Capturing Competitor Information through your Sales Force 
…..a unique training programme
“The sales force and competitive intelligence are inextricably linked. Nowhere is there a greater sense of the firm’s competition and the need for good competitive analysis than in the field.
Nowhere else is there such a clarity of outcome – the sales person either wins an account or loses it - and the understanding of performance relative to competitors is critical to success”
(Ellen Naylor, Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals))
Despite the potential value of CI to the sales force and the business, many CI professionals have difficulty gaining access to competitor information through their field sales teams. This is available at key customer ‘touch points’ such as buyer meetings but the opportunity can be missed due to lack of training.
- Due to client demand TSW has developed its own unique training module to provide sales teams with tools, techniques and tips to allow them to gather CI from their customers, whilst at the same time enhancing the customer relationship. This module has now been successfully ‘road-tested’ and is split into 4 sessions:
- Session 1 - will identify current perceptions and compare them with the desired position.
- Session 2 - will identify current practice, barriers to success etc. and formulate plans to enhance the gathering of CI in the future plus ‘case studies’.
- Session 3 - role play gathering specific competitor information from a ‘customer’ at a simulated sales meeting.
- Session 4 - analysis of the information gained from the role play, presentation of competitors’ strengths and weaknesses vs. the client and recommendations on how to use the information to strengthen the sales ‘pitch’.
