More Related Content Similar to Tactical Competitive Intelligence for Bid teams (20) Tactical Competitive Intelligence for Bid teams2. info@amplioservices.com © 2017 Amplio Services 2
This presentation will
show…
• There is a huge, unfulfilled demand for sales & bid team
tactical competitive intelligence
• Fulfilling it can lead to quick competitive advantage
because your competitors probably aren’t very good at
it
• The results are relatively easy to measure proving the
return on investment
3. info@amplioservices.com
• What do sales & bid teams want from the CI function?
• Gathering primary & secondary intelligence to meet this demand
• Breakout Discussion 1: Experiences of collecting CI
• How CI for Sales & Bid teams is different to strategy work
• Breakout Discussion 2: The importance of people-sources in CI
analysis
• Difficulties of managing internal CI and knowledge silos
• Breakout Discussion 3: Overcoming knowledge silos
Contents & Agenda
3© 2017 Amplio Services
5. info@amplioservices.com 5
In a survey of 178 bid
professionals1 conducted
with the Association for
Proposal Management
Professionals (APMP) “better
competitive intelligence”
was ranked as the 3rd
quickest way to improve bid
performance
© 2017 Amplio Services
From a Bid Managers
perspective…
1 How technology is changing Bidding (2017). Amplio Services
6. info@amplioservices.com
In another survey of
Price to Win analysts2,
60% said that “better
Competitive
Intelligence” would
have the quickest
improvement on their
results
© 2017 Amplio Services 6
From a Price to Win
perspective…
2 Price to Win Survey (2017). Amplio Services
10. info@amplioservices.com
There were relatively
low value scores for
people-centred
deliverables:
• Profiles of potential
employees
• Profiles of Competitor
Key Decision Makers
• Profiles of Customer
Key Decision Makers
© 2017 Amplio Services 10
Less appreciation of
people intelligence
4 Competitive Intelligence for Bid Teams (2017). Amplio Services
11. info@amplioservices.com
There were relatively
high value scores for:
• Cost Benchmarking
Data
• Market Forecasts
• Specific information
on a Sales or Bid
Opportunity
© 2017 Amplio Services 11
More appreciation of
hard numbers
4 Competitive Intelligence for Bid Teams (2017). Amplio Services
12. info@amplioservices.com
Participants were asked to
tick all sources that
produce useful data, this is
effectively a popularity
measure5.
Again, we see a preference
for hard figures found in
annual reports and
industry statistics. Senior
managers and former
employees were relatively
unpopular sources of
intelligence.
© 2017 Amplio Services 12
Sourcing CI
5 Competitive Intelligence for Bid Teams (2017). Amplio Services
15. info@amplioservices.com
Pick a discuss topic
(in small groups)
1. To what extent are customers a good source of
CI?
2. What are the best sources of ‘hard-to-find’
competitive intelligence and how could we
integrate its collection into business as usual?
© 2017 Amplio Services 15
Discuss:
• How does your experience match the research presented
• Does anyone in your group have any best practice examples of
handling these issues
• What did you learn about difficulties you have in common with the
people in your group?
17. info@amplioservices.com
78% of SCIP
respondents said that
“developing strategy”
was a key driver for CI
in their company,
compared to 33% for
“driving sales” 6
This mirrored an earlier
finding that 60% of
members were funded
by strategy or
marketing, compared
to just 13% by sales or
business development.
© 2017 Amplio Services 17
Strategy:
the safe place for CI?
6 Career Planning Survey (2012). UKCIF
18. info@amplioservices.com
The core outputs to
support Sales & Bid
teams are not
foreign to CI
practitioners,
however they are
not the most
common and will
probably be done
with different
emphasis7
© 2017 Amplio Services 18
Core outputs supporting
Bids
7 Career Planning Survey (2012). UKCIF
19. info@amplioservices.com
Sales & Bid Teams
• Short-term, narrow focus
• War Gaming
• Pricing
• Scenarios
Strategy & Senior
Management
• Long-term, broad focus
• Board Decision Making
• Market landscaping
• Forecasting
© 2017 Amplio Services 19
Differences in Emphasis
• Winner takes all! There are no
prizes for coming 2nd in a bid!
