Benchmarking firms are other firms that offer the same or similar products or services in the same market, competing with the firm for market share, customers and profits. Enterprise research refers to the process of identifying and studying benchmarking enterprises in order to obtain information about the background, products, prices, channels, marketing, finance, strategy, etc. The purpose of enterprise research is to understand the competitive environment, discover the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, formulate effective competitive strategies, and improve the competitiveness and profitability of enterprises.

The tools and resources of enterprise research refer to the means and ways that can help enterprises collect benchmarking enterprise information, including the Internet, competitive platforms, customer feedback and personal channels. The following describes the characteristics and usage of each of these four tools and resources, and how to use them for enterprise research.

Internet

The Internet is one of the most commonly used and convenient tools for enterprise research. It can provide a large amount of public and free benchmarking enterprise information, including benchmarking enterprise's official website, social media, news reports, industry reports, patent database, recruitment website, review platform, etc. Through the Internet, enterprises can obtain the basic situation, development history, product characteristics, price strategy, channel layout, marketing activities, technological innovation, financial status, word-of-mouth evaluation and other information of benchmarking enterprises, so as to have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of benchmarking enterprises.

The methods of using the Internet for enterprise research are as follows:

Use professional benchmarking enterprise analysis tools, such as Ahrefs, use industry websites and databases, such as Crunchbase, enter the name of the benchmarking enterprise, view the company profile, investment, acquisition, financial report, etc. of the benchmarking enterprise, and analyze the size, background and financial situation of the benchmarking enterprise.

Use social media, such as Weibo, WeChat, LinkedIn, Zhihu, etc., to pay attention to the official accounts, employee accounts, customer accounts, etc. of benchmarking enterprises, view the dynamics, interactions, comments, etc. of benchmarking enterprises, and analyze the brand image, customer relationship, market feedback, etc. of benchmarking enterprises.

Use the comment platform, such as G, to enter the products of benchmarking enterprises, view the user evaluation, rating, advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, and analyze the product performance, user satisfaction, market reputation, etc.

Competition Platform

Competition platform refers to the platform that allows enterprises and benchmarking enterprises to directly or indirectly compare and compete, including bidding platform, e-commerce platform, industry exhibition, selection activities and so on. Through the competition platform, enterprises can obtain the product samples, quotation schemes, sales data, industry status and other information of benchmarking enterprises, so as to have an intuitive and practical understanding of benchmarking enterprises.

The methods of using competitive platforms for enterprise research are as follows:

Use the bidding platform, such as the Chinese government procurement network, enter the relevant project name, industry category, regional scope, etc., check the bidding announcement, bid announcement, bid winning results, etc., find out the benchmark enterprises participating in the bidding, and analyze the quotation level, technical scheme, partners, etc. of the benchmark enterprises.

Use e-commerce platforms, such as Taobao, Jingdong, Amazon, etc., enter relevant product names, brand names, keywords, etc., view product pages, store pages, sales rankings, etc., find benchmark companies that sell the same or similar products, and analyze the product characteristics, price strategies, sales volume, customer evaluations, etc. of benchmark companies.

Use industry exhibitions, such as China International Import Expo, China International Information and Communication Exhibition, etc., to participate in related exhibition activities, check exhibitions, forum speeches, business negotiations, etc., find out the benchmark companies participating in the exhibition, and analyze the product display and technology of the benchmark companies Demonstration, marketing, etc.

Use selection activities, such as China Employer Award, China Value Brand Award, etc., pay attention to relevant selection activities, check the selection criteria, selection process, selection results, etc., find out the winning benchmark enterprises, and analyze the advantages, industry influence, market recognition, etc. of benchmark enterprises.

Customer Feedback

Customer feedback refers to the information about benchmarking enterprises collected from existing customers or potential customers, including customer satisfaction surveys, customer research, customer complaints, customer suggestions, etc. Through customer feedback, enterprises can obtain the product quality, service level, customer needs, customer preferences and other information of benchmarking enterprises, so as to have an objective and true evaluation of benchmarking enterprises.

There are several ways to use customer feedback for enterprise research:

Use customer satisfaction surveys, such as questionnaire stars, design related questions, send online or offline questionnaires to customers, collect customers' evaluations, feelings, suggestions, etc. of benchmarking enterprises, and analyze customer satisfaction, loyalty, conversion rate, etc.

Use customer research, such as telephone research, face-to-face research, etc., select some representative customers, conduct in-depth communication with customers, collect customers' views, experiences, expectations, etc. on benchmarking enterprises, and analyze customers' needs, pain points, solutions, etc.

Use customer complaints, such as customer service center, complaint platform, etc., to collect customer dissatisfaction, complaints, opinions, etc. to analyze the problems, weaknesses, room for improvement, etc.

Use customer suggestions, such as suggestion boxes and proposals, to collect customers' praise, affirmation and suggestions for benchmarking enterprises, and analyze the advantages, highlights and innovations of benchmarking enterprises.

Personal channels

Personal channels refer to the information collected by enterprises through their own employees, partners, industry experts and other networks, including internal information of employees, external information of partners, professional information of industry experts, etc. Through personal channels, companies can obtain information about the organizational structure, personnel changes, partnerships, and industry dynamics of benchmarking companies, thus providing a deep and sensitive insight into benchmarking companies.

There are several ways to use personal channels for corporate research:

Use employee internal information, such as employee address book, employee social network, etc., to identify employees associated with the benchmark enterprise, such as former employees, friends and relatives, peer employees, etc., communicate with them, collect the internal situation of the benchmark enterprise, personnel changes, strategic plans, etc.

