Do you believe that the best jobs are the ones created for you? (I do.)

That is, because of your interests, skills and initiatives, you convince someone to assign to you what you wanted all along.

Competitive intelligence positions are often like that. As I described in my “Find the Pain” entry, it starts with recognizing that something is missing in the organization and seeing that the missing element is causing real pain to someone in leadership. Though their response to the pain may not be the immediate formation of a competitive intelligence function, there is an opportunity for someone with insight to gain such a role.

What does it take to get the job? There are two important points to remember.

First, ask for the job by name.

That means that using “competitive”, “competitor” or “intelligence” in your discussions is important. At this stage it only signals the domain of your effort. It does not mean that the leader has to authorize a budget, commit significant personal time or invest their prestige in the effort. It does alert those that are observant that you might be about a larger, more valuable task.

Using the examples from my previous post, here is what you might say to your leader to get their support to move to the next stage.

• They have been asked by their manager to present an overview of the competitive environment and realize that they only have the barest understanding summarized.

“I’d like to pull together a summary of competitive information for you. I could post a presentation for your review shortly about our top three competitors. Would that be interesting to you?”

• Their business results are being directly and obviously affected by a competitor move that blindsided the organization.

“I am researching how competitor X goes to market without us knowing something about their intentions. As I uncover intelligence about what they did, would you like to see the highlights?”

• Multiple competitors are repeatedly introducing better products and services and the manager does not know how they can do it.

“I have some speculation about how our competitors are operating that allows them to beat us to market. I think that some competitive intelligence might be useful to plan our countermoves. Would you like to see the conclusions from this study?”

• A key customer is contemplating a switch to a rival and tells them that their offerings (which they assumed were the best) are not competitive.

“I plan to speak with our sales team to get to the bottom of what our customers are telling us. I think that I can succinctly summarize the key differences between their products and ours. Maybe using this intelligence we focus of what improvements matter most.”

• The manager’s goal to increase sales and profits has stalled and no one can explain why this is true.

“There seem to changes happening in the competitive environment affecting our performance. Perhaps studying the market forces and presenting them to you would help us refine our strategies. Is this interesting?”

In every case, we are asking for a competitive intelligence role but in a way that is easy for a senior leader to accept. It is also fair to note that we need to be concerned about others in the organization. However, if you are just starting and are modest about your ambitions, they are more likely to be cooperative than obstructive.

Implicit in asking for the job is setting expectations about the expected benefit.

So, the second major point is to promise improvement, not solutions.

It is unlikely that you will create or uncover something that will fully and immediately address whatever competitive gaps exist. Even if you did have that valuable knowledge, it is quite likely that you are not well prepared to sell it to senior leaders. Starting a new competitive intelligence program requires you to think through how people accept new information that may contradict their established views, how to collect information from many information silos and owners that exist in the organization and how to present conclusions when you might not yet have the personal credibility with the thought leaders.

You have to move slowly and methodically to become credible, to gain allies and to build relationships.

There is an axiom that consultants are advised to follow. The axiom says to never promise to solve a client’s problem. Instead, promise to improve things by 10%. Not only is this reasonable in many organizations that view change skeptically, it makes the change process more tenable for the people that are affected and required to support the change.

Make no mistake about it. If you hope to introduce effective competitive intelligence into an organization where it has not previously existed, you are going to affect how business is conducted, how strategies are evaluated and how people view the future. This is overwhelming for most to comprehend. Move fast and you will guarantee the quick and cheered demise of your fledgling effort. Move with wisdom and you can create something durable and incredibly valuable to your leader and organization.

Circling back to asking for the job, note how you are simply asking for a task assignment rather than a full time job. Once you have the initial task assignment with the right expectations, it is time to give your leader a taste of what is to come.

Let’s talk about how to “Tease The Vision” next.

The Human Side of Competitive Intelligence

1. Find The Pain
2. Get The Job
3. Tease The Vision
4. Frame The Foundation
5. Setting Some Standards
6. Introduce The Brand
7. Accumulate The Tools
8. Back To The Vision
9. Secure The Budget
10. Build The Presence
11. Expand the Brand
12. Go For the Value
13. Recruit A Staff
14. Go On The Offense
15. Evangelize The Mission