How Competitive Intelligence Questions Should Be Structured For Maximum Success

by Octopus Intelligence Octopus Competitive Intelligence

Any decent competitive intelligence project starts with excellent questions. The quality of the questions influences the quality of the answers received.

Defining questions is crucial to ensure that you get the information you need. Here are ten quick ways to express and structure excellent questions:

Specific

An excellent question should be precise and focused on a particular topic. Ensuring that the answer provides the necessary and the required detail.

Relevant

The question should be relevant to the context or the problem you are trying to solve. Are they any questions that are just nice-to-know rather than must-know or need-to-know? Don’t waste time on nice-to-knows. They are not relevant to the problem. And these questions will likely be the hardest to answer.

What is competitive intelligence?

Competitive intelligence is the finding & critical analysis of information to make sense of what’s happening & why. Predict what’s going to happen & give the options to control the outcome. The insight to create more certainty & competitive advantage.

How to do Competitor Analysis For Your Growth

Open-Ended

Make sure your question is open-ended to encourage detailed and comprehensive responses. Allowing the respondent to provide a more nuanced answer.

Clear

The question should be clear and easy to understand. Avoid ambiguity or multiple interpretations. Here is a question from us Why Does Your Sales Team Need Competitive Intelligence?

Thought-Provoking

Excellent questions challenge the respondent’s thinking, encouraging them to respond more thoughtfully.

Timely

The timing of the question is important. Ask the question at the right to ensure you receive a helpful response. Never let time make you combine two questions into one.

Non-Judgmental

Questions should be phrased in a way that does not make the respondent feel judged or criticised. And be aware of natural biases and build them into the analysis of the answer.

Engaging

Excellent questions should encourage the respondent to engage in conversation, leading to more detailed and informative answers. If it’s a verbal question, never jump in with your opinion. Let them talk.

Problem-Solving

Questions should be designed to solve a particular problem. They provide a focused approach to finding solutions. You must clearly define the problem the question is designed to solve. And understand what you are going to do with the answer.

Empathetic

Asking empathetic questions shows interest in the respondent’s experience and emotions. This will lead to more meaningful open conversations.

And remember, the best insight-related questions are future-facing. Questions should be focused, relevant, and actionable. This ensures that the insight gleaned is used to make excellent decisions. When crafting excellent questions, it’s essential to:

Understand what information is needed
Who are the stakeholders
How the intelligence will be used
Identify the key areas to focus on
Isolate the most relevant sources of information to talk to

Good questions should be open-ended and designed to elicit detailed and nuanced responses. And not lead the respondent towards a particular answer. The question should be specific and not too broad to ensure the answers are relevant.

How Competitive Intelligence Questions Should Be Structured For Maximum Success

In summary, a competitive intelligence project must begin by creating excellent questions. To ensure that the information gathered is relevant, accurate, and actionable. It helps ensure that the intelligence gathered is aligned with your strategic objectives. And can be effectively used to inform business decisions.

Here is another article which many be of interest asking What Makes an Excellent Competitive Intelligence and OSINT Analyst?