Research Tips
Competitive Analysis and Benchmarking
Do you know how perceptions of your product, service, or organization compare to those of your competitors and other organizations?
There are a variety of competitive analysis and benchmarking techniques that can be used to examine this vital issue. Undertaking this type of systematic and objective analysis is important because:
- Even if you have no obvious direct competitor, customers or clients usually form their impressions by making comparisons to something, and understanding who or what that is can aid decision-making.
- When direct competitors do exist, it’s easy to focus too tightly on them and lose sight of the influence new or less direct competitors are having on customer or client perceptions and behaviors.
- Extensive research shows that people tend to rate their own products, services, and organizations more highly relative to their competitors than their customers and clients do (sometimes because they focus on different attributes). This can lead to complacency and over-confidence.
It’s important to bear in mind that perceptions change over time, so competitive analysis and benchmarking activities should be conducted on an ongoing basis.