Problem/goal
Dropping revenue for 18 consecutive months had executives looking for problems and solutions. The idea of improving the competitive intelligence program was brought up as a potential opportunity so a small team from Product Marketing was were tasked with reviewing the most respected CI cendors to see if there was a way to elevate our insight collection.
My role
I was a member of a small team assigned to review vendors and participate in their demo pitches.
Strategy/process
After initial research, Klue became the clear leading favorite of the team. After receiving pitches/demos and pricing, the final decision was to pass on signing a contract with Klue, as our homegrown CI program was already using best practices that aligned with 95% of what Klue claimed their product did. It was decided that the substantial cost was not worth it, and to continue to move forward with our existing internal CI program.
Deliverables
As the PM in charge of the competitive intelligence program, this experience was a testament that the system we built from the ground up for collecting, formatting, storing, and communicating competitive intelligence was best in class and there was no need to spend more on the program by using a 3rd party vendor.
Results
The company saved $50,000 a year by not signing the contract for Klue Competitive Intelligence. The process also reassured leadership that the internal teams were appropriately managing the competitive intelligence side of the business.
To see a generic example of the typical battlecard/CI for a competitor, click here or the image below. After it opens make sure to scroll down to see all of the components.
