Optimism fuels opportunity, ABM + Intelligence fuels growth

The nearly forgotten concepts of traveling without restrictions, gathering for large, in-person social and business events, and aggressively investing in business growth are again on peoples’ minds. Despite being pelted with negative news on a daily basis, there is optimism in the air.

A recent Wall Street Journal survey of 68 leading economists predicts that U.S. economic growth will exceed 4% in 2021, with vaccines boosting the growth “significantly” according to two-thirds of respondents. The International Monetary Fund was even more bullish in its January World Economic Outlook Update, suggesting the global economy will grow 5.5% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022, ramping up later this year as vaccination rollouts fuel confidence.

With such confidence and optimism comes investment. And with investment comes growth. But companies seeking to grow by investing in the future cannot do so without applying tried and true due diligence. Companies should be aggressive, but not reckless, in seizing market opportunities. This is where competitive and market intelligence come in. Decisions about where to invest, when to invest, why to invest can all be informed by solid intelligence on the external competitive environment.

With all this brightness—particularly after such an extended period of darkness—I am thrilled to be joining a firm as exciting and well regarded as Momentum ITSMA. By fusing established competitive intelligence expertise with the preeminent growth consultancy, we are creating a dream team at this juncture in 2021, as we sit poised to enter what some think will be another ‘Roaring Twenties’ decade. Enormous growth opportunities will be available to firms that truly understand their buyers and know how to engage them with targeted messages and well-informed sales strategies. Rich, reliable intelligence will separate winners from losers in the race to capture this coming wave of opportunity.

Here are just a few of the compelling ways we at Momentum ITSMA are integrally weaving competitive intelligence into account-based marketing efforts, helping clients:

Really understand their buyers – not just what the client’s org chart looks like, but what really drives them, how they make purchase decisions, what pressures and challenges they face, who they have relationships with, and what keeps them up at night.

Really understand the industries they serve – the big issues industries are dealing with, rates of growth, sources of growth, risks, competition, customer needs, and adoption of technology are different depending on the industry one is selling into. Understanding these differences and really speaking the language of the industry can vastly improve the effectiveness of the sales team.

Really understand their competitive position – how their products and services compare to alternatives, their unique selling proposition, their relative strengths and weaknesses, competitive threats and opportunities.

Really understand why they win and lose – injecting objectivity and rigor into their postmortem examination of what’s working well and what’s falling flat in competitive selling efforts.

When firms are armed with rich market insights and competitive intelligence, they can adopt a differentiated approach versus a commodity approach, compete on value and realize higher margins rather than compete on price, and deepen relationships instead of recording transactional sales. Ultimately, they can meet and exceed their growth objectives. Intelligence is the difference.

Lenore Scanlon, Competitive Intelligence & Strategy, Financial & Business Services Lead, Momentum ITSMA