Competitive Signal Intake (Onboarding)

Competitive Signal Intake (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Name the three competitors the client actually loses deals to, not the ones they fear

   Ask the account lead to list the last five closed-lost opportunities and the vendor named in each. Fear-based competitor lists inflate scope and pull research toward irrelevant benchmarks.

2. 02

   Assign one owner per intelligence source so no dataset is collected twice

   Split display and native ad tracking, web traffic and audience panels, and procurement award records across named analysts. Duplicate collection is the most common reason onboarding research burns a full week.

3. 03

   Set the baseline window before pulling any data

   Pick a fixed 90-day lookback and record it in the client workspace. Moving windows make month-two comparisons meaningless and force the team to re-pull history.

4. 04

   Capture the client's own numbers in the same format as competitor numbers

   If competitor ad spend is reported monthly, the client's spend must be monthly too. Mismatched units are the fastest route to a chart that cannot be defended in a pitch.

5. 05

   Log every source's known blind spots in the workspace

   Traffic panels undercount small sites, ad-spend estimates are modeled rather than invoiced, and tender databases only cover public procurement. Writing these limits down at intake prevents overclaiming later.

6. 06

   Define the two or three questions this intelligence must answer this quarter

   Tie each question to a decision the client is already facing, such as whether to defend a keyword set or shift budget to a new channel. Research without a pending decision rarely survives a budget review.

7. 07

   Schedule the first readout within ten business days of kickoff

   A dated readout forces prioritization and gives the client an early deliverable. Open-ended research phases are where onboarding retainers quietly stall.