Octopus Competitive Intelligence

This article asks what are the three common errors in thinking that reduce creativity and innovation? To start with, poor decisions usually result from flawed thinking rather than being presented with the wrong information. This is especially the case after researching the subject using Competitive Intelligence.  Flawed thinking when making decisions is usually because we fail to consider biases. Using key assumption checks. And making sure we are aware of our biases will ensure we can keep our minds open to new ideas. Otherwise, seeing solutions becomes a challenge. What is a Key Assumption? A Key Assumption is any hypothesis accepted to be accurate and which forms the basis of the assessment. It’s the most crucial structured analysis technique you can use. And more information can be found within this other Octopus article called is  Competitive Intelligence without key assumption checking just lots of words ? The Creative Thinking Handbook, by Chris Griffiths, says tha...

This article is called how to find out who your competitors are and then beat them. Knowing who your competitors are, what and how they sell will help develop your marketing strategy and make you stand out. Who are your competitors? Several types of competitors should be on your radar: Direct competitors  The businesses that first come to mind when you think about competitors. They’re in your market sector or city, selling products and services just like yours. You are talking to the same customer targets. You are all playing in the same pool. However, take care some direct competitors go under the radar or are forgotten about. Some competitors will be noisier than others. It does not mean they are more or less dangerous to your bottom line.  Indirect competitors  Slightly harder to identify. They cover similar customer needs as you, but they do it differently. You will have a similar but not exact target audience. An indirect competitor example would be a newspaper shop ...

  How Competitive Intelligence improves the quality of sales calls Here we discuss how Competitive Intelligence improves the quality of sales calls. Competitive Intelligence is so much more than a list of the Strengths and Weaknesses of your main competitors. It can help increase your bottom line in so many ways, including improving your sales ratios.  Not a great start to the sales process We have all heard it many times. And we never fail to be disappointed. When you come across a salesperson who calls with an exciting product or service. And pretty soon, it becomes clear they don’t have a clue who you are or even what you do.  You appear to be the next one off the list of enquiries. They have not bothered to even look at your website. They often make things worse by transparently lying as they go by digging a hole for themselves.  “Yes, I have looked at your website but tell me what you do again?” Prior preparation, planning and Competitive Intelligence prevents a...

 This article is a list of analytical tools and techniques for Competitive Intelligence. Before you start you must understand where you are going to start. And there a number of tools for this: Issue Redefinition Chronologies and Timelines Sorting Ranking, Scoring, Prioritising Interestingly, traffic analysis is an excellent tool to find out who is talking to who in your market and competitors. As you know, people tend to interact with certain people and organisations for a reason. You may not know what they are saying but you will be able to build a very interesting picture. Idea Generation Structured Brainstorming Virtual Brainstorming Nominal Group Technique Starbursting Cross-Impact Matrix Morphological Analysis Quadrant Crunching Hypothesis generation and testing Multiple Hypotheses Generator Quadrant Hypothesis Generation Diagnostic Reasoning Analysis of Competing Hypotheses Argument Mapping Deception Detection Challenge Analysis Premortem Analysis Structured Self-Critiq...