• Constantly changing market
shares and trends
• Working within your restrictions
(e.g. brand, technology, people)
to make the most of what you
have
• Manoeuvring the company to
the optimal profit making
opportunities
20. info@amplioservices.com
In more than half of cases, feedback from buyers said that the
eventual winner was more “influential and engaged” in the pre-bid
phase8.
This continues the theme of a greater emphasis on ‘softer’ factors
in bidding.
© 2017 Amplio Services 20
Why you win or lose
8 Bids & Proposals Customer Survey (2017). Amplio Services
22. info@amplioservices.com
• Research shows that
some organisations
have processes that
make it very difficult
not to accept the
lowest price10
• There were an equally
large group of buyers
who trade technical
capability with price
• This highlights the
importance of win /
loss analysis
22
Customer buying trends
10 Bids & Proposals Customer Survey (2017). Amplio Services
23. info@amplioservices.com
Bid professionals are far more likely to base decisions on
intangibles like “credibility” and “risk appetite” 11 than the
more tangible factors like fluctuating material prices and
labour productivity
© 2017 Amplio Services 23
Bid decision makers
11 Price to Win Survey (2017). Amplio Services
24. info@amplioservices.com
• There are three generic ways companies compete. These are called
‘Value Disciplines’: 12 13
How companies compete
© 2017 Amplio Services 24
Being the cheapest
Having the best quality
Using customer intimacy
Aldi
Waitrose
7-Eleven
12 Competitive Strategy (1980). Michael Porter.
13 Customer Intimacy and other Value Disciplines (1992). Michael Treacy & Fred Wiersema.
14 Hyperperformance (2010). T.J. Waters
• Decision-makers develop predictability because “people repeat their
successes and avoid their failures” 14
25. info@amplioservices.com
Pick a discuss topic
(in small groups)
1. Do ‘organisational cultures’ prevail or are they
just reflections of key decision makers at a
point in time?
2. What are the best examples of measuring,
qualifying and storing people-sourced
intelligence you have seen?
© 2017 Amplio Services 25
Discuss:
• How does your experience match the research presented
• Does anyone in your group have any best practice examples of
handling these issues
• What did you learn about difficulties you have in common with the
people in your group?
27. info@amplioservices.com
Most respondents
said that “better flow
of internal
information” was the
quickest way to
improve CI in their
organisation. This is
clear evidence of
knowledge silos15
© 2017 Amplio Services 27
Improving your CI function
15 Competitive Intelligence for Bid Teams (2017). Amplio Services
28. info@amplioservices.com
Companies that have international offices struggle to leverage the
extra CI. Only 24% of participants said international offices
provide valuable CI. Only 32% felt their company structure
promoted cross-division or country information sharing16
© 2017 Amplio Services 28
Cross-Company
KnowledgeTransfer
16 Competitive Intelligence for Bid Teams (2017). Amplio Services
29. info@amplioservices.com
59% were not
satisfied with the
information Senior
Managers collect for
them
The most common
reasons indicate a lack
of engagement, rather
than lack of ability to
collect the CI17
© 2017 Amplio Services 29
Engaging Senior
Management
17 Competitive Intelligence for Bid Teams (2017). Amplio Services
30. info@amplioservices.com
Pick a discuss topic
(in small groups)
1. Can international and divisional silos be
overcome?
2. How can practitioners successfully utilise their
senior management to gather CI for them?
© 2017 Amplio Services 30
Discuss:
• How does your experience match the research presented
• Does anyone in your group have any best practice examples of
handling these issues
• What did you learn about difficulties you have in common with the
people in your group?
31. info@amplioservices.com
• Thanks for reading. Check out more of our blogs at:
http://www.amplioservices.com/blog
• Connect with us on LinkedIn
• Tweet us on Twitter
• Email us at: info@amplioservices.com
Connect with Amplio
31© 2017 Amplio Services