This continues my report from talks I attended at SCIP’s annual conference in Chicago last week. Roger Phelps and Suki Fuller facilitated this open dialog on using social networks in competitive intelligence. There is a large variety in how people use social networks in CI, but almost everyone is on Linked In.
More of the innovation that people shared was around process which involved social networking and more sophisticated monitoring and analysis tools. The cost of information acquisition is really inexpensive today even compared to 10 years ago, so companies can afford to text mine and use tools that provide visualization at a reasonable cost. We concluded that industry norms can be a deterrent to sharing innovation. However, as we build our human networks and develop trust, we often share our innovation with others, either one on one or among a smaller group.
Teach Sales elicitation skills: they don’t get it anywhere else and it will help them close more deals and collect information to help your company develop better products. Some of the best elicitors are more introverted since they are likely to be more thorough in their preparation for elicitation interviews. Introverted people are often better listeners than extroverts, so are often more skilled at getting the other guy to talk!
I just finished creating two presentations for SCIP’s (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals) Annual Conference in Chicago from April 22 – 25. The first talk is “Build a Sustainable Early Warning Process through Cooperative Connection” and the second is “Capture Competitive Intelligence from Sales and Customers for Lucrative Product Development.” I hope to see you at SCIP’s annual conference! Feel free to post any questions on this blog post and I’ll find answers for you.
AIIP (Association of Independent Information Professionals) is holding its 23rd Annual Conference at the Albuquerque Marriott from March 25 – 29. More details http://aiip.org/ConferenceSchedule. SCIP and SLA members receive the AIIP discounted price. Feb. 20 is the last day for early bird registration http://aiip.org/ConferenceRegistration.
CTI is action oriented findings of science and technology events and trends that can affect an organization’s competitive position, either presently or in the future. Here is a sneak preview of a portion of my chapter for SCIP’s upcoming book on Competitive Technical Intelligence, which focuses on Best Practices in CTI.