Principles, Tools, and Techniques

A. Competition

Principles of Competition -

Competition is the quest for achieving superior results, the best results in a specific field, in business, in sports, or
in social activities, the best results compared to others. Competition is the fight for a limited resource, for a prize or
for an award. The fighting around abilities and skills often takes place as a somehow organized contest with rules
that are agreed upon to be followed in order to accurately measure the results. Other competitions are based on
rivalry — two parties are fighting to dominate a market, or they are fighting for the first place in a race in sports, or
in science.

Competition usually involves two or more competitors with the goal of determining a clear winner. It is the
simultaneous demand for a reward or for a resource that causes competition.

Now, what about competing with yourself? You are the winner in every competition you participate in and still
declare yourself the loser. This is where excellence comes into play, success in competition is about being the best
while true excellence is about being your best.

The main difference between being the best and being your best is the lack of competition. You are only competing
with yourself, specifically with your past self.

Competition is about finding out who is the best. But you don’t have to find out. I tell you who is the best. You are.
You wouldn’t participate in any competition if you weren’t sure that you are the best? Would you participate when
you knew you wouldn’t be able to give your best? In order to compete you have to prepare yourself for the
competition. You train and you strive to excel. The goal is to be your very best. Now, being your best, why do you
need to compete with others? You aren’t getting any better anymore, anyway. And since you trained until achieving
personal excellence, you aren’t getting worse than yourself either.

You are the best. That’s it. There is no competing with others. What is the point in finding out who is better when
the competitors are each at their absolute, personal best? Other than vanity?

Find out your best. Build on top of past successes or, even failures, competing only with yourself. It’s the most
humble form of competition and the hardest one at the same time.

Discover how to be better than yourself. Chase excellence in whatever you do. In pursuing excellence, creativity is
freed from competition and everything is focused on the act of creating. Only then do you arrive at your very best.

Do not hesitate to help your competitors achieve their best as well. In order to determine the real best, do
everything to have every participant in any competitive situation to excel. Do not celebrate rivalry. Participate in
any competition only for fun.

Excellence beyond competition is not being better than anyone else. Excellence beyond competition is the
necessity of giving your very best in every situation and without competing for an award or profit or whatever
reward you are usually fighting for.

Excellence beyond competition is boxing without weight limits, it is small business competing with big business.
You are not going to abstractly win but to give all that you are, whatever it takes. Win not against somebody else,
not even against yourself, but win being yourself.

One more thing: Never say I give my best, never use giving your best as an excuse, never mention that you are in
fact and always giving your best. Just do it. And win.

Tools of Competition -

Comparing your business to competitors is a great way of seeing where you are in the market. For example, who is
your biggest competition? Is their customer base growing faster than yours? Do they have the majority of the
market? How does your market share compare?
Typically companies have relied on SWOT methods for competitor analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats. It’s a great way of pinpointing internal and external factors that affect your company. You can find
threats, work on weaknesses and promote your strengths, allowing you to get your market share of the
business.Unless you’re the only company doing what you do, or offering a service, you will never completely
resolve threats, which is why you need to keep an eye on your competition.

