A small-to-medium size business (SMB) is different from a large corporation in many ways (I don’t think that I am breaking any news by this statement). An SMB views the world differently.

Aside from the obvious facts that an SMB has smaller revenues, fewer people and (probably) a narrow product or service scope, there are other less obvious differences in strategy issues. Here are a five common strategy differences.

1. Strategy Responsibility: The responsibility for strategy is often shared among a small number of senior managers rather than vested in a named function (e.g., vice president of strategy). It is a part-time, diffuse task.
2. Strategy Definition: The company completes few formal strategy exercises. Emergent strategy is assigned much greater value. That is, strategy is “recognized” rather than prescribed.
3. Decision-Making: Decision-making speed is valued over reflection. Rapid adaptation and reaction are the currency of the day.
4. Tactical Activities: Day-to-day pursuit of customers, creating products, closing deals and operations consumes management’s time. In short, tactics dominate strategy.
5. Internal Focus: Attention to the external environment is narrowed to match the SMBs near-term customers and prospects. There is less attention paid to broad trends, unexpected competitive threats and tangent opportunities.

All right, what about the SMBs that do think that strategy and competitive intelligence are (or might be) important? What is a feasible set of practices for them to initiate and sustain over time?  For whatever stage of strategy and competitive intelligence maturity they find themselves, how do they move to the next stage?

Before talking about the stages, there are four meta-principles for SMB competitive intelligence practices.

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I often talk with SMB owners and managers. When they ask about what I do, I explain that I help companies with competitive intelligence. “Isn’t that spying?” they ask as they usually take a defensive step back from me. “No,” I hasten to explain, “it is about understanding the competitive environment better so that you can make better decisions.” If they trust me even a little, they exhale and begin to relax. I then get a chance to answer the implied question, “What does competitive intelligence have to do with me?”

The key is to recognize that SMB’s already are doing competitive intelligence whether this is recognized or not by management.

Their competitive intelligence efforts may be ad hoc, incomplete or ineffective. Nevertheless, competitive assumptions are made and used.

Could it be done better?

From this point, things move faster. It is easy to talk about the important questions that every SMB must answer. (My post “Competitive Intelligence Value for SMB’s” identifies these questions.) “Wouldn’t you like timely, credible information that helps you improve your results and decrease your risks?” I ask. That is easy for them to answer. “Of course,” they reply though there is some mystery about how such information can be obtained within their budget and capabilities.

“Not to worry,” I tell them. “Once you know your competitive intelligence priorities, you can allocate your time and resources according. Then, for the priorities that you act on, there are specific approaches that you can tailor to your budget.” (more about this in a later post)

I have their attention now. Before I suggest priorities, I set the context with some questions.

“Is your industry competitive? Does knowing about competitors and the environment help you decide your strategies? Assuming you had valuable information, would you use it?”

Again, it is easy to answer “yes” to these questions. Now the issue becomes how to apply limited resources more effectively. Hence, I have developed my Top 10 list of priorities for SMB’s. Competitive intelligence supports each one.

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Every professional experiences the moment when what they know is questioned. By implication, this moment also questions their value. That is, if they know something and are convincing to others, the professional is perceived to be valuable. On the other hand, if they do not know an important point or are unconvincing about what they do know, the professional is valued less (or not at all).

It is the way of the world, at least in knowledge positions within today’s economy.

There is another side, of course. Some people are completely convincing without the knowledge or experience to support what they advocate. Their self-confidence radiates within a room and casts a spell. People agree with this kind of person implicitly and are willing to follow him or her. Later, it may be clear that their confidence was misplaced. Then, a sense of betrayal replaces the false confidence. Convincing, yes, but (in the long term) they are not credible.

Competitive intelligence professionals routinely deal with knowledge. There are facts about the competitive environment, advanced data collection tools, powerful analytical models and insightful interviewing approaches. Awash with information, a competitive intelligence project usually ends with some type of report or presentation. Then, the facts, interpretations and recommendations are displayed for a sometimes-skeptical senior management audience. Attitudes of “convince me” and “prove it” often challenge the competitive intelligence professional’s performance and credibility. The obvious temptation is to emphasize expertise and exclude doubts, right? After all, is not humility a sign of weakness?

Unsurprisingly, there should be a balance between honest humility and expressed expertise. This balance is not contrived. Rather, it reflects what is true for most people. That is, the more that we know, the more we realize that we do not know. Put another way, whatever we know today, it will not be enough for tomorrow. Hence, we need a way to live with ourselves while delivering valuable services to others. We need to be able to explain what we do not know with as much credibility as we covey our certainties. (See my article on “The Right Answer to the Trap Question” for one approach.)

How do we do that? Here are seven guidelines that I use to balance my expertise and my humility.

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One of the laments of the competitive intelligence community is how others erroneously define competitive intelligence. Left alone, others view CI as everything from spying to something that is indistinguishable from <file in the blank> (e.g., market intelligence, business intelligence, marketing, just good thinking). It is no wonder that many of us encounter skepticism, ignorance and doubt when we talk about competitive intelligence to potential clients or customers.

I would be pretty happy if I could say that all of my problems were due to those that garble the definition of competitive intelligence.  If customers would just understand what I do better, then my business would boom, my clients would prosper and the long awaited vacation home in the Colorado mountains would be a reality!

Fairness compels me to admit, however, that poor definitions are only the beginning of the issues faced by me and, perhaps, by others that practice competitive intelligence.

Another significant problem has to do with marketing competitive intelligence. (I have previously written about “The Failure of Competitive Intelligence Marketing.”) Undoubtedly, there are exceptions but my sense is that it is common for CI professionals to face difficulties in marketing their services. Why? One reason might be that previous successes are problematic to share. If I deliver outstanding insight to a client, it is reasonable for them to want exclusive access to that insight. Thus, I cannot ethically share this story to help me get my next client. Another reason might be that it is often hard to capture discrete, numerical benefits directly attributed to competitive intelligence. Testimonials help, of course, but the holy grail of benefiting a company’s bottom line is often elusive.

Finally, there is the issue of increasing personal value over time. How does a competitive intelligence professional get better at his or her job? Admittedly, there is no substitute for numerous client engagements to support on-the-job learning. Still, the absence of a well-established competency framework (though some are in work) to guide or certify professional development in the industry is a clear community weakness. In absence of a framework that has a commercial meaning (i.e., customers value the framework and use it to make buying decisions), how does a CI professional manage their own skill development? There is no lack of opportunities but how do you decide what to do. And, after taking advantage of some of those opportunities, how do you translate the improved skills into increased value for customers?

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