Anyone that works in competitive intelligence deals with tough questions. Sometimes they concern specific competitors. Other times there are challenging issues about important trends. Making sense of copious details can consume a CI professional’s time. These questions arise during the execution of our jobs. Answering them is tough and specific to the assignment.

However, a different set of questions can be more difficult to answer.

These questions are fundamental and overarching. They are unrelated to a specific analysis technique or task. Instead, people ask them to understand relationships, value and the possible impacts of competitive intelligence. They are especially relevant to establishing a competitive intelligence function in an organization or when entering an organization as a consultant. Without good answers, the competitive intelligence person is vulnerable to “side tracking.” Side tracking inhibits a CI person from delivering the value that they have to the client because they are unable to answer fundamental  questions well.

Here are the 5 most difficult competitive intelligence questions and a possible answer to each.

1. What is competitive intelligence?

This is the most basic question and it trips up many CI people. There are many good answers that make sense in the CI community but that fall flat when offered to others. When CI community definitions are used the client fails to understand where and how to apply competitive intelligence to their job. Because they don’t get a good answer, then often times that person resorts to their Hollywood images of corporate spies and such. This is not good for either party.

I have written about how to answer this question using the words, “You know what it is like when …”. The idea is to customize the answer to the client’s issues. Involve them in the definition and state it in terms of their common problem. For instance, when speaking to a product manager you can say the following.

“You know what it is like when you are championing a new product before management and they want to know what the competition is doing? I can help you assemble a complete map of the competitor products to show how your proposed product will succeed in the market.”

2. What can you do better?

An outside CI professional’s competitor is a client organization’s inertia. That is, though an organization may be suffering, it is inclined to look inward for solutions especially when additional expenditures for competitive intelligence might be required. The often unspoken question is “what can you do differently or better than we are already doing?” A related question is “how can you improve on what we already tried?” Companies have many reasons to not improve their competitive intelligence.

In my experience, it is virtually impossible to convince someone of your value without examples. Generic answers about how good competitive intelligence helps make company’s strategies more effective are true but unsatisfying. What does work are illustrations in context of a person’s or organization’s problems.

Here is a possible answer to try when you “hear” the unspoken questions.

“You know, I’m not sure that I can help you. Your team may already be doing everything that needs to be done. However, if you will spend 30 minutes with me explaining your competitive intelligence activities, I believe I can tell you at least three improvements that will be important to you. What do you say?”

3. How sure are you?

This is the black and white trap. Either you know or you do not know think some clients. Many people can dismiss future looking functions like competitive intelligence because there are no guarantees. Without guarantees, they dismiss even the likely outcomes or consequences. Furthermore, a competitive intelligence professional that has a talent for analysis is often ill equipped to answer this question. After all, many types of analysis seemingly lead to discrete and quantifiable answers. However, the truth is that nothing about the future is certain.

The trap can easily be avoided by employing confidence levels. For instance, if a client is inclined to dismiss the competitive intelligence conclusions because they are not certain, consider a reply like this one.

“You’re right that my findings are not 100% certain. I am <fill in the blank> confident due to the reasons I have already given. The uncertainty arises from <fill in the blank> factors that are unclear. Is there a way that you can help me reduce the uncertainty?”

4. What proof do you have?

The bane of competitive intelligence is the prohibition of talking about our greatest triumphs. Of course, this is exactly what future clients want to know about because it gives them confidence about using your services. Inside a company, easily shared information overcomes this concern. What do you do when that is not the case? This is the common situation for outside consultants or for a newly formed competitive intelligence function inside a company. The usual resort is to use testimonials from previous clients. This is powerful.

Another possible response addresses a core fear among clients. The fear is that the competitive intelligence person is not invested in the same way as the client.

“I understand that you are taking a chance to use my services. Even though I can’t share the details of my previous projects, I absolutely guarantee my services to you. My goal is to provide so much value that you will honor me with a personal recommendation when we are done with the project.”

5. What can you provide quickly?

There is tension between the near term and the long-term viewpoints. The near term thinkers want value now because they will use it immediately. There are tasks to accomplish. Meanwhile, the long-term perspective requires reflection about an entirely different set of issues. Those thinkers want a broader perspective. What is the problem? The problem is that most people working today are tactical (near term) rather than strategic. Therefore, if a competitive intelligence person stresses the need to study issues to produce deep strategic impacts, they risk losing most of their potential clients. For tactically minded people, specific and concrete near term benefits are paramount. A competitive intelligence person should think strategically but act tactically.

What do you say to a client that worries that you are not going to help him or her solve today’s problems? Try something like this.

“It’s true that I am considering long term issues. However, it is important for me to identify and address the key near term questions quickly. Will you help me prioritize a list of questions that are important? Would you be willing to review the answers as I get them?”

These questions are basic but crucial.

You may know of other fundamental questions. Good answers mean that you can remain focused on providing value to your client. Bad answers mean that you may become unnecessarily side tracked. That benefits neither you nor your client.

What do you think?