Proactive Competitive Intelligence (CI) requires knowing what signals to look for in the marketplace, identifying when a signal has been observed, and implementing responses to the signal. One powerful tool that can be used to identify signals and responses is STEEP, which stands for Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Political. As an analysis framework, STEEP helps define how current trends will develop over time and how those trends will impact business.
By understanding which STEEP factors and knowing which trends within the factors are relevant to their industry and competitors, CI teams can develop monitoring programs to identify and track potential threats and opportunities. This information can then be used to develop strategies to help the business stay ahead of the competition.
The process of bringing STEEP into CI monitoring programs has four main components.
- Identify key trends and developments. Use the STEEP framework to identify key industry trends and current developments. This should include how competitors are reacting to the trends. This can be done by monitoring news and social media, attending industry events, and conducting surveys and interviews.
- Assess how trends and developments will impact the industry and competitors. Looking at the key trends, extrapolate them to a five-year endpoint. This should incorporate the following elements: How likely is the trend to occur? How quickly will the trend occur? What will be the impact of the trend on the industry and the company's competitors? What will the trend's impact be on the company's business? Extrapolate the trend with three outputs: The trend accelerates The trend remains constant The trend decelerates
- Develop an Indicator Tree. The indicator tree should identify what must change from the current status to allow each trend endpoint to occur. Starting from the end point, work back to the present and identify specific changes that will enable the trend to develop. Note for the trend to remain as it is, there must still be changes to allow that to happen.
- Develop monitoring programs. Based on the key indicators of change, CI teams can develop monitoring programs to track these indicators and how competitors respond to the indicator. CI units or their contractors can do this by setting up automated monitoring programs that deliver alerts when the indicator is noted. CI units can also monitor news articles and social media posts, attend industry events, and conduct regular surveys and interviews.
- Build action plans. A pre-planned response to the indicator can help speed up actions. The response can be tailored to the significance of the indicator and the threat it poses. Low threat indicators may require only a tweak to the monitoring program, high threat indicators may require implementation of specific actions that mitigate the threat’s impact.
Here are some examples of how CI teams can use the STEEP forecasting tool to develop market and competitor monitoring programs:
- Social: CI teams can monitor social media to identify trends in market, competitor, or consumer behavior that may impact the business environment. Social monitoring can also be used to identify new competitors and track existing competitors' activities.
- Technological: CI teams can monitor industry publications and news websites to identify new technologies and track existing technologies' development. They can also attend industry events to learn about new technologies and to network with potential partners.
- Economic: CI teams can monitor economic indicators such as GDP growth, interest rates, and unemployment rates. They can also monitor industry reports and analyst estimates to track economic trends that could impact their business or competitors.
- Ecological: CI teams can monitor environmental regulations and climate change trends. They can also monitor the activities of environmental groups and social media activities to identify emerging issues that could impact their market and competitors.
- Political: CI teams can monitor government regulations and political developments. They can also monitor the activities of lobbyists and special interest groups to identify emerging issues that could impact their business or their competitors.
Using the STEEP forecasting tool, CI teams can develop market and competitor monitoring programs to help them identify and track potential threats and opportunities. This information can then be used to develop strategies to help the business stay ahead of the competition.
