Seena Sharp’s book Competitive Intelligence Advantage  was published in 2009, and is still used by many as their textbook for competitive intelligence! I ordered my copy back in 2009, and encourage you to do the same! Seena Sharp has been doing competitive intelligence (CI) since before she founded her Los Angeles-based CI firm, Sharp Market Intelligence in 1979.

What I like about Seena, and it’s a long list–way too long for this blog–is her provocative nature as she looks at the causes for events. She has focused on soft intelligence for years, which is often what drives decision-making. She is good at uncovering sources that others would overlook, who always look in the “same old places” or the “industry publications/trade journals.” She has a holistic outlook as she helps her clients uncover what is about to happen in the marketplace, and how they can take advantage of these trends, and perhaps influence them. BTW I also like her laughter!

So here is a little bit about her book that I picked up on the Internet…I’ll write more when I read her book!

Competitive Intelligence Advantage:

* Defines and refines the elements of quality CI
* Details why what you don’t know will hurt you
* Equips you with techniques for detecting opportunities and seizing them
* Shows you when and why to use CI to your advantage
* Helps you understand and evaluate information sources
* Demystifies and debunks common myths about CI

This book explains why data is not intelligence, why competitor intelligence is a weak sibling to competitive intelligence, when to use it, how to find the most useful information and turn it into actual intelligence, and how to convincingly communicate findings.

Competitive intelligence is a robust management discipline that is often misunderstood and underestimated, yet results in numerous benefits when used wisely. CI is critical for minimizing risks when formulating your business strategy. The true power of CI lies in its ability to reveal what’s happening outside your organization—to take off the blinders and show you the true competitive state of play.

Businesses would benefit from viewing competitive intelligence from a COST to viewing it as an INVESTMENT that saves money and provides immediate value. If you’re a senior-level executive or organizational leader—and you aren’t tapping the power of CI for an external perspective on your customers and the marketplace—you’re giving your competitors the upper hand.

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Learn more about competitive intelligence

Win/Loss Analysis book; Amazon link to Win/Loss Analysis book

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