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Several months ago a client called and asked if I would mind attending a conference on her behalf to meet with her competitors who would be exhibiting. The fact that the meeting was in San Diego not withstanding, I said yes. Here was an opportunity to conduct a true competitive analysis, get accurate information, straight from the sources. There was, of course, just one catch – my client didn’t want her competitors to know what we were doing. That meant I’d be GOING INCOGNITO.
Depending on your point of view, right now you’re experiencing one of two things: you want to cry “foul” because you think industrial espionage of any kind is bad; or you want to jump for joy as you picture me donning my trench coat and sipping the perfect martini. For those on the “foul” side of the fence, please be assured that I was not going to exploit these companies in any way, nor was I going to mess with trade secrets. I was merely going to gather information, readily available for the asking, that would help my client with her future branding and positioning activities.
Now I won’t bore you by waxing long and loudly about the importance of a competitive analysis. Suffice it to say, I believe it is one of the crucial components in creating and implementing a successful marketing strategy. For this client, we did fine tune a few of our strategies but, mostly we were able to feel good about our original plans. My client is on track for her markets and overall direction. The goals we set at the start of the year are still quite sound. We have a fact-based snapshot of where the industry is going and this company’s place in it – one that synched with what we had a gut feeling about.
Of course, I had fun gathering the information. But, besides the work on my client’s behalf, I walked away with four lessons worth sharing with all of you:
1. Don’t be a spamburger. The mailings started a mere two days after my online registration was processed and confirmed. Many people call them Pre Show Promotions, designed to drive traffic to a specific booth or conference. I call them junk mail of the lowest order. Out of the 23 pieces received, only two were interesting. Another two had an “offer” worth looking into. As for the rest, sophomoric at best, all were unprofessionally created, hard to read and (in more than a few cases) just plain ugly. It was as if people had stumbled across an ancient marketing text that said, “Send pre show mailers” but didn’t read the section that said, ”Make sure the piece speaks to you audience.” All of the mailers were worse than the worst kind of e mail spam. In these extremely cluttered times, we all must think long and hard before we send out an unsolicited message, particularly one that misses the mark so completely.
2. Listen With Your Good Ears. Growing up my Dad would always tell us to “Look with our good eyes” when something was lost. I alter this advice for anyone who works a vendor booth: “Listen with your good ears.”
Each of my target companies was given an identical set of questions. Yet, not one (zip, nada) actually answered what was asked. All wanted to badly to tell me their stories. If I was a serious client, this would have made me angry.
3. Timing is Everything. One of the big events at the conference was the debut of a new and improved website for the association. In Martha Stewart’s vernacular, “That’s a good thing.” However, conference attendees got caught in the cross fire of a temporary site – to register and do pre conference business – that did little expect frustrate the users. The moral here is to avoid making your audience victims of unfortunate timing.
4. Just Mail It. As part of this overall exercise, we placed 10 calls to various companies, requesting general information. We got only one response. It’s amazing to thing that organizations are so other-focused they can’t follow up with people who actually want to learn more about them. No one knew we were calling for the competition. If you worry about that kind of thing, call first to reconfirm or have a further conversation. But for Pete’s sake, send out the information!
So there you have it, lessons learned from my great adventure as The Spy Who Came Back From San Diego. Now for those of you who will worry the next time people ask for information, sure, they could be trying to get a leg up for your competition. It could be someone like me doing my Jane Bond imitation for the good of a client. However, it’s ever more likely you’ve got a prospective customer on your hands. Tread lightly.
Copyright Randi B Enterprises, Inc., May, 2001. All rights reserved.
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