Getting the utmost from market intelligence.
The competitive landscape for professional services is dynamic firms are finding new areas of opportunity, but also facing pressure and potential disruption from many quarters. Market, or competitive intelligence performs an essential role in helping organizations adapt, and stay ahead of the competition. Like any essential resource, firms should routinely assess their market intelligence function to ensure it is delivering the greatest value.
For professional services—law firms, consultants and financial advisors—market intelligence powers business development by identifying opportunities, delivering client and prospect insights and supporting thought leadership. It also supports strategic and operational decision making by identifying trends, providing early warning of competitive threats and surfacing new risks.
How can you tell if your market intelligence is meeting your requirements—and doing so in the most timely and efficient way? The answer is to conduct an assessment.
A firm’s intelligence functions should be regularly assessed for such things as how well they align with the firm’s strategic vision, how actionable their output is, and how efficiently they leverage resources. An assessment or audit of your market intelligence functions will help ensure that you are getting the maximum return on your investment.
How to Assess?
Depending on the size and scope of your operations, an assessment might seem like a daunting task — but it shouldn’t be. We recommend that you start with a relatively quick survey that can identify what areas have the greatest gaps or shortfalls. In this way you can prioritize what needs immediate attention, and focus your resources on those. You can also identify those areas that might require more moderate adjustment and where you don’t need to tinker.
ShiftCentral can help. We work with our partners from day one to help align and prioritize their intelligence requirements, and we are also available to provide our knowledge and expertise when a firm needs to look across its broader market intelligence function. We can help you ask the right questions, be efficient, and most importantly map the results.
Connect with us on LinkedIn for more updates from the market intelligence industry.
This article was originally published on ShiftCentral, now part of LAC Group.
Mario Thériault
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