Use the external information of partners, such as suppliers, distributors, customers, etc., to find out the partners who have cooperation with the benchmarking enterprise, such as common suppliers, distributors, customers, etc., and contact them to collect the external situation, cooperation status, market reaction, etc. of the benchmarking enterprise.

Use the professional information of industry experts, such as consultants, analysts, scholars, etc., to find out the industry experts who have studied benchmarking enterprises, such as consultants who provide consulting for benchmarking enterprises, analysts who do analysis for benchmarking enterprises, scholars who write papers for benchmarking enterprises, etc., and consult with them to collect the professional information, industry trends, technological development, etc. of benchmarking enterprises.

These are four kinds of enterprise research tools and resources, and how to use these tools and resources to collect benchmarking enterprise information introduction. Below, we will use a real-world case study from Shangpu Consulting to illustrate the process and methodologies of corporate research, as well as its value and significance.

The Case for Corporate Research at Champu Consulting

Shangpu Consulting Company is a consulting company specializing in corporate management consulting, strategic consulting, market research and other services. It was established in 2010 and is headquartered in Beijing. It has more than 100 consultants and analysts. Its clients include PetroChina, Huawei, Baidu, Jingdong and other well-known enterprises. The benchmark enterprises of Shangpu Consulting primarily fall into the following categories:

Internationally renowned consulting companies, such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting, Bain Consulting, etc., have a long history and deep accumulation in the consulting field, have a wide range of customers and excellent consulting teams, and have a strong brand influence and industry status.

Leading domestic consulting companies, such as Washington Consulting, Huawei Consulting, CIIC Consulting, etc., have rich experience and professional capabilities in the consulting field, have stable customer relationships and efficient consulting processes, and have high market share and customer satisfaction.

Emerging consulting companies, such as Analysys Consulting, iResearch Consulting, McKinsey Digital, etc., have innovative thinking and flexible models in the consulting field, have keen market insights and advanced technical means, and have great development potential and competition Advantage.

In response to these benchmarking companies, Champu Consulting has adopted the following corporate research methods:

Using the competition platform, Shangpu Consulting Company collected product samples, quotation plans, sales data, industry status, etc. of benchmarking enterprises through bidding platforms, e-commerce platforms, industry exhibitions, selection activities, etc., so as to understand the product display, technology demonstration, market promotion, etc. of benchmarking enterprises.

Using customer feedback, Shangpu Consulting collected user evaluations, ratings, advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises through customer satisfaction surveys, customer research, customer complaints, customer suggestions, etc., so as to evaluate the product performance, user satisfaction, market reputation of benchmarking enterprises.

Personal channels

Personal channels refer to the information collected by enterprises through their own employees, partners, industry experts and other networks, including internal information of employees, external information of partners, professional information of industry experts, etc. Through personal channels, companies can obtain information about the organizational structure, personnel changes, partnerships, and industry dynamics of benchmarking companies, thus providing a deep and sensitive insight into benchmarking companies.

There are several ways to use personal channels for corporate research:

Use employee internal information, such as employee address book, employee social network, etc., to identify employees associated with the benchmark enterprise, such as former employees, friends and relatives, peer employees, etc., communicate with them, collect the internal situation of the benchmark enterprise, personnel changes, strategic plans, etc.

Use the external information of partners, such as suppliers, distributors, customers, etc., to find out the partners who have cooperation with the benchmarking enterprise, such as common suppliers, distributors, customers, etc., and contact them to collect the external situation, cooperation status, market reaction, etc. of the benchmarking enterprise.

Use the professional information of industry experts, such as consultants, analysts, scholars, etc., to find out the industry experts who have studied benchmarking enterprises, such as consultants who provide consulting for benchmarking enterprises, analysts who do analysis for benchmarking enterprises, scholars who write papers for benchmarking enterprises, etc., and consult with them to collect the professional information, industry trends, technological development, etc. of benchmarking enterprises.

Through these corporate research methods, Champu Consulting has obtained the following corporate research results:

For internationally renowned consulting companies, Shangpu Consulting found that their advantages lie in brand reputation, customer resources, consulting quality, etc., but there are also some disadvantages, such as high prices, service rigidity, and poor adaptability. Therefore, the competitive strategy of Shangpu Consulting is to provide more cost-effective, more flexible and customized, and more local consulting services to attract customers who are price-sensitive, flexible, and localized.

For the leading domestic consulting companies, Shangpu Consulting found that their advantages lie in market share, customer relationship, consulting efficiency, etc., but there are also some disadvantages, such as product homogeneity, conservative service, lack of innovation and so on. Therefore, the competitive strategy of Shangpu Consulting is to provide more differentiated, forward-looking, and innovative consulting services to attract customers who are interested in product characteristics, service frontiers, and innovative value.

For emerging consulting companies, Shangpu Consulting found that their advantages lie in market insight, technical means, innovation models, etc., but there are also some disadvantages, such as lack of experience, team instability, low reputation and so on. Therefore, the competitive strategy of Shangpu Consulting is to provide more experienced, more stable, and more reputable consulting services to attract customers who are important to experience, important to stability, and important to reputation.

Through these corporate research results, Champu Consulting has obtained the following corporate research value and significance:

Through corporate research, Shangpu Consulting can more clearly understand its position and advantages in the market, so as to provide its own consulting services with more confidence and direction.

Through corporate research, Shangpu Consulting can more accurately identify customer needs and preferences, so as to more effectively and satisfactorily meet customer consulting needs.

Through corporate research, Shangpu Consulting can identify changes and opportunities in the market in a more timely manner, so as to adjust its consulting strategy more flexibly and innovatively.