 Positioning Comparisons - This is a matter of branding and general positioning. How does your brand
behave, act and present itself in the market? And how does your competitor? By comparing both, you can
tell where are the strongest features of your brand and have insights on how to develop them
furthermore. (Tools: Gartner Magic-Quadrant is the name of a series of market reports. The reports
contain a vast amount of research done on four types of technology providers in fast-growing markets:
Leaders, Visionaries, Niche Players, and Challengers, allowing a broad view of your competitors and
market share.)
 Product Comparisons - Advertising campaigns, discounts, and specials are common knowledge, easily
found on websites, brochures, TV advertising, etc. What are you competitors offering that you aren’t?
What discounts or prices are working for them and how do yours compare? (Tools: What Runs Where- is a
handy tool for monitoring your competitors’ ads. It covers many ad networks and countries, allowing you
to track competitors worldwide.)
 Websites - These days, customers google your business or go directly to your website before you even
know they’re a customer. So, analyzing your competitor’s website is a great place to start. "Is their website
user-friendly?" "How many pages do they have?" "What’s on their home page?" "How does your site
compare?" And most importantly, "how do you know whether their website is successful?". (Tools:
WooRank- helps to better your website based on the results of a project analyzing either your site or your
competitors.)
 SEO - There are numerous tools to help determine how your website performs. There are also ways of
measuring keywords and key terms, all of which drive site visits. If you can measure something, you can
improve it. To get a better view of your market share, you can analyze your competitor’s site traffic too.
"Where do your competitors rank in a Google search?" , "How many more website visits do your
competitors receive?".(Tools: Google Insights- to understand industry trends, consumer insights and
content possibilities. It's a good way to compare yourself to the market and see where your brand is
placed.)
 Social Media - A key factor in this marketing climate is analyzing the integration of social media into their
marketing strategy. "Does their website have social media share buttons?" , "Does your competition have
an Instagram account followed by millions?", "What are they posting and why?" , "Do they engage with
customers through Facebook or Twitter?", "How often do they post, when do they post, and what do they
post?". The above things to monitor aren’t important solely in themselves, but monitoring their social
media followers – and the growth of this following – will give you an insight into whether your
competitor's marketing strategy is working. (Tools: InfiniGraph- keeps you up to date with trends in your
specific industry. It's beneficial for both competitor analysis and improving your own content.)
 Blogging - "Is your competitor driving website traffic by blogging?", "How often do they blog?", "Does the
content represent solely their products or spread industry knowledge?". Subscribe to your competitors’
blogs. Check out customer engagement through shares and comments. Are your main competitors' blogs
full of dynamic well-written pieces worth sharing, or pictures and fun stories? Find out what makes their
blogs successful. (Tools: Social Mention- focuses on blogs and social media, tracking keywords and
company names, allowing you to keep track of what’s said across social platforms - and with what
sentiment.)

Techniques of Competition -

 Technique #1: Create Utility and Usefulness with your Product - The first marketing technique you can use
to beat your competition is to create utility, usefulness, and satisfy the needs of your customers to achieve
a specific result. This requires that you offer them something they need and can use to accomplish their
other goals. Look at your market today. What will your customers and potential customers want, need,
and be willing to pay for in the months and years ahead? What are the trends in customer demands in
your market? If you can answer this accurately, you can often leapfrog over your competition and
dominate a new market even before it emerges.
 Technique #2: Change Your Pricing - A second approach to sales and marketing is by changing your pricing.
By bringing your goods and services into the price range of your customers, you can open up entirely new
 markets that do not today exist. How could you price your products or services so that more customers
could afford to buy them? Many companies have been able to achieve market leadership by focusing on
bringing their prices into the affordability range of more customers. What we have found is that the
greater your market share, and the lower your cost of production, the lower is the price that you can
charge.
 Technique #3: Emphasize Your Product’s Key Benefit to the Customer - adapting to the customer’s reality,
both social and economic. The ultimate aim of your marketing plan is to make selling unnecessary. But
this is seldom achieved. The product almost always needs to be sold to the end customer. As it turns out,
each product offers a “key benefit” that is the primary reason why the customer would buy. Each product
or service also triggers a “key fear,” which is what holds the customer back from buying the product or
service in the first place. Customers are terrified of risk. They are afraid of paying too much, getting the
wrong product, losing their money, and getting stuck with something that is inappropriate for their
purposes. This is the main reason that qualified prospects hold back from buying any product or service,
at any price.
 Technique #4: Deliver True Value of Your Product to Your Customer - The fourth approach to marketing
plan is for you to deliver what represents “true value” to the customer. True value is something that can
only be identified by working closely with your customers. What represents true value to your customers?
How could you structure your product or service offerings in such a way that people would be more
comfortable purchasing them from you rather than from your competitors?

B. Customers

Principles of Customers - Performance in any field is guided by a few core principles. Say you want to improve at
swimming. One way would be to go for a daily swim at your local lake. Will you improve? Sure. But only until you
reach a certain plateau. A deep understanding of a field’s core principles sets you up for an autonomous and
continuous path of improvement.

 Speed- Speed or responsiveness shows up in almost all studies as a main determinant for service quality.
According to a Warwick University study, responsiveness has the highest impact on both customer
satisfaction (fast response) and dissatisfaction (slow response).
 Accuracy- Besides being fast, your service answers should, obviously, be correct. Johnston's study shows
that customers regard accuracy as the minimum. It won't raise customer satisfaction, but inaccuracy
definitely causes dissatisfaction.
 Transparency- "What the hell is taking so long!?" We all recognize this feeling. Not knowing what is
happening or why makes us feel uneasy. Which is why transparency is just as critical to service as speed
and accuracy.
 Accessibility- If your customer has a problem, how easy is it for him or her to get in touch? For a long time,
the entire customer service theory focused on delighting the customer — on exceeding expectations. A
research by CEB, however, showed that it pays off more to focus on reducing customer effort instead.
While effort also depends on factors like speed and accuracy, accessibility is its biggest hurdle.
 Empowerment- We all like to feel in control. A good service offers this feeling to its customers.

