The purpose of the CI Clinic was to provide an opportunity for SLA conference attendees to ask the panelists anything about Competitive Intelligence. Ellen Naylor and Jennifer Swanson, both CI practitioners with over 25 years of experience, fielded a variety questions about CI. The session was moderated by Kathleen Rainwater.
Highlights of the session included Ellen talking about how the internet and social networking have affected her primary resource process. Ellen told the audience that, while social networking sites have made it easier to find names of experts – people are getting more calls and are becoming less willing to talk to a researcher. She told the audience that you can learn a lot about a person via social networking sites, however, the person you are researching, can also find out who you are through the same tools. There is the possibility that once they know who you are, that they will end the conversation.
In addition, Ellen Naylor has enthusiastically embraced social networking as a means to expand her primary research network. Ellen says it takes time to build a reputation on Twitter. She recommends that you use your tweets wisely and provide something of value in each tweet. People really do not need to know “what you are doing”, but are interested in “what you find useful”. Ellen tracks topics on Twitter with Twilert which she says is much faster to review than an RSS feed on a topic. She recommends Twellow for finding experts within Twitter. Ellen also recommends using your LinkedIn contacts to find experts; joining the CI Ning; http://www.ci2020.com/ and monitoring http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/
When answering another question, Ellen stressed the importance of communication with your clients: Communicate with your customer before, during and after the project. Ask your customers about their expectations. Find out what they need to know, why they need to know it and who the ultimate audience is. Ellen says, “The quality of your answers is directly related to the quality of your questions”. Keep the lines of communication open and contact your client during the course of the project. Schedule regular meetings with your client as the project progresses.
When asked about what skills are needed by a Competitive Intelligence professional, Ellen recommended learning how to use common business analysis tools and learning the art of elicitation and mentioned the following three books:
- “Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for
Analyzing Business Competition” by Craig S. Fleisher and Babette Bensoussan 2002.
- “The Analyst’s Cookbook” by Kristan J. Wheaton, Emily E. Mosco and Diane E. Chido, 2006.
- “Confidential: Business Secrets - Getting Theirs, Keeping Yours” by John Nolan , 1999
At the end of the session, the panelists were asked for ‘one final piece of advice”
“Beware of CI” was the final word of advice from Ellen Naylor. “Don’t get caught only looking at your past and your customers – be visionary.”
Reported by Kathleen Rainwater, Competitive Business Research
www.competitivebusinessresearch.com
