23 July 2004 Competitive Intelligence in a Professional Services Firm Timothy R. Corman July 23, 2004

23 July 2004  Creating a Competitive Intelligence Unit takes time, patience, and thought  Understanding the process is critical The Need The Idea The Solution The Result  Linking investment to reward NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT What Tipped Us Off? Number of Competitors Market Prices Win Rate ?

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT What Could We Do?  Innovate our offerings  Lower the cost of delivery (and hence price points to retain margins) Speed Reuse Quality  Beat the competition at their own game Obviously the answer lies within all areas!

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT How Do We Beat the Competition?  First, we needed to better understand what they were doing  Second, we needed an approach to mine the wealth of knowledge our own staff had about the “other guys” beyond conventional means  Third, we needed to get in on the ground floor of opportunities to anticipate and make a difference in competitive situations

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT What are the Ground Rules? Reasonable payback potential Scaleable investment Visible value Ethically by the book Simple to understand for the staff Straightforward to document Senior Leadership needed to be convinced the Ground Rules were viable.

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT Convincing the Leaders  Facts to support the need: Competitive losses – why you lose a deal Pragmatic sources of information – tapping the field Extending knowledge management (we had the core framework)  Achievable Payback Expectations  Respected Ownership/Sponsorship

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT A Simple Value Proposition  Assume a 20% Contribution Margin  Average Deal Size = $1 Million For every 5 deals where CI makes the difference, that’s $1 Million in incremental contribution margin!

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT Organizational Alignment “Chinese Wall” Sales Teams Sales Support Deal Structuring Deal Review Knowledge Management Solution Industry Competitive Intelligence General Counsel Free Flow Information Filtered

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT Tactical CI Solutions Continuous Sponsorship Measurement/ Reporting Knowledge Capture Continuous Education Business Process Inclusion New Hire Debriefs Sales Team Support Industry Solution Account Deal

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT Proof Thru Example - Start  Competitive Bid Project worth ~ $80 Mil  Confidence in our solution  CI Involvement: Knowing the Competition beyond the published information: Board of Director/Decision Maker Allegiance Mapping Pricing History Key Personnel (Project Leaders) Solution Differentiators (Successes/Failures)

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT Proof Thru Example – Ending  Personal Discussions with Supportive and Undecided Decision Makers  Modification of Solution Differentiate our ability to deliver where the competition has struggled Promotion of key project leader strengths Having the knowledge from CI enabled the team to consciously address (or not) certain competitive elements leading to a WIN!

23 July 2004 NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT Measuring the Results  Each Major CI program MUST have measurable metrics # of new hires debriefed % of revenue from supported accounts #/$ of supported pursuits Cost to Value  Sales/Executive team MUST reinforce value delivered Testimonials Recognition of metric achievement

23 July 2004 Things DO Get in the Way!  Sustaining Exec Sponsorship – The Battle for Attention  Scope Control – Can you also look at this, this and this  Confidentiality – C’mon, you can tell me  Acceptance of CI Analyst – And you are?  Unmet Expectations – What, no guarantee? NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT

23 July 2004 Chipping Away the Barriers  Sponsorship – Regular Communications Measurement Reporting Successes and Losses Passion & Discipline to Utilize  Scope Control – Consider fee for service  Confidentiality – Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell  CI Analyst Value – References  Expectations – Testimonials “Better” losses NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT

23 July 2004 Variation on an Old Adage Power is in who you know not just what you know… Success is in what you do with BOTH who you know and what you know! NEEDIDEASOLUTIONRESULT

23 July 2004 So You Still Have Questions?