Flexibility. The reason we hate bureaucracy is because it lacks

flexibility. When there's a corner case issue, and there always is, a bureaucratic machine jams. That's again why
empowered employees are crucial.

Ratings/comments. If you've just received the best or worst service of your life, you want to express that. Besides
providing valuable feedback to the company, a service rating gives customers a sense of control.

Self service. There are few things more empowering than taking care of things yourself. Some people don't like to
be assisted at all. For them, well structured self service options are crucial.

Transparency. "Knowledge is power." Not knowing what is happening or why makes you feel powerless, which
makes transparency worth repeating here.

 Friendliness- There's one major downside to eCommerce. It has stripped away most of the human
interactions that used to be commonplace in everyday transactions. Service experiences are one of the
few remaining moments of humanity. Yet plenty of companies manage to ruin that as well by making their
 service entirely inhumane. They speak in overly formal language, use service cliches, withhold service rep
identity, etc.
 Efficiency- You can have the world's best service, but what's the use when it's eating up all of your profits?
Efficiency will always be a crucial factor in customer service. What has changed is technology; some tools
let us bypass yesterday's trade offs.Take speed and costs. Back when phone was the only channel, you
couldn't offer fast service at low costs. To offer instant service, you'd have to maintain an army of idle
phone reps to cover for peak times. Queueing was the only way to press costs.

Tools of Customers -

More and more organizations are providing customer service tools to encourage consumers to have greater
interaction with their brand.

1. Online communities - Statistics show that 25% of people choose to engage with brands because they “want to
join the community of brand fans.” Online communities allow customers to engage with other customers, give
direct feedback on products, and share their passion for your product or brand. Maintaining online communities is
the company’s opportunity to monitor customer feedback and improve brand experience. Online communities can
be accessed via social media and there are also several marketing applications that can help you build your own
online community (ahem, like our Community Cloud).

2. Discussion Forums - A forum is a specific type of online community that creates an opportunity for
crowdsourcing. Here, you can collect and respond to customer feedback. Popular forums will quickly grow in
popularity and become a place where product experts who many not even work for your company can combine
forces with your own customer service agents, creating a community that can chime in about a products or help to
resolve issues in a much more timely matter. You get the benefit of seeing a lot of customer feedback, and you can
see how customers react to the solutions that are provided in the community.

3. Social Media - Social media is an essential tool for businesses of any size. Maintaining a static social page is not
enough. Nowadays an inactive social media profile is the online version of having an empty store. Create a social
media presence and use it to engage with customers, connectig with them and responding to their problems or
issues on a timely basis.

4. Automatic callback - We’ve all had the unpleasant experience of being put on hold for an annoyingly long period
of time. By the time an operator is able to assist you, you’re already irritated at having had to wait for X amount of
time. If your service system allows a user to enter their phone number for an agent to call them back without losing
their place in the service queue, even better.

5. Live chat - As more people shopping online, there are people are looking for online support. Offering a live chat
option (like the one included in the Salesforce Service Cloud) is another way to foster a good online experience for
your customers. Live chat options can be used for more than just customer service questions—it’s also a good way
to provide information that might encourage a purchase decision. For example, clothing retailers often offer live
chat with a “style consultant”, and department stores sometimes offer a live chat for help with gift registries.

6. Customer satisfaction surveys - Customer satisfaction surveys are important at various touch points, such as
after a sale or after an issue is resolved. Allowing your customers to give feedback provides you with valuable
information on how to build a better customer journey, and it can help instill trust in your brand. This trust is
important to build, because it can cost five to 15 times more to acquire a new customer than gain repeat business
from an existing one.

Customers Techniques:

1. Engage in active listening- Active listening is essential for effective communication. It allows for a better
understanding of the customers’ needs and shows a willingness to help. Allow the customer to talk without
interruption, reflect back their main question or concern and ask clarifying questions when necessary.
2. Highlight understanding- Ensure that each customer is aware that you understood their needs. By using active
listening techniques and asking relevant questions, you will communicate that you understand them and are
making an effort to help solve their problem.

