Smart Services Competitive Information Strategies, Solutions, and Success Stories for Service Businesses

by Sawyer, Deborah C.

• ISBN13: 9780910965569
• ISBN10: 0910965560
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781937290757
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: CyberAge Books
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

Focusing specifically on the competitive information needs of service-oriented firms, this book illuminates the many forms of competition in service businesses, identifies the most effective information resources for competitive intelligence, and provides a practical framework for identifying and studying competitors in order to gain competitive advantage. Explained are unique challenges and techniques for tackling traditional competitors, uncovering hidden and left-field competition, discovering and tracking competitor strategies, looking for financial intelligence, and looking for intelligence about people.

Author Biography

Deborah C. Sawyer is the president of the Information Plus companies, a group of firms providing research and consulting services to Fortune 500 corporations. She is the author of Getting It Right: Avoiding the High Cost of Wrong Decisions. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

First Words	1	(7)
Introduction	7	(6)
PART 1 THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Competitive Challenges for Service Businesses	13	(10)
Introduction	13	(1)
Defining the Service Business	14	(2)
Foundation for Analysis	16	(2)
How Services Competition Differs	18	(1)
The Broad Spectrum of Competitive Forces	19	(1)
Why Undertake CI in Services?	20	(1)
A Word About Words	21	(1)
References	22	(1)
Customer-Origin Competition	23	(14)
The True Arena of Competition	23	(1)
The Role of Prior Relationships	24	(1)
Competition from Alternates and Substitutes	25	(1)
Competing Against a Lack of Action	26	(1)
Reluctance to Change as Competition	27	(1)
The Do-It-Yourself Phenomenon	28	(2)
Too Much Competition	30	(1)
Bad Experiences	30	(1)
The Need for Education	31	(2)
Location as Perceptual Competition	33	(1)
Market Cooperation	34	(1)
Tackling Customer-Origin Competition	34	(1)
References	35	(1)
Competition Checklist	35	(1)
Key Points to Remember	36	(1)
A Matter of Influence	37	(10)
Spotting Centers of Influence	38	(1)
Decision by Committee	39	(1)
Delegation as a Competitive Barrier	40	(2)
Recognizing the Role of Gatekeepers	42	(1)
Managing Multiple Influencers	43	(1)
Tackling Influencer Competition	44	(1)
Competition Checklist	45	(1)
Key Points to Remember	46	(1)
When Uncle Sam Is a Competitor	47	(12)
Undercutting the Private Sector	47	(1)
Siphoning Off Opportunities	48	(2)
More Than the Federal Government	50	(1)
Hidden Competition	51	(1)
A Question of Favoritism?	51	(1)
Crossing Borders	52	(2)
Indirect Competition	54	(2)
Tackling Uncle Sam as a Competitor	56	(1)
References	56	(1)
Competition Checklist	56	(1)
Key Points to Remember	57	(2)
Traditional Competitors	59	(10)
Providers Versus Competitors	59	(2)
Full or Partial Competitors	61	(1)
Issues of Visibility	62	(1)
Imitators Versus Competitors	62	(1)
Absentees and Exclusivities	63	(1)
New Market Entrants	63	(1)
When Foes Are Friends, Too	64	(1)
Elements of Traditional Competition	65	(1)
Tackling Traditional Competitors	66	(1)
Competition Checklist	67	(1)
Key Points to Remember	68	(1)
An Inside Job	69	(14)
Location as a Competitive Disadvantage	69	(1)
Organizational Structure as Competitive Barrier	70	(1)
A Matter of Culture	71	(1)
The Impact of Client Interaction	72	(2)
The Threat of Adamancy	74	(2)
Competing Against Staff Departures	76	(1)
Creating Competition with Too Much Change	76	(2)
Competition from Internal Saboteurs	78	(1)
Clashes of Ego	79	(1)
Tackling Inside Competition	80	(1)
References	80	(1)
Competition Checklist	81	(1)
Key Points to Remember	82	(1)
Left-Field Competition	83	(12)
Sudden Changes in Demand	83	(1)
Financial Fluctuations	84	(1)
Wanting It All, Wanting It Now	84	(1)
The Tentacles of Technology	85	(1)
Labor and Labor Costs	86	(1)
Per-Capita Competition	87	(1)
Rationalization as Competition	88	(1)
Hidden Competition	89	(1)
Commoditization	90	(1)
References	91	(1)
Competition Checklist	91	(1)
Key Points to Remember	92	(3)
PART 2 THE COMPETITIVE ISSUES
