Drill Deep: It’s What You Don’t See That Can Harm You

Drilling Deep to Find Insights Vital for Corporate Survival

Blindspots are hidden dangers that can be compounded by negligence, overconfidence and a lack of sufficient data from normally reliable sources.

Competitive Intelligence and its related research methodology (B2B mystery shopping) can be used to find hidden dangers before they create irreparable harm.

Blindspots in the News Media

One current example of a blindspot in the media is how the corporate news media is portraying the proroguing of the British Parliament by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The media will have their audience believe that what is being done is anti-democratic and an overthrowing of the “Mother of Parliaments” because the Brexit issue can no longer be debated. Boris Johnson is pilloried as a dictator.

What the media are not revealing is:
1. The majority of the people in the UK voted for Brexit. The majority increases when one looks at the voting results outside Greater London. The people of England and Wales voted to leave the European Union. In fact, the majority of the seats in the House of Commons would be pro-Brexit if a vote were held.
2. The majority of the Members of Parliament (governing Conservatives and opposition parties) are against Brexit under any condition, despite what the voters say.

As a result, only way that the will of the people can take effect is through the “undemocratic” process of proroguing Parliament until October 31, when Brexit takes effect.
Boris Johnson is providing clarity on the future of the UK and accepting the will of the voting majority, despite the biased views of the corporate-owned media.

Blindspots in the Corporate World

In the 20+ years as the founder and owner of a Market Research firm that does a significant amount of Competitive Intelligence and Corporate (B2B) Mystery Shopping, I have seen many instance where untraditional research methodologies have discovered corporate blindspots that were costing companies literally millions of dollars in lost sales, lost clients and tarnished reputations.
Many of these companies were conducting extensive research using traditional quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, but these methodologies were unable to provide the insights necessary to identify and expose weaknesses in their offerings.
Many of these experiences were described in previous posts, LinkedIn articles and other publications.

Conclusion

If your company is:
1. Losing an unusually high number of sales bids – often to the same competitor, or
2. Losing many long-established clients for competitors, or
3. Facing a loss of reputation in your business sector, or
4. Findings from traditional market research do not correspond to what is happening to your sales and profits, then
You may require the expertise of a competitor research professional.