Case Study: How to enhance strategic focus

Let’s examine a common use case where we can better address the underlying business need.
In this example, the focus will be on sales force benchmarking.

Situation

Leadership for an inline brand believes competitors are increasingly gaining traction within key accounts. They are exploring whether changes to the organization’s field force structure, targeting approach, and/or messaging may be necessary. The CI leader is approached to provide detailed intelligence about competitor sales force structures to serve as a benchmark.

Common CI approach

STEP 1
The CI leader or their vendor begins with secondary intelligence workstreams, gathering information from sources like LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, and job postings to form an initial framework for how competitors structure their commercial field forces.

STEP 2
Next, primary intelligence is conducted through interviews with industry sources, including former or current employees at competitors, industry experts, and key opinion leaders, to fill any gaps left by secondary intelligence.

STEP 3
All gathered information is then synthesized into a detailed structure mapping, creating a hierarchical chart of the competitor’s field force to understand the number of individuals, their structure, and how they work together.

Limitations of this approach

While this approach provides a detailed organization chart, high-level assessments, and some directional analysis of the competitor's approach and effectiveness, it may not address the underlying business needs.

Enhancing the strategic value of CI outputs

To enhance the strategic value of CI outputs and truly address underlying business needs, it is essential to:

Understand how the initiative fits with other workstreams
This involves assessing whether market research is consistent with the specific question at hand and considering past competitor benchmarks to incorporate relevant information.
Align data collection metrics with internal standards
Understanding the structure of the organization’s own sales force allows stakeholders to interpret and compare metrics effectively.
Integrate internal datasets
Presenting CI in direct alignment with existing internal research builds conviction and makes the output highly digestible.
Proactively gather missing intelligence
This involves identifying all the intelligence pieces needed to solve the underlying business need, even if it goes beyond the initial request.

With these steps in mind, CI teams could increase the strategic value of sales force benchmarking as follows

STEP 1
Gain a clear understanding of the key business questions to define the purpose of the benchmarking effort, uncover underlying hypotheses, review any existing research, and clarify the intended use of the findings.

STEP 2
Develop initial scoping recommendations to enable a thorough analysis that directly addresses the business need, taking a proactive approach to identify all necessary pieces of intelligence.

STEP 3
Before commencing research, pressure-test plans with relevant cross-functional stakeholders to ensure alignment on data collection, methodologies, and analysis.

STEP 4
Use feedback to iterate and refine the scope, allowing for prioritization of research time and balancing investment with strategic value.