Whether you call it “competitive intelligence” or not, most integrators collect and track certain types of information on the AV market and their competitors. But gathering the data isn’t enough — it’s not “intelligence” until you use it.

By Susan Gaide

No matter what business you’re in, the basic premise is the same: You can’t afford not to know what your competitors are up to and what your strengths and weaknesses are when measured against them. In the AV industry, most integrators already collect market intelligence, even if it’s in an unsophisticated manner, but that information isn’t really “competitive intelligence,” or CI, until you analyze and use it to gain a sales advantage. What exactly is CI? Used interchangeably with “market intelligence” by most business analysts and consultants, CI is the ethical gathering, analyzing, and managing of information that can affect your company’s plans, decisions, and operations. There are several ways to use this critical data to stay at least one step ahead of your competitors.

“A well-executed CI program will continue to give your business a competitive edge,” says Judy Feder, senior vice president of Brodeur Worldwide, a New York-based global marketing communications company specializing in strategic public relations for technology-driven companies. “Conversely, the failure to recognize communications as a competitive tool may mean that you’re the one sleeping less soundly than you once did.”

She offers a particularly relative real-world example of this theory in action that serves as a valid lesson for business professionals in any industry. After planning a major launch of a wireless-enabled product line, market intelligence gathered by the staff of a hardware company revealed a competitor’s similar plan. Thanks to this inside info, the company was able to accelerate its launch date and beat out the challenger by several weeks. Press and analyst coverage earned the hardware company “first-to-market” status. The price of this crafty maneuver proved to be invaluable and demonstrates how using the right tidbit of market intelligence can pay off.

Assessing the situation

How can you use CI to compete more effectively for new business? First, you must define your competitors. Although this may seem like obvious advice, there are plenty of integrators, overwhelmed with the daily demands of juggling multiple bids, projects, and their respective deadlines, that haven’t defined a clear picture of their competitive field. Is it the guy down the street, a regional integrator, a national player, Circuit City? Nailing down the answer to this basic question goes along way toward harnessing the power of CI.

According to Lloyd Kozel, president of AudioVisual Technical Engineering Group Inc.(AVTEG) in New York and a former AV systems contractor, the easiest place for integrators to start is by defining two distinct groups of competitors: primary and secondary. Primary competitors are those people and companies – both large and small – whose backgrounds, experience, and focus are similar to your own. Secondary competitors are those entities that have the potential to be competitors but are sometimes also resources.

“When I was a contractor, competitors ranged from one-man operations to the suppliers from whom I purchased equipment for AV installations,” Kozel says. “To remain competitive, I had to know at all times who was ‘in my backyard’ and what resources were readily available to them at any point in time.”

Next, he suggests focusing on analyzing yourself. For accurate self analysis, experts recommend starting with the good old-fashioned SWOT method. (SWOT is an analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.)

“You must become aware of all the factors, both internal and external, that affect your ability to acquire new business,” explains Jeanne Stiernberg, principal consultant for Sherman Oaks, CA-based Stiernberg Consulting, a firm specializing in CI for the pro AV industry. “Look at it the way you would look at the choice of a projector for an AV installation. You must not only understand the projector’s technical capabilities, but you must also know what the output of that projector is going to look like on the screen and how that compares to the output of other projectors. In other words, you must look both inside and outside the projector in order to make a decision as to whether or not it’s ultimately the right one for your particular intended application. Without this knowledge, you’d really be at a serious disadvantage.”

Just as there are various methods to collecting CI, there are just as many approaches for utilizing it, depending on your unique business dynamic and niche market focus. In some circles, the most fruitful pieces of intelligence might come from the industry grapevine, customers, or even former employees. In others, Internet research, brand preference studies, consultants’ analysis, or industry association reports could play a much bigger role in your company’s decision-making process.

Generating sales leads

According to Kozel, if you listen closely enough to the industry grapevine, you can gain valuable insight for new, profitable business leads. Trade shows are a great place to start. “There’s definitely an industry grapevine,” he says. “Everyone is constantly inquiring about what their competition has been awarded. And, everyone talks about themselves.”