3. Be Courteous- Be polite and have respect for your customers. Always use “please” and “thank you” and create
an inviting environment for the customers.

4. Call the customer by his name- Ask the customer their name and pronounce it correctly. This communicates
respect for the customer and lets them know that they are important.

5. Go the extra mile- Demonstrate through actions that the customer is important by giving more than the
minimum effort required. By taking the initiative to provide better service or give the customer something extra,
customers will feel valued and appreciated.

6. Ask, don’t demand- Statements can sound harsh. Asking appropriate questions makes the conversation more
collaborative.

7. Empower- Empower customers with adequate information to make informed decisions. When there are
options, thoroughly describe each available alternative. By offering choices, customers will be more involved in
solving their problems. This results in a higher level of customer satisfaction.

8. Be proactive - Engage in proactive steps to satisfy the customer’s needs. Being proactive will also help to reduce
barriers when problem solving.

9. Highlight pros and cons- When describing a product or service, include both its strengths and weaknesses
relative to alternatives. By providing balanced recommendations, customers will view you as more credible. This
increases trust and customer satisfaction.

10. Explain- Customers are not always familiar with your company’s policies or procedures. Thoroughly explain to
customers what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. A clear understanding tends to decrease customer
frustration.

11. Use plain language- Avoid technical terms, jargon and acronyms. Be professional, concise and clear.

C. Suppliers

Principles of Suppliers: The media has been dominated by horror stories of supply chain failure over the past
several weeks.Despite an increasing number of organisations embracing supplier relationship management (SRM)
in recent years, most implement programs with insufficient skills and capabilities at their disposal, and a lack of
understanding of the capacity or bandwidth required to assure sustained success.

1. Relationship with applicable laws- In addition to complying with the provisions of these Supplier Conduct
Principles (hereinafter the “Principles“), the Supplier shall comply with all national laws and all laws applicable to
the Supplier and its operations. Where the requirements of such applicable laws and the Principles differ, or are in
conflict, the Supplier shall comply with the highest standard consistent with applicable laws.

2. Human rights- The Supplier shall respect internationally recognised human rights, including those expressed in
the United Nations International Bill of Human Rights. The Supplier shall conduct its business consistently with the
United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

3. Labour rights and working conditions: 3.1 Fundamental labour principles and rights

The Supplier shall respect internationally recognized rights and principles as set out in the International Labour
Organization’s Core Conventions[1] and Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

4. Health and Safety- The Supplier shall promote the good health of Workers, and shall provide and maintain a safe
and secure working environment in accordance with applicable laws and internationally recognised
standards.Hazards shall be identified, risk assessed, mitigated and monitored and the necessary precautionary
measures taken to prevent accidents, occupational diseases and foreseeable emergency situations. The Supplier
shall establish and implement appropriate systems for recording, investigating and implementing learning points
from accidents and emergency situations.
5. Environment- The Supplier shall take a precautionary approach towards environmental and climate challenges,
ensure that responsible practices for managing environmental impacts are in place, and encourage the
development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.The Supplier shall comply with applicable laws
and internationally recognised standards.

6. Privacy, freedom of expression and data protection: The Supplier shall appropriately recognize and respect
privacy and freedom of expression within the Supplier’s operations.The Supplier shall use due skill, care and
diligence and implement adequate and documented security controls and take necessary precautions to protect
any data against unauthorized or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction, damage, alteration
or disclosure. If the Supplier processes personal data the Supplier shall ensure the care and awareness which is
required according to laws and regulations in order to safeguard the interests of the data subjects.

7. Prohibited Business Practices : 8.1 Competition

The Supplier shall always meet competitors in an honest and professional manner. The Supplier shall not cause or
be part of any breach of applicable competition laws and regulations, such as illegal cooperation on pricing and
illegal market sharing.

8.2 Bribery, Corruption and Fraud :The Supplier shall comply with applicable laws and regulations concerning
bribery, corruption and fraud. The Supplier shall not offer, give, ask for, accept or receive any form of bribe,
facilitation payment or undue or improper advantage, favour or incentive to/from any public official, international
organisation or any other third party (either in private or public sector), whether directly or through an
intermediary.

Tools to the Suppliers:

A good relationship with suppliers is a vital part of business success.

Suppliers not only provide you with the goods and services you need to run your business - they can also be an
important source of information, advice and trade credit.

The following tips will help you to maintain good relationships.

 Talk to your suppliers regularly.

