Competitive Intelligence- What is it? How do I get it? Can I get it discreetly?

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What is competitive intelligence? Product pricing, packaging, designs, materials, fabrics, distribution network, scope of sales, customers? Generally speaking is it insight into the scope and strength of your competitors? It is the stuff that they are doing or not doing that you are dying to know about.

Entrepreneurs are innovative, creative and talented people that produce product and services that separate them from the rest. Do you want to know if someone is ripping off your ideas? Who is capitalizing on the creativity and good will of your brand? Do you want to know who your contract manufacturers are shipping to and what types of quantities? Most importantly do you want to know this before your clients, customers and distributors do?

Are you doing market surveys in regions where you do not have distribution? Would you like to know if you contract manufacturers are selling your product to non-authorized distributors? Is tracking how much and to what regions your contract manufacturers and distributors are shipping important to you?

Do you verify that the information your contract manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and vendors are providing is accurate? Namely the principal’s/officers names, businesses address (es), licensing, insurance, and trade references.

Most business owners are interested in having this type of information, but don’t know how to get it, how much it costs and most importantly they are concerned that someone will be tipped off.

Additionally, most business owners are searching Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any other resource they can get their hands on to police their manufacturers and distributors. They also rely on their sales organization and distributors to pass along information that is often unverified, incomplete and would not stand up in court due to the conflict of interest.

Test purchases or samples buys are a great way to know what is going on in the marketplace. They can be very useful in determining how products are distributed, pricing (wholesale & retail) and the customer service provided by the competitor. Additionally this is a great way to tangibly inspect products that could be counterfeit, diverted/gray market or in fact genuine early on in the product life cycle.

How can this be done discreetly and confidentially in a timely and cost effective manner? It comes down to the resources and the expertise that you investigator has to offer. The scope of the front companies they have in place. The resale permits, business licenses and other necessary business information that allows them to pose as a legitimate entity that the competitors would want to do business with.

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Through Alliance, Santoni Investigations, Provides Intellectual Property Protection and Enhanced Global Supply Chain Security

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U.S.-based Santoni Investigations and Hong Kong-based I-OnAsia are aligned to combat counterfeiting and protect supply chains on behalf of brand owners from source to sale.

Read the full press release here

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Armed with Accurate Information- No Surprises!

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It’s almost Bill’s birthday! He’s hoping there won’t be any surprises. After putting in long hours at work all week, all he wants this year is a quiet family dinner and a relaxing evening at home.

Bill’s friends and relatives have a different idea. They are busy planning a surprise birthday party eagerly awaiting his reaction.  After the initial shock wore off and Bill got his second wind, he thought to himself this is pretty fun.

Bill found out the hard way, being surprised in business and legal matters is anything but fun.   He got the surprise of his life when he found out that his faith and trust in Tom, his business partner, had been misplaced.

Bill thought that he could trust Tom, since they had been friends and business partners for years.  They had worked together building a successful medical supplies company. The long hours, risks and rewards had been always been equally shared over the years.

Then the unthinkable happened.  Due to some unusual circumstances, Bill had to turn over sole control of their company to Tom. Bill had no reason to think that Tom would do anything other than continue to run the company with the best interests of each partner, their employees and clients in mind.

Imagine his shock and surprise when Bill found out that Tom had setup a replica company selling the same products under a new name. He even listed highly creditable, well-known, credentialed individuals as team members on his new web site.  Tom proceeded to steal clients, assets and the good will created by Bill.  The original company was forced to fold and Bill had the unthinkable task of explaining the unraveling to the investors.

Take Away

In an age of information overload, getting accurate, complete and timely facts can be a challenge, but a basic background or due diligence investigation would have saved Bill and his company.

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