Frequently Asked Questions
Unsure about anything? Check out our FAQ!
We’ve done our best to make this site and its subject matter as straightforward and simple to navigate as possible. However, Competitive Intelligence is a wide reaching and complex subject, and getting to grips with a new platform can take time. Here we’ve answered the common questions that people have about this site.
Competitive Intelligence
This section takes a look at questions surrounding Competitive/Market Intelligence itself.
What is Competitive Intelligence?
Competitive intelligence (CI) refers to the legal and ethical process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting internal and external information to capture holistic perspectives on various business topics, with the end goal to use that intelligence to develop insights and implications to inform and
improve decision making.
Competitive intelligence is not limited to looking at competitors. It also involves assessing customers, regulators, suppliers, and a host of other core components of the entire competitive landscape.
If you’d like to read more about CI, visit the Complete Guide to Competitive Intelligence or register for our CI Blueprint Course.
What Is the Importance of Competitive Intelligence?
Competitive intelligence provides businesses with unique insights to help companies gain and maintain a competitive advantage. It allows decision makers to utilize evidence-based knowledge to make better decisions rather than relying on gut or anecdotal inputs.
While nearly every single for-profit — and many not-for-profit — businesses want a distinct set of competitive advantages, not everyone understands how to get there. That’s where CI research, deep analysis, and benchmarking comes in.
The competitive advantage-based importance of CI insights can be broken into three parts:
- Aggregation: Secondary and primary CI research launches an extensive investigative campaign targeting specific operational, organizational and commercial concerns a business wishes to improve. Data sets are legally and ethically sourced and compiled, and through analysis, the end results is both micro and macro insights.
- Synthesis: Organizations interpret the information captured and converts it to intelligence, piecing together vital nuggets of insights from verified and validated sources to help differentiate their brands, identify growth opportunities, and mitigate risks.
- Action: Intelligence is then linked to core business priorities and corporate objectives to drive the necessary decisions and actions.
What Are the Benefits of Competitive Intelligence?
Businesses stand to experience numerous benefits when they undergo competitive intelligence and market insights analysis:
- Avoid Surprises
- Understand Competitive Mindsets
- Glean Competitive Insights
- Track Industry Trends and Forecast Future Moves
- Improve Short and Long-term Planning
- Enable Growth and Mitigate Risks
- Enable Better Decision-Making
- Improve Operational Efficiencies
- Anticipate Competitions’ Behaviors
- Make Business Decisions With More Confidence
- Deliver Value / ROI
What Industries Use Competitive Intelligence?
Numerous industries use competitive intelligence to inform improvements across operations, technology, customer satisfaction ratings, market entry or market defense practices and more. Here’s just a sample of the sectors where CI is utilized to great effect:
- Technology
- Healthcare
- Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
- Manufacturing and Industrial Sectors
- Consumer Goods
- Financial Services
- Transportation
Where should I start?
If you’re entirely new to Competitive Intelligence and are looking to build a first-class CI function from the ground up, we recommend registering for our CI Blueprint℠ course.
This course is designed to be of use to newcomers in the world of CI (less than 3 years
of CI experience) as well as contains content to boost the CI knowledge of seasoned veterans in the industry. We structured this course to reduce your learning time while providing guidance on how you can best add value to your company. A variety of course techniques will get you engaged and teach you to absorb, retain, and apply the key takeaways.
What if I already have a CI function?
If your company already has a Competitive/Market Intelligence function in place, there is still more you can learn to make it even better… you can assess the capability of the function using our CI Capability Self-Assessment Tool.
The assessment is entirely free and confidential, and will provide a score for your function based on a series of questions. It will also provide some recommendations as to how you might be able to improve your function further. No CI function is perfect, but we aim to elevate your current function to the best it can possibly be.
What makes the CI Learning Lab and its courses different?
Unlike other CI courses that may teach theory, everything you learn on the CI Learning Lab will provide practical takeaways that you can apply to your role. The material is taught by experts that have been in the CI field over 30 years and have drawn from their experiences in working with CI practitioners from around the world across multiple industries. The sessions are fun, engaging and inspiring and taught through a combination of methods in digestible sound bites that allow you to watch and learn at your pace.