 Pay your suppliers' accounts promptly.
 Communicate with a supplier before the due date for payment, should you foresee a delay in paying an
account.
 Build good relations with your current suppliers' representatives.
 Be fair but firm with industry sales representatives – they can easily take up a lot of your time.
 Avoid rush orders wherever possible – they can cause significant stress in your business and put a strain on
the relationship with your suppliers.
 Monitor the financial position of your suppliers – talk with industry colleagues and competitors about the
general financial stability of those businesses that supply goods and services to you.
 Address any issues of concern in relationships with your suppliers as they arise.
 Refer damaged or faulty goods to the supplier promptly, with supporting documentation.
 Be prepared to review and renegotiate the terms of trade with your suppliers from time-to-time.

Suppliers are essential to almost every business. Without raw materials to make what you sell or
manufacturers to provide what you resell, you will have a tough time growing. There are also many
supplies and services your business consumes as part of general overhead, from paper clips to Internet
access.
Suppliers and vendors-the terms are used interchangeably here-can do much more than merely supply
you with the materials and services you need to do business. They can also be important sources of
information, helping you evaluate the potential of new products, track competitors' actions and identify
promising opportunities. Vendors can turn into partners, helping you cut costs, improve product designs
and even fund new marketing efforts. If you don't make selecting good suppliers and vendors a part of
your growth plan, you're likely to regret it.

Techniques to the Suppliers:

One of the most important aspects of running a business has to do with how you manage your suppliers.
Remember that as supplier isn’t just “a company that you hired to boss around.” A supplier is an entity that you
need to establish a successful and beneficial relationship with in order for both organizations to achieve all of their
goals. As a business owner or manager, there are a few techniques you can use to more effectively manage your
suppliers in the future.

Regular communication - One important quality of managing your suppliers is regular and constant
communication. Remember your suppliers aren’t mind readers. If there is some aspect of your business
relationship you feel they could be doing better, you need to let them know. If your goals for the next quarter have
suddenly changed, you need to make sure they’re aware of that fact as soon as possible. You’ll also want to
regularly get in touch to help keep your supplier on the same page and to make sure they’re keeping up with your
needs, especially if you’re in the type of industry where those needs are likely to change on a regular basis. One of
the cornerstones of any type of relationship is mutual understanding. The only way you’re going to be able to
maintain mutual understanding between your business and your supplier at all times is through regular
communication practices.

Putting objectives in place - Another important step you can take to better manage your relationship with your
supplier has to do with putting objectives in place at the beginning of the production process. If you have a very
specific goal in mind, you need to make sure your supplier is aware of it. Doing so will help keep them on the same
page with regards to exactly what it is that you’re trying to accomplish. If you decide to update or change those
objectives in any way based on recent trends, you’ll also need to make sure your suppliers have that information as
soon as possible. Putting objectives in place will define a number of factors including minimum threshold
requirements you may have, clearly defined measures you’ll use moving forward and more.

Regular meetings - Regular meetings are another way to insure effective communication between your business
and your supplier. By regularly having an in-person meeting with a representative from your supplier, you’ll be able
to more easily communicate certain goals and objectives that can be difficult to get across in text. Communicating
through a combination of meetings and written correspondence will help make sure that everybody stays on the
same page at all times.

Putting things in writing - One of the most important things you can do when it comes to managing your
relationship with your supplier involves putting things in writing. For the business that operates in multiple
locations there are professional document sharing solutions to help manage your project and relationships
effectively. Doing so is an easy and efficient way to avoid confusion and to make sure everyone has an idea of what
goals you are collectively working towards. If any questions arise, your supplier will always have a hard copy of a
document they can refer back to. They’ll always be able to clearly know what your objectives are without
necessarily getting in direct contact.

Make sure you’re focused on your supplier’s needs, alongside yours - Just as your business has its own unique
requirements which need attending to, so will your supplier. Keep in mind that many suppliers depend on the
prompt payment of invoices to move forward with their own business models. Even one delayed payment can
make things significantly more difficult for that business moving forward. Always try to see things from the
perspective of your supplier and do whatever you can to make things as easy for them as possible. The supplier, in
turn, will likely afford you the same courtesy and it will create a much better relationship that is mutually beneficial
moving forward.

