Business intelligence: definition, use and examples

In a market invested by a large number of competitors, commercial monitoring becomes a formidable lever for a company. When competition is tough, the business environment becomes unstable. To preserve and improve its position, the company must remain competitive. In order to achieve these goals, anticipation is key. This is the role of commercial monitoring.

Business intelligence is essential for all companies that wish to preserve their competitive advantage and remain competitive. This approach represents the key to sustainable growth. It involves better understanding customer expectations and knowing your competitors. Implementing such an approach goes through several stages.

What is commercial monitoring?

Business intelligence consists of carrying out increased market surveillance in purely commercial interest. It allows you to better understand your competition, customers and prospects.

Thanks to it, it is possible toobtain strategic information on the commercial aspect of a product. It highlights weaknesses and opportunities to exploit.

This commercial monitoring can take different forms: pricing, suppliers, distributors, competitive, technological, regulatory, etc. This may also involve prospective monitoring or calls for tenders.

Difference between commercial and competitive intelligence

In competitive intelligence, the objective is to collect as much information as possible about the main competitors : industrial practice, financial health, pricing policy, strategic positioning, etc.

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For its part, commercial monitoring focuses on increased market surveillance, including competitors. The aim of this approach is to support the commercial activity of the company.

The objectives of commercial monitoring

The primary objective of commercial intelligence is to gain a competitive advantage. To do this, the brand anticipates the developments taking place in its sector. However, this approach can meet broader objectives which vary from one sector of activity to another. They also depend on the needs of the company.

better knowledge of the market to better adapt;
customer loyalty by acting on customer relations;
better choice of suppliers to turn it into a competitive advantage;
proposal of an offer meeting the expectations of prospects and customers;
increase in turnover;
closely monitor competitive actions, identify new competitors, keep informed of new regulations, etc.

The 3 main points to watch out for in commercial monitoring

Thanks to effective commercial monitoring, the company easily identifies opportunities. This could be the conquest of a new market. In this process, it must concentrate its efforts on several points.

1. Identify customers who need the product

The number one priority of sales intelligence is to obtain a list of prospects effortlessly. These prospects plan to purchase the brand’s product or service in the near future.

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For example, a temp agency remains alert to companies that have recently launched new projects and are carrying out massive recruitment.

2. Study the competition

Knowing what the competition is doing allows a brand to take the lead. Several firms offer competitor monitoring tools. To do this, simply provide the name of the competitors. The brand obtains information immediately in the event of activity in its sector.

3. Identify trends in the sector

Commercial monitoring keeps the company up to date with trends in its sector of activity. It can thus anticipate major changes and seize the opportunities that arise.

How to set up effective commercial monitoring?

The implementation of this approach goes through several stages:

goals definition : it is in this stage that the company identifies its objectives and quantifies the results. Commercial monitoring can focus on better knowledge of customers, for example.
identify the target : this approach involves the collection of a significant amount of data. This is why it is important to specify the target from a geographic point of view, age, socio-professional category, etc.
collect information : if the objective is to monitor competitors, the data collected concerns the identity of their target, their price, the advantages of their product, etc.
analyze data : once the information is in hand, processing it is the next step. This involves sorting, deleting those that are not relevant, combining them, etc.
distribute and store data : the processed information will then be disseminated to those responsible for decision-making. Finally, they will be archived for use in the future.