As a service to companies interested in
possibly working with a company such as CIS, we are pleased to present
tips on selecting a competitive intelligence supplier. The tips
follow:
Tip
#1:
Make sure the supplier is a member of the Society of Competitive
Intelligence Professionals (SCIP).
Ask if they adhere to the SCIP Code of Ethics.
Make sure the supplier agrees in advance to a reasonable confidentiality
pledge.
Have they signed such pledges with other clients?
Make sure the supplier agrees to not accept business from other firms in
your business category.
Beware conflicts of interest.
Look for a supplier with highly educated, skilled personnel.
You do not need $5/hour telemarketers conducting your sophisticated
project!
Look
for a supplier that offers frequent oral or e-mail reports during the project and a final
written report.
Look for an offer of a final teleconference, videoconference, or meeting
to discuss findings.
See if the supplier offers to prepare a Strategic & Tactical Research
Plan for your review and approval.
See if they mention it (do not prompt them). If not offered, the
supplier may use questionable techniques.
Beware of suppliers promising to get answers to all your "wish
list" questions about a competitor or market. Also be
cautious of suppliers promising to acquire confidential information or
trade secrets.
Not all questions have answers obtainable legally and ethically.
Look for a supplier that offers a thoughtful, reasonable proposal.
The proposal is a good indicator of final report quality.
Large
staff size and huge client base are not necessarily desirable in a research
supplier. Your project may be one of dozens, or it may get pooled with others in
syndicated studies. Resulting data may lack detail and not be actionable.
Some
large suppliers conduct more theoretical seminars about CI than they do actual CI research
projects.
Quiz the supplier on knowledge of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.
As
a good test, ask them for suggestions on how to design a Compliance Plan for your company.
CIS meets all of the tests noted above. We invite you to contact
us for confidential discussion of CI, your research goals, reasonable
expectations, budget, etc.
