Competitor Analysis
“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a thousand battles without disaster.” Sun Tzu
How much more successful could your company be if you knew what your competitors were doing?
When choosing advisors, clients are not so much interested by your strengths in isolation – but how they compare with competitive offerings. As you consider which clients to pursue and how best to position your firm and expertise, it is crucial that you have a strong grasp of what others will be doing to compete.
If you can identify your areas of relative strength and match them to clear client needs, then you will enjoy much greater returns for your Business Development efforts. It is not a mysterious art of whisper and anecdote – there are some straightforward actions you can take today to build a picture of what your competitors are really up to – both with individual clients and in the market generally.
Learning Outcome
Tapping into external databases that help analyse competitor reach and press
Understand competitive positioning and their emotional offer
Collating human knowledge – from new joiners and firm friends
Making the most of client and prospect feedback
The practicalities of building and maintaining a competitor knowledge bank
Analyse your firm’s relative strengths and weaknesses and assess which are of most importance with clients
Porter’s theory on competitive strategy