Sherlock Holmes 'My name is Sherlock Holmes.  It is my business to know what other people don't know.' Sherlock Holmes Quote -The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes.  I love the way he sees things others miss.  I connect with him because all my life I am always looking at things differently.  I am not sure why, but when everyone else is watching the fireworks show, I am looking around to see who is watching, how are they setting off the fireworks, where are the burnt ashes falling, what is illuminated by the fireworks--I could go on but you get the point.  I like this quote, because it best describes my job description.  It is my business to find out what other people don't know.  I am a competitive intelligence professional.  I spend my days looking at competitors, customers, the market environment, behaviors, drivers, technology and all sorts of things.  For the most part it's like working a puzzle that keeps shifting.  No two days are alike.  Unlike some jobs that keep you up at night because you are worried about the outcome, mine keeps me up at night because I am constantly thinking about how it all fits. So how do I find out things other people don't?  Well actually, for the most part it is all there.  I mean all the information you need to piece together a picture of what your competitors or customers are doing--its all out there.  Yea sure there is the internet.  It is a vast but sometimes deceptive well of information.  But not everything you need is on the internet, sorry, but we have not invented the Hitchhikers Guide To the Universe.....yet.   I use the internet, which is mostly secondary research, but I also use a very unused piece of technology, the phone.  Talking to people, if you get the right people on the other side, is primary research and that is the holy grail of competitive intelligence.  I also go to tradeshows, association luncheons, have coffee with friends working for other companies, and use social media like most people would not even consider.  It's all part of what I call "following the thread".   Let me explain.  Say you are looking for information on a competitor on how they might bid on a particular pursuit.  You might look at award data for the past three years and get an idea of how they bid, but you want to know why they bid things the way they did.  So you go to tradeshows and talk to them, you talk to customers, you go luncheons and sit with them, and you invite your friends that work for them to coffee or lunch.  In the course of all these events you want to solidify their bidding behavior and what drove them in their decision process.  So while at lunch you talk about yourself, the weather, the economy and how it has all driven your company to rethink how they do business. In most cases they will talk as well. Only you don't give specifics, but you open the door for them to give specifics.  Then the next week you go to a tradeshow and you ask questions to validate what you heard at lunch.  Then you call up trade associations to see who is the most aggressive bidder.  You talk to VARs to see who is buying what.  Well, you get the idea, you do a lot of checking.  If I told you all my secrets you would be doing this and I would be looking for other work.   Following the thread is compiling the evidence you need to support a hunch or assumption.    So that is it for now... Stay tuned for more CI tactics, techniques and procedures.................    ...- - ..