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Market Smart: How to Gain Customers and Increase Profits with B2B Marketing

However, be wary of what you find online. Many companies,
especially smaller and mid-size, don’t keep their sites up to date,
and how they look online may be entirely different from reality.

Check for posted job opportunities. Learning about the type of
people your competition is hiring can give you clues to what
market niches they are exploring, which divisions they are
expanding, and what product or service lines they are prioritizing.
Social media such as LinkedIn can be a great resource to
understand who’s moving into (or out of) a competitor.

Ask your business development team. Their direct contact with
customers provides them access to strong market knowledge.
Leverage their relationships with customers to assess the
competition. Ask for their objective opinions.

Look for former employees on LinkedIn. As long as they are
not under confidentiality agreements, they may be able to
share some insight.

Consider talking with head-hunters, industry association
personnel, or other industry watchers who may have views on
the industry. You’ll be amazed by what people will tell you, if
only you ask.

Mystery shopping will sometimes work for B2B companies.
Buy something from your key competitors to understand every
facet of their customer experience. Are they responsive?
What is their sales process? Do they provide follow up after
the sale? Although this method allows you to gather data via
personal, first-hand experience, it is quite tricky, because it
isn’t always possible to buy something from your competition
and when you can, it will involve an investment.

Most importantly—ask customers. They almost always have
useful knowledge of your competition and are often willing to
share.

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© 2012 Lisa Shepherd