Competitve Intelligence

By Ray Loercher, BC-HIS, ACA

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Competition within our industry has become more intense on all levels and that trend will undoubtedly continue.

There is intense competition among manufacturers to gain market share by a variety of methods. These include the acquisition of other manufacturers as well as vertical integration into the consumer marketplace. In addition, of course, there is the ongoing adaptation of technologies from outside the industry to change and differentiate the product lines available to the dispenser.

There is also increasing competition among dispensers. We have seen a greater emergence of the Internet as a force in marketing as well as the force of third-party reimbursement on our pricing structures. Data from our own businesses are more readily available through the use of information technology. Education is also changing the environment in which we compete. We have seen the emergence of the AuD as well as the two-year associate degree in hearing health science. Some dispensers and audiologists have acquired audioprosthology accreditation. Some third parties require that fittings be accomplished by those who have board certification. State licensing requirements in many states are becoming more stringent.

More and more information is available for the dispenser to conduct business, but information is only the starting point of the decisionmaking process. While the quality of information is important, how it’s used is far more so. Turning raw information into actionable intelligence is fast becoming the most critical tool of businesses.

The process of turning information into intelligence is called competitive intelligence. It’s defined as a systematic program for gathering and analyzing information about your competitors’ activities and general business trends to further your own company’s goals. Competitive intelligence, when practiced responsibly, is legal, ethical and beneficial to not only the hearing impaired, but the individual practice and the industry at large.

Competitive intelligence is relatively new in the U.S. business world. Many foreign companies have well-established competitive intelligence divisions that operate throughout the world. Less than 10% of American companies have their own full-blown competitive intelligence divisions and most of those are relatively new. Although the number of U.S. companies using competitive intelligence is relatively low, it is one of the fastest growing disciplines in the corporate world.
What can competitive intelligence do to further enhance your competitive edge? A formalized competitive intelligence program can:

Anticipate the actions and reactions of your competitors to your business initiatives.
Anticipate changes in the marketplace.
Interpret the processes of your competitors and keep abreast of their product lines.
Reveal new or potential competitors.
Learn from the failures or successes of others.
Discover new technologies, products and processes that can affect your business.
Increase the range and quality of your product lines.
Learn about possible political or regulatory changes that can affect your business.
Evaluate your own business practices with an open mind.
Help implement the latest in management techniques (TQM, Six-Sigma, benchmarking, etc.).

Even with all these benefits, there is still resistance to establishing a procedure for acquiring such necessary data. Why? These are common reasons cited:

“Nothing goes on in this industry that I don’t already know about.” (Unfortunately information sharing in the hearing health industry is better categorized as “benchmarking” than intelligence gathering.)
• “Competitive intelligence is spying. It’s unethical.” (In this instance competitive intelligence is being confused with industrial espionage. Here the only answer is an education.)
• “I can’t quantify the benefits of competitive intelligence.” (The effects of competitive intelligence are mostly indirect. Competitive intelligence leads to increased quality, better strategic planning and in-depth knowledge of markets.)

Competitive intelligence is a necessary component of doing business. I highly recommend you consider incorporating a program of intelligence gathering in your own practice. THP