Competitor Research Told Them They Were Not Ready For Battle

by Octopus Intelligence Octopus Competitive Intelligence

This post described how Competitor Research told them they were not ready for battle. It’s a Competitive Intelligence case study. The article presents how our services provided more certainty. And the confidence for significant supply chain business.

You know how

You know how you supply materials across the UK to a network of distribution centres? And you are getting very good at it. You start picking up other people stock. And you think why not offer this logistics network to other companies? But it’s a different market with new challenges. So you need a detailed market analysis of their potential industry. And more certainty on a key competitor.

What we did

A UK material supplier asked for an in-depth market analysis. And to take a look at an established competitor within European logistics.

What is Competitive Intelligence?
Competitive intelligence is the finding, sorting and critical analysis of information. To make sense of what’s happening and why. Predict what’s going to happen and give the options to help you control the outcome. Competitive intelligence offers certainty, competitive advantage, insight, growth & security.

To understand its value chain structured and analyse its supply chain network? Look at the locations of its premises, logistics hubs and manufacturing in the UK and Europe. To find their key customers and the key people who made the company successful. And analysis the supply chain to isolate their competitive advantage, strengths and weaknesses. Then reveal their future strategy.

This is what they got

We found that their competitor was well run and well funded. And its brand is intrinsically linked with the sector.

Their new branding strategy focused on their number “4” in logistics management. Their services are the default setting for many UK construction main contractors. And they got an understanding that:

They found out some interesting Intelligence

The competitor works hard visiting sites, contract managers and construction directors—boots on the ground.
At a more strategic level, they see themselves as the experts in the market. At the forefront of shaping future government legislation.
Their key customer base and the main routes they operate.
They secretly contracted out a manufacturing process they claimed to manufacture in house.
It also makes extensive use of its parent company’s German operation.
Over the next few years, it will be focusing on building a network of larger distribution centres. Combining all its smaller operations into more extensive regional operations.
They are reliant on outside support for their drivers, and it is a severe problem for its expansion plans. They have a poor reputation with drivers.
Despite the public persona, they don’t have an aggressive sales team.
Buyers and transport planners specify them out of habit. And there is a lack of knowledge of trusted alternatives.

And there’s more

They have tried to improve their management team. But the company appears to be steady and perhaps complacent. It is currently finding busy too easy (compared to others).
Work is routine, and that the management is stuck in its ways of doing things.
Anyone with ambition has to move elsewhere to progress.
Recruitment is pretty flat, suggesting they are replacing employee chum. One exception was the new Operations Director tasked to bring everything together.
When we visited, our impressions of the business would back this up. The whole site was not very energetic, and the staff we spoke to were less than enthusiastic about their business.
Analyse if traffic flow suggested that they had around 30 routes per day at the sites we visited. An average of 5 of these routes goes to European destinations.
They have several marketing initiatives which it is developing all the time. They are prefered because they offer a certain quality. And buyers have always used them. A “Better the devil you know” situation.
Its marketing created the image that the company appeared to be experts. And it has an active sales process, but their 7 to 10 people are going to struggle to cover the entire UK.
A realisation that the company was not ready for battle.

And the result was

The result was that they took many of our suggestions. Allowing them the confidence to offer their alternative superior, innovative services. We gave their sales teams up to date battle cards detailing:

Landmines to use
Objection handling
Quick dismiss
Why we win
Why they buy from them
And why we lose

Competitor Research told them they were not ready for battle

They could challenge the perception that their competitor was the expert. And some targeted headhunting would benefit the business. Focusing on their massive accounts would disrupt their competitor. They needed to invest in local salespeople and put less reliance on top-level sales. They required a “bottom up” relationship development. Because that’s where you found the people who ordered their services. They had to get them on the side and build trust. Our client sees us as part of their team, and we can do the same for you.

And we can do the same for you

We asked what Competitor Research told them they were not ready for battle. It is a Competitive Intelligence case study. The article presents how our services provided greater certainty. And a solid growth strategy for a major UK supply chain organisation.

We have changed some of the names and numbers.