your comments.
Christine Cook says:
Hi Merrill,
Great topic today.
I feel lucky to be in the great city of Denver with GREAT competitors! I’m sure there are other cities that have good competitors too. This said; I do feel that clients coming to Denver have an advantage. If you have a low incidence or tough recruit you can count on the companies in Denver pulling together for you in the best interest of the research. We also try hard to look out for each other and help each other.
I believe we do know each other pretty well from the competitive standpoint. At least three of the key players in town. I also feel that we each have some very unique differences and values. Two are downtown and sometimes this is the right fit, Ingather is a “reality” facility and sometimes this is the best fit. One of the competitors has a great resource for online and PDA’s that we don’t have. We have a pretty good field staff for hitting the streets that one of the players typically doesn’t have time for. One of the players is a big brand and has a lot of resources beyond Denver.
I’m currently bidding a full service project and the end client is downtown across the street from my competitor. I bid it to do at their place over my own for example.
P.S. Typically clients to not tell us who they are bidding with and we do not ask. It feels a little like putting them on the spot and could make them uncomfortable. As for pricing…MRA says discussing this is a no-no so we try to be mindful to this.
Dan Womack says:
Interesting post Merrill. I can’t give you the supplier-side view, but from the clients perspective I would suggest adding the following (somewhat softer) things to a competitor analysis:
1. How do they approach retention? Most (maybe all) of the things you mention are about getting the business, but what do your competitors do after they get an account? And, how much of their business is generated from existing vs. new accounts? Obviously, you have to first get in the door, but I think the industry needs a lot more work on what to do once in.
2. What are their people like? What are their backgrounds? Their levels of experience (as researchers and in a given industry). Are their “relationship” people researchers with broad capabilities or specialists focused only on landing deals? Are their technical people capable of having conversations with clients?
On a slightly different note, I think it is also good to guard against becoming ultra-conservative or even complacent as you learn more about competitors. I’ve worked in a very conservative industry for the past 10 years and have seen many companies proud of their “fast follower” philosophies…. This may sometimes be warranted, but once you start celebrating being the third, fourth or fifth to do something, I think you are going to soon be in trouble.