We started this journey a couple of months ago. The goal has been to describe how to develop and deploy a new competitive intelligence function for your company. You might recall how the early articles tiptoed around the issues and people sensitivities to the new function. Later, I was more specific about tasks such as budgets, branding and assertively expanding the function. Boldness became the order of the day.

We talked about how many people will not understand what you are trying to accomplish. Some that do understand what you are attempting will be nervous and suspicious about your aims. Are you trying to supplant their role? Is your goal to implicitly criticize their performance? Why should they help you with their special knowledge? And, what is it about competitive intelligence that will help them?

All along the way we have discussed practical tips for the development and deployment. More than that, I have tried to illuminate people issues that are important with the thesis that these issues are the most intractable if not dealt with properly. All of the other issues of analysis techniques, infrastructure design, acquisition of tools and budget are simpler (though not trivial) issues if the people ones are aligned well.

And now we come to the final step.

The final step is to spread the word about competitive intelligence.

Some communities call this “evangelizing.” In Christian circles this means telling others the good news about Jesus Christ. In business venues, it means extolling the virtues and power of a concept. The general goals are similar. That is, we are after conversions that represent a change in mindset and priorities.

There are some specific goals.

First, you want to solidify your existing function. Becoming better known will help you protect your budgets and priorities.

Second, you want to increase your credibility within the company. This is related to the first point except that it has more to do with you as a person.

Third, you want to explain competitive intelligence to larger audiences. This will help you gain future helpers as more and more people see CI as important and accepted within the company.

Fourth, you want to help the company succeed. All along we have had the simply stated reasoning that effective competitive intelligence is vital for strategic success.

Fifth, you want to prepare your successors. Few people last a long time in competitive intelligence for various reasons. Perpetuating the function requires thoughtful preparation of others.

Sixth, you want to improve the execution of the competitive intelligence function. More people will want to help over time and it is incumbent on you to equip them correctly to be effective.

Seventh, you want to learn and improve yourself. Speaking publically and broadly about CI will expose both your knowledge and ignorance. Humbly accepting learning will directly lead to substantial improvement.

So, how do we evangelize about competitive intelligence?

Here are three concrete steps that you may consider.

1. Write about it. The purpose of writing is to reach broader audiences than we can touch by person to person contact. In the writings, we can carefully describe our experiences and highlight lessons that we have learned. There are many formats. We have already talked about internal publications such as newsletters. Broader external publications are also available including blogs and magazines. Aside from conveying information, the external writings will also increase your internal credibility. Of course, you must be careful to protect proprietary information and confidences. Most importantly, you must be particularly careful about the identities of the people in any story that you publish.
2. Speak about it. Many people are auditory learners. They learn best by hearing someone speak about a subject. Others need someone to embody a concept before they trust the communication. On the top of those excellent reasons there is the fact that speaking can increase your confidence about what you are doing. You will come into contact with others that have done far less than you have and this will paint a satisfying picture of relative accomplishment. You will also meet people that can help introduce you to things that you don’t know. Finally, you will improve your skills of explaining competitive intelligence. This will always be a vital skill as you continue your CI responsibilities.
3. Teach about it. If you have followed the preceding 14 steps of The Human Side of Competitive Intelligence series, you have been teaching others in your company about competitive intelligence. Now it is time to formalize these lessons. If you are part of a larger company then a good target is another business division. It is likely that the managers of that division will be aware of your efforts already and more likely to support training. A second fruitful training approach is to offer customized training for senior executives. You can equip them with tools, training and process in a one-on-one setting. If this is possible, be sure to be prepared to explain each point crisply. You also need to be prepared to listen. Remember that we have stressed being a trustworthy partner to senior management and this is one way to prove that you are just that.

At the end of the day, competitive intelligence is one of many vital functions in a healthy company.

Is it more important than quality? Or business development? Or sales? Maybe not. But the problem isn’t that it is relatively more or less important than the other vital functions. Rather, the problem is that competitive intelligence is among the least likely vital functions to be recognized and organized successfully for most companies.

Hence we need success stories and people to tell them. You can be this person.

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