Another AV systems integrator from New York agrees. “Everyone likes to talk about the projects they’ve done,” he says. “Especially at trade shows, people talk. Mainly, they talk to manufacturers about how they used the manufacturer’s gear in an installation. If you can pick up on the location of the installation, you can then go to the Internet and dig up some more particulars, maybe even what was budgeted for the installation, which would give you a clue as to what the contractor’s bid likely was.”

Competitors can actually be a source for new business themselves. “A company who has recently been awarded more business than its internal resources can manage may recommend or utilize your services,” Kozel says. “You must get a handle on what resources are available to both you and your competitors at any given point in time. Resources include time, knowledge, and enough personnel to handle the scope of the installation. Finding out about your competitor’s human resources is sometimes as surprisingly simple as asking, ‘How large is your staff, and has its size fluctuated recently?’”

Stiernberg stresses the importance of looking at everything in your competitive environment — not only competitors, but also customers, suppliers, markets, technology, legal and regulatory issues, economics, and culture. (See “Eight Elements of a Competitive Market Intelligence System” chart above).

Starting with competitors, the two most important things you need to know are: how they get new business, and how they determine what to bid on a project. (Many times, the second leads to the first). Again, you can obtain a great deal of this information by simply networking at industry events. Sometimes you can get information out of competitors yourself by asking the simple question, “How’s business lately?” If the project was important to them, they’ll want to talk about it.

After looking at your opponents, consider your customers. Do you conduct follow-up interviews with customers after you complete a project to gain more intelligence? Recommendations from past customers are the best way to ward off competitors and gain new ones through referrals. New customers are more inclined to hire you when you’ve been recommended by an already satisfied customer. If the church up the road is happy with your AV installation, they’re going to recommend you to other churches that are in need of similar systems. Those recommendations will likely give you the competitive edge when you bid on those other jobs.

Following up on failed bid attempts — customers you didn’t get — can also teach you a lot. It shows you really wanted the business, and may influence their thinking on future projects. After all, if you’re willing to hear about your weaknesses, you’re probably sincere about correcting them.

Competitive data

“Most of the information you need to know about your competitors can be obtained by browsing their websites,” says Ed Crowley, founder of the Kentucky-based Photizo Group and executive editor of Intelligence Briefing. “Pay attention to the career opportunities page. Job openings can give you important clues to your competitors’ future plans. Look for rate cards, and read any press releases that may be posted on their web pages.”

This is where CI plugs into another important aspect of marketing — knowledge management (KM). Once you obtain data about your competitors, you must then turn it into knowledge that can help you develop better marketing and sales materials, better “pitches” to new prospects, and more competitive bids. According to Crowley, the ultimate test of the information you’ve collected and analyzed is whether it provides you with adequate knowledge to help you make confident decisions.

He also stresses the importance of understanding customer perception. “If your competitor is getting the work you want, you need to know not only how they get that work, but also why,” he says. “This starts with a clear understanding of how customers perceive both you and your competitors. How does your AV experience compare to that of your competitors? Do potential customers perceive a difference between the needs you can fill and those your competitors can fill? And, most importantly, how does that perception influence the customer’s decision about which company they should hire for the job?”

Your ultimate goal, then, is to harness information and transform it into knowledge that can help you grow your AV business. “There are many excellent resources at your disposal that yield good, usable CI — including websites, Internet search tools, news groups, discussion forums, email lists, and software packages,” Kozel says. (See sidebar, “Tools of the Trade,” on page 34 for a comprehensive list.)

“And, these resources are all publicly available, ethical, and legal,” Stiernberg adds. “There’s really no need for espionage!”

But, the experts warn, effective CI is not a quick process.   You must be prepared to invest a significant amount of time gathering and interpreting information about your competitors.  And because the information you gather today is not necessarily going to be relevant tomorrow, you must be prepared to make CI an ongoing part of your business strategy.


Susan Gaide is a New York-based freelance writer catering to the professional AV industry and instructs “Strategies in Marketing Management” for Indiana Wesleyan University Online. She can be reached at gaide@att.net.

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