D. Competitors

Principles of Competitor's :

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it
removes all that is base.” — General George S. Patton

It can be hard to compete with the rest of your field, and daunting to see the best performing in it — especially if
you’re starting at the bottom. Where do you measure up? How do you go after #1?, There are a lot of angles to
consider when looking at a field of competitors — and it begins with you and your mindset which is the most
important part.
1. Race Yourself And Set The Tone (That’s Faster Than Everyone Else) - The most important piece is this — how
focused you are on your goals, and how enthusiastic you are with your craft. Together — they’re a powerful force.
You’re driven by a growth mindset that’s in a race with itself to improve. The finish line never officially comes
around, but you’ll know when you’ve arrived, because you’re a master of your field, and never worry about
anything like money or “success” again — because, well, you know what “success” is and are successful.

2. Don’t Sell To Prospects — Push Boundaries To Fragment And Attract The Right Prospects - Do what doesn’t feel
safe and what others won’t say — the 3 out of 100 people who believe and respect it are who you’re looking for.
Most importantly, they’re the one’s willing to follow and buy from you now. Trying not to displease or offend will
lead to a less than ideal prospect — and talking to the right prospects is what you want. It’s the three who love
what you say, you want to talk to, not ten who just like it. To be a change agent, don’t be afraid to go against the
grain — you’re like a (good) fanatic, looking for other (good) fanatics of your tribe. Who are in the same way fanatic
as you. Great pioneers are based on a secret or something the masses are unwilling to see, say out loud or
acknowledge — until it’s accepted by the majority. This brings out the prospects. If you’re feeling scared to publish
something, you’re fragmenting your market and finding the right prospects — publish. If you’re scared of a
marketing message, you’re fragmenting your market and finding the right prospects — push it out. Remember,
you’re trying to fragment the market and find the bold 3% who are ready to buy right now, who believe what you
believe. Instead of trying to appeal to every customer, try to force the motivated ones to come out of the wood
work. Remember, markets are an outward manifestation of natural selection — the desires and fears of the human
mind manifested into monetary value of their needs and desires.

3. Make A Plan To Be #1 In Your Segment - If you don’t know how markets work and blindly attacking one — you’re
planning for mediocrity. If you don’t know how often prospects convert — you’re planning for disappointment,
frustration and mediocrity. This often leads to quick discouragement and pivoting too quickly. Most don’t realize
that only about 3% of a market are ready to buy what you have right now. And that’s assuming they’re the exact
right prospects. There’s obviously variability here but you get the point. So in writing, it takes 100 of the right
people, to read your article, to have 3 (or maybe 5 or 10) subscribe. What does it take to get 100 people to read?
1500 views or followers perhaps? I’m not sure but you see the point. You need to reach deep into the market and
reach lot’s and lot’s of the right people to convert sales at 3% of the market who are ready to buy right now.

4. Grow Faster Than Everyone Else - Grow faster than everyone else is not asking you to have the the growth gods
come down and make it rain growth. It’s about your approach toward the market and grabbing every inch to grow
a little each day — which compounds over time. Most importantly, it’s the urgency and activity it produces on a
daily basis.

Tools of Competitors:

Getting to know your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses is the foundation on which to base good strategy. For
brands, the growth of online activity has seen competitor analysis methods, metrics and tools blossom. There is
now no shortage of competitor analysis tools on the market, and each can offer insights relevant to its own
particular niche and contribute to competitive benchmarking. We’ve compiled a list of tools that cover a range of
areas, from paid adverts to email marketing. You just need to decide which part of your competitor’s business you
want to spy on.

1. SimilarWeb — Widely used as a traffic estimation tool, SimilarWeb has loads of cool features that let you peek
behind the scenes at your competitor’s strategy. Find out which channels are driving traffic to your competition —
with stats for traffic distribution, top organic & paid search keywords, top ad networks, audience interests, and
competing websites.

2. Audiense — This service will help you analyze your competitors’ audience based on their Twitter followers. See
stats on location, gender, interests, and the languages of those who follow your competitor.

3. Builtwith — Dig deep into your competitor’s website technologies and tools with this handy service. Builtwith
can uncover their web server, advertising services they use, analytics technologies, and much more. You can even
find out which email services a given website is using.
4. Simply Measured — A free tool from SimplyMeasured called Facebook Competitive Analysis can easily compare
your Facebook fan page with that of your rival. It will show you general engagement stats for posts and a valuable
metric of ‘Engagements as % of fans.’

5. Rival IQ — Rival IQ will analyze your social media performance across all the major social networks and compare
it to your competition. Add your competitor’s website to your dashboard to compare audience growth, post
engagements, and top posts.