Where Are They?	95	(10)
Just What Is Your Industry Sector?	95	(2)
Finding High-Profile Competitors	97	(1)
Finding Low-Profile Competition	98	(1)
Finding Hidden Competition	99	(1)
Public Faces, Private Lives	100	(1)
Customer and Influencer Competition	101	(1)
Government Source Competition	102	(1)
Where to Look for Intelligence About Where Competitors Are	103	(1)
How to Use the CI You Gather	104	(1)
Finding Your Competition	104	(1)
What's Their Strategy?	105	(14)
Spotting Competitors' Strategies	105	(2)
Positioning Tactics	107	(1)
Mission and Vision Statements Can Be Revealing	108	(2)
The Branding Impetus	110	(1)
The Business of Differentiation	110	(1)
Their Expertise Versus Yours	111	(1)
Tacit Knowledge	112	(1)
Mix and Match for Competitive Advantage	112	(1)
Ways to Deliver	113	(1)
How They Price	113	(1)
Acquisitions and Alliances	113	(2)
Where to Look for Intelligence About Strategy	115	(1)
What To Do With the CI You Gather	116	(1)
References	116	(1)
Learning Their Strategy	116	(3)
What Are They Selling?	119	(12)
What Is a Service?	119	(1)
Promise Versus Performance	120	(1)
Relying on References	121	(1)
Getting to Know Basic Service	121	(1)
The Lowdown on Value-Added Services	122	(1)
Customization	123	(1)
Assessing Integrated Services	124	(1)
What Are They Selling Today?	124	(2)
When Their Service Bests Yours	126	(1)
What Will They Be Selling in the Future?	126	(1)
Where to Look for Intelligence About the Service	127	(1)
What To Do With the CI You Gather	128	(1)
Defining Their Service	129	(2)
The Marketing Challenge	131	(12)
The Role of the Handshake	131	(1)
Direct Marketing and Selling	132	(2)
Mail Pieces, Software, and More	134	(1)
Tracking Their Ads	134	(1)
Event Marketing	135	(1)
Referral Marketing	136	(1)
Rainmakers	136	(1)
Word of Mouth	137	(1)
The Role of Relationship Management	137	(2)
Segmentation Strategies	139	(1)
Where to Look for Intelligence About Marketing	140	(1)
What To Do With the CI You Gather	140	(1)
References	141	(1)
Understanding Marketing	141	(2)
Can They Deliver?	143	(10)
Customer Site Delivery	143	(2)
Provider Site Delivery	145	(1)
Third Party Site Delivery	146	(1)
By Mail, Fax, or Modem	147	(1)
Over the Phone	147	(1)
Do They Go On Delivering?	148	(1)
Where to Look for Intelligence About Delivery	149	(1)
What To Do With the CI You Gather	150	(1)
Investigating Delivery	151	(2)
Are They Different and Better?	153	(10)
The Elements of Service	153	(1)
How Available Are They?	154	(1)
Just How Good Are They?	155	(2)
Do They Measure Customer Satisfaction?	157	(1)
How Do They Handle Complaints?	158	(1)
Involving the Customers in Service Differentiation	159	(1)
Where to Look for Intelligence About Service Levels	160	(1)
What To Do With the CI You Gather	161	(1)
References	161	(1)
Scoping Out Service and Satisfaction	161	(2)
All About Money	163	(12)
Tackling the Pricing Challenge	163	(1)
For Fee or For Free?	164	(1)
By the Hour or the Job?	165	(1)
Bundling and Packaging	166	(1)
Segmenting and Pricing	166	(1)
Bids and Tenders	167	(2)
Is It Price or Cost You Need to Know About?	169	(1)
How Does It All Add Up?	170	(2)
Where to Look for Financial Intelligence	172	(1)
What To Do With the CI You Gather	172	(1)
References	173	(1)
Tracking the Dollars	173	(2)
Who Are They?	175	(14)
How Many People?	175	(1)
Identifying the Owner	176	(1)
Learning About Rainmakers	177	(1)
Where Do They Come From?	178	(1)
How Long Have They Been With the Firm?	179	(1)
What Do They Do, What Do They Know?	180	(1)
Who Do They Know?	181	(1)
Recruitment and Retention	182	(1)
How Are They Retained?	182	(1)
Mass Defections	183	(1)
Where to Look for Intelligence About People	183	(1)
What To Do With the CI You Gather	184	(1)
References	185	(1)
Probing About People	185	(4)
PART 3 THE COMPETITIVE GAME
Staying Ahead	189	(8)
Developing a CI Mindset	189	(1)
What to Collect?	190	(1)
Where to Start?	191	(1)
Learn from the Past	192	(1)
Collect, Read, Think, Analyze, Use	193	(1)
Cost-Effective CI	193	(1)
Making CI Pay	194	(3)
Conclusion: An Eye on the Future	197	(4)
Bibliography	201	(4)
Further Resources	205	(6)
Techniques	205	(1)
Business Information Sources	206	(1)
Statistics	207	(1)
Government Filings	207	(1)
Case Histories	207	(1)
Associations	208	(1)
Courses	209	(2)
About the Author	211	(2)
Index	213