Getting Started
Learn how the CI Learning Lab works and how get going.
How do I register an account on the CI Learning Lab?
In order to access courses and social groups, you will create an account during the course purchase process. You will see fields in on the checkout page for entering a username and a password.
How do I purchase a course?
Courses can be purchased from the course feature page, such as this one for the CI Blueprint℠ course. Simply add one of the course options to your cart and follow the prompts to continue to the checkout page. You can use a credit/debit card to purchase the course (via Stripe), as well as PayPal, Google Pay or Apple Pay. If you have a
discount code, you can apply that at checkout.
Once you have successfully purchased a course, you will be automatically logged in and taken to the course page where you can begin learning.
Which course option should I choose?
The CI Blueprint℠ course offers 2 different course options:
- Basic: Access to the course and social group only. This is great for people looking to get access to the content without a requirement for certification, or those looking to get involved in our growing community.
- Advanced: This option not only includes access to the Basic course and the social group, but the course culminates in a final “exam”. Upon successful completion (80% correct is passing), you will receive the SCIP Competitive IQ Certification, a globally recognized qualification. This is an excellent option for those looking to have a formal qualification on top of the knowledge and capability they have gained.
What if I'm already a member of SCIP (Strategic & Competitive Intelligence Professionals)?
If you are already a SCIP member, you are eligible for a $100 discount for the CI Blueprint℠ course via a coupon code provided by SCIP.
For every verified SCIP member who purchases the course, Proactive Worldwide will also issue a $75 donation to SCIP.
System Requirements
CI Learning Lab courses can be accessed through various devices. As well as PC and Mac desktops/laptops, the platform is optimized for mobile devices. Our system requirements for these are below.
Minimum System Requirements:
- The latest Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, or Opera internet browser
- A broadband connection with a minimum speed of 5Mbit or 800kbps
- Video and Audio output capability
Account Management
It’s easy to manage everything about your account on the CI Learning Lab. Here’s some of the most common things you’re likely to want to do:
How do I reset my Password?
You can reset your password from the Account Details area of your My Account Page. You’ll need to enter your current password to change it.
If you do not know your password, you can click the “Forgot Password?” link on the login page.
How do I change my name/email address?
As with the password, you can change your name or email address from the Account Details area of your My Account Page.
How do I manage my privacy settings?
You can access the privacy setting for your account via the Privacy Settings link link in the drop down menu under your profile in the top right of the menu bar. From here you can:
- Manage your email preferences: Set which email notifications you would like to receive from the site.
- Manage your profile visibility: Set who can see your profile within the course social groups and other social areas.
- Export your data: You may download a copy of all data you have created on this platform. An email will be sent to you to verify the request. Then the site admin will review your request and if approved, a zip file will be generated and emailed to you.
How do I update my profile?
Updating your profile is easy. Simply click your name or Profile in the drop down menu in the top right of the menu bar, From here you can:
- Set a profile picture using an uploaded photo or by taking a photo using the camera on your device.
- Change the cover photo on your profile. This is the image that sits at the top of your profile.
- Change your name/username.
Courses
Courses are the backbone of the CI Learning Lab. They are designed to be easy to navigate and consume.
How do I access my courses?
You can access the courses you have purchased by going to the My Courses tab in your profile, or by clicking the My Courses link in the drop-down menu under your profile link in the top navigation.
How do I complete a course?
The course is broken up into “lessons”, which are formed of a number of “topics”. Topics are where you will find the bulk of the learning materials for the course. Completing these topics will progress you through the course.
Most courses are non-linear, so you can jump between topics and lessons as you desire. However, in order to complete the course, you must complete all topics.
Topics with video content will automatically complete once you have watched the video and move you on to the next topic. Topics without video content will have a “Mark Complete” button, which you will have to click once you have finished the activity. This button may be hidden until you have completed the activity, such as submitting an answer to a poll.
How can I access my certificates?
Once awarded after passing your exam, certificates can be downloaded from the certificates tab in the Courses area of your profile.
Get in Touch
Still need help? Send us a message and we’ll get back to you!