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Affordable Tricks and Tools for Learning Markets Market Intelligence Steve Thomson www.thomsonconsulting.ca Rob Duncan www.greatcapes.com

Market Intelligence - Affordable Tricks And Tools For Learning Markets

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A quick presentation on 20 Tips, Tricks and Tools that you can use to better understanding your existing markets or to learn new ones. Designed for small businesses and start-up companies, this presentation includes tools that can be implemented today by businesses of all sizes for little or no money. Audience: Entrepreneurs, Product Managers, Product Marketers, Market Researchers, Market Analysts, Corporate Librarians Custom presentations also available.

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Page 1: Market Intelligence - Affordable Tricks And Tools For Learning Markets

• Affordable Tricks and Tools for Learning Markets

Market Intelligence

Steve Thomsonwww.thomsonconsulting.ca

Rob Duncanwww.greatcapes.com

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The Benefits of Increased Transparency

Markets

Better position your company and products

Competitors

React faster

Outflank competitors

Key Accounts

Deliver more appropriate

products

Triage accounts for better resource

management

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Tip#1 – Don‟t Horde, Share!

Share Your Intelligence

• Information needs to be available to be actioned

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Tip#2 – Scope It!

Focus your data collection

• Define „Actionable‟ Requirements

• Avoid Analysis Paralysis

• Need to Have vs. Nice to Have

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Tip#3 – SWAG

Scientific Wild-Ass Guess

• Ask yourself – “If I‟m 10%, 20% or 50% out, does it change my recommendation?”

Don‟t Waste Time Trying to Get Too Accurate

• Try to get to the same estimate from 2 or 3 directions.

Triangulate Your Results

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Tip#4 – Remember the Five Ws

Who

What

WhereWhen

How

Why

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Tip#5 – Know Thyself First

• Where can you find information on your company?• directories, associations, conferences, partner

sites

Information Sources

• Where have your people come from?• competitors, clients, suppliers, academia

Internal Resources

• Understand your own metrics so you can benchmark others.• business model, delivery channels, key ratios

Performance

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Tip#6 – You‟re Not the Only Company

in Your Market

Search Out Industry Resources

• Industry associations

• Conferences

• Standards bodies

• Market analysts and consultants

Page 9: Market Intelligence - Affordable Tricks And Tools For Learning Markets

Tip#7 – Understand Your Industry

Value Chain/Ecosystem

Telcos Retailers Consumers

You

TechnologyPartners

Distributors

Integration Partners

Standards Bodies/

Regulators

Legacy System

Suppliers

StandardsBodies

DeviceManufacturer

Operating Systems

EnterpriseSoftware

HandsetSoftware

System Integrators

Value Chain Ecosystem

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Tip#8 – Create a Key Account Profile

for Key Prospects

Make it Easy to Share/Update Information

Corporate Description

• Profile

• Contact info

• “Pain”

Technology Profile

• Legacy systems

• Integration partners

Competitive Profile

• Who

• What

• Why

• How

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Tip#9 – Create Organization Charts

for Key Prospects

Fred, CEO

(Decision Maker)

VP, Line of Business

Joe

(Recommender)

CIO

Al(IT Influencer)

CFO

Bob

(ROI Influencer)

• Understand who you need to talk to and their

motivations

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Tip#10 – Love Your Library

– University and Public

• UBC, SFU, BCIT, Vancouver Public Library

Usually Provide Free Access to Premium Information Sources

i.e., Hoover‟s, Factiva, online trade journals

• VPL InfoAction

Sometimes Provide Fee-for-Service Research Services

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Tip#11 – Talk to People

Often 80% of the Information You Seek Is Close to You

Your Company

Management Sales Team

Partners Suppliers

Customers Investors

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Tip#12 – Google Is Your Friend…

But Not Your Only Friend

Learn Advanced Search Techniques

• Use at least 3 words

• Go beyond the first results page

• Try phone numbers, email addresses and given names

Try Other Search Engines and Tools

• Yahoo, Zoominfo, LinkedIn, Jigsaw, Facebook

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Tip#13-1: Favourite Tools

www.zoominfo.com

Aggregates

information

on people

and

companies

(on Internet)

Export

contact and

profile

information

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Tip#13-2: Favourite Tools

www.linkedin.com

Leverage your

network

Ask questions

of “experts”

Find “hidden”

resources

Better

understand

your prospects

The bigger your network, the more effective this tool becomes

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Tip#13-3: Favourite Tools

www.jigsaw.com

Business card

exchange

Find direct

contacts and

avoid the

gatekeepers

Use to update

your CRM files

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Tip#13-4: Favourite Tools

www.archive.org

Understand

where your

client/competitor

has come from

Compare

historical

snapshots to

establish trending

Watch market

positioning,

language,

products, staff

turnover

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Tip#13-5: Favourite Tools

www.watchthatpage.com

Track Changes on

Target Pages

Watch changes

in company

news,market

positioning,

language,

products, staff

turnover

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Tip#13-6: Favourite Tools

www.monster.com

Set up alert

emails to

monitor job

postings in your

industry

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Tip#13-7: Favourite Tools

www.freepatentsonline.com

Search your

industry for

recent patent

filings

Understand the

people behind

the technologies

for strategic

recruiting

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Tip#14 – Think Big Fish, Small Pond

• Local newspapers

•Trade journals

•Associations to which they belong

Look for Information in Places Where Your Target Is

a Big Fish

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Tip#15 – Follow the Money

Where $ Changes Hands, So Does Information

M&A and Financing

Events

Hirings and Layoffs

Large Purchases

• Customerpurchase orders

• Real estate

PatentAssignments

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Tip#16 – Enjoy Public Filings

Rich source of information

• Management discussion and analysis

• Key announcements

• Key metrics

View over time to provide a sense of direction

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Tip#17 – Change Is Good

• New management team or board members

• New partners and clientsPeople

• New language

• New products and product directionsPositioning

• M&A events, new plants and offices

• Corporate realignmentsStructure

• Gross margins, EBITDA, key ratios

• FundingFinancials

Always look for changes; they suggest something is in play

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Tip#18 – Watch Trademarks

and Patents

Great Source for Early Warning

•Often outline intent long before it becomes reality

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Tip#19 – Share with Others

in a Similar Boat

Talk to Others Working with the Same Clients (not direct competitors)

•How long do sales take?

•What is the process?

•Who are the gatekeepers and decision makers?

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Tip#20 – Develop a CI Matrix

Factor

1

Factor

2

Factor

3

Factor

4

Factor

5

Threat

Assessment

Counter-

attack

Strategy

Our Company N/A N/A

Competitor A

Competitor B

Competitor C

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Tip#21 – Learn Porter‟s Five Forces

Thre

at of

New

Ent

rant

s

Bargaining Power of Customers

Sub

stitute

Pro

ducts o

r Service

s

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Jockeying For Position

Among Competitors

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Tip#22 – When in Doubt,

Hire a Professional

•Manage your resources wisely

•Some work is better done by external experts

Don‟t Be Shy

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For More Information

Steve Thomson

• 778-371-8963

[email protected]

Rob Duncan

• 604-431-4956

[email protected]