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5 min

What is a B2B competitor intelligence survey and why do you need it

The guide on B2B competitor intelligence survey and why it would help you in crucial decisions

GrapeData
Oct 14, 2022
B2B market research

Introduction

If you're looking to gain market share, you need to know what your competitors are up to. And if your business is B2B (business-to-business), then the role of competitor intelligence becomes extremely important. One of the ways to get this information is by conducting a b2b competitor intelligence survey.

What is a B2B competitor intelligence survey?

Competitive intelligence is the process of gathering, analysing, and using information about your competitors. Competitive intelligence can help you determine whether or not you have a competitive advantage. This is so that you can use it to your benefit. A b2b competitor intelligence survey is a survey that gathers information about your competitors. This can include how they're doing financially, and what their biggest business challenges are. In addition, this can also include how they're responding to them, where they're based geographically, how many employees they have, etc. The purpose of this is to give you an idea of where there might be opportunities within the industry that no one else has noticed yet. Therefore, it could be easier for you to enter.

A b2b competitor intelligence survey is a survey that gathers information on a company's competitors. The goal is to understand their strengths and weaknesses, how they operate, and what they are doing in the industry.

An example of competitor intelligence is a company that wants to know how its competitors are pricing their products. It could use a tool like Google Trends to find out what keywords its competitors are using online and then compare those keywords with its own website. This will show if it needs to lower its price or increase its advertising budget in order to compete against other companies in the industry.

Why does a company need competition intelligence? To improve its product offerings and provide customers with new or improved services at competitive prices! For more information on competitive intelligence, check out HBR’s article here.

What makes up a B2B competitor intelligence survey?

You need to know who your competitors are, what they offer and how they position themselves in the market. A competitor intelligence survey can give you a detailed picture of each of these elements.

The following are some questions that you will want to ask in your competitor intelligence survey:

  • Who are my competitors?
  • What products or services do they offer?
  • How do they position themselves in the market (e.g., niche market leader, price leader)?
  • What is their pricing strategy? How does it compare with mine? How does it compare to my competitors' prices? Has their price changed recently or will it change soon? If so, why did this happen and what impact will it have on sales volume and profit margins at our company or theirs? 

Understanding how pricing changes affect sales volume and profits is essential for developing an effective marketing strategy. If you want to know the answer to these questions, you need to conduct a competitor intelligence survey. A b2b competitor intelligence survey will give you an accurate picture of your competitor's strengths, weaknesses, and strategies.

What are the benefits of a B2B competitor intelligence survey?

A B2B competitor intelligence survey is a detailed study of your competitor's strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. It helps you understand how your competitors position themselves in the market, and what they're doing to attract and retain customers. Plus, it also helps you understand how they differentiate themselves from other companies.

The results of a competitor intelligence survey can help you identify new market opportunities by showing you where there are gaps in the marketplace that no one is filling yet. You can also use it to determine whether or not your current pricing strategy is effective for attracting new clients or retaining old ones.

When compared with a more traditional form of research like focus groups or interviews, surveys are more cost-effective. This is because they require fewer resources to create than other forms of research (such as focus groups).

For example, if you want to determine what consumers think about a new product or service, you could set up focus groups with a small group of people and pay them for their time. Alternatively, you could send out surveys on social media asking people how they feel about the same topic. A survey like this would be much more cost-effective because it wouldn't require any additional resources beyond those required to create the survey in the first place.

But while a survey is more cost-effective than other forms of research, that doesn't mean it's not without its own challenges. For example, surveys are often criticised for being biased toward those who have access to the internet or social media—people who tend to be younger and better educated. Additionally, a survey project could take a long time to complete and therefore be time-consuming.

How can you conduct a B2B competitor intelligence survey?

There are several ways you can conduct a b2b competitor intelligence survey. The first step is to choose the tool and format that works best for your company. There are many online data collection panels that facilitate the process of gathering insights from b2b respondents. You can also create your own surveys within Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

The next step is to decide on which competitors you want to survey. If possible, choose a cross-section of customers from all levels of your industry as well as some non-customers or potential customers who were turned away because they lacked the resources or expertise needed by that particular business model. For instance, a small company with less than a hundred employees may have fewer people to survey. You may also want to ask questions about what other companies they use besides yours. This is so that it's easier for the sales team at later stages in the sales cycle process when they're trying to close more deals.

Having regular competitor intelligence surveys can help you come up with better strategies to gain market share

As you grow your business, you'll need to continue to think of ways to outsmart the competition. Running b2b competitor intelligence surveys can help you come up with better strategies to gain market share and achieve your goals.

Unfortunately, many companies fail to do this and end up falling into their competitors' traps.

A b2b competitor intelligence survey is a way of getting information about your competitors' growth strategies, pricing structures, and marketing tactics by asking industry experts what they think makes their company successful. This information can then be used to improve your own business practices in order to stay ahead of the competition.

For example, if you're a retailer and your competitors are offering free shipping on all orders over $50, then you may want to consider doing the same. Or if they're having a sale on their website, perhaps you should do the same. The point is that by paying attention to what your competitors are doing, you can learn from them. Additionally, you can also make adjustments to your own business practices.

The best way to start a competitor intelligence survey is by creating a survey questionnaire. The first step is to brainstorm what information you want your survey respondents to provide. This can be as simple as asking them how they think your competitors are doing or what they like about your company's products/services. Next, you can consider partnering with a survey research specialist to synthesise the process of gathering information. If you'd like to learn more about survey research specialists, contact us today.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a b2b competitor intelligence survey is an important tool to help you keep track of your competitors’ business strategies. You can use the information gathered from these surveys to make better decisions about how you want your company to move forward and stay ahead of the game. If you’d like to put this theory into practice, check out our case study on b2b competitor intelligence.

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