Understanding customer attitudes and where you stand in comparison to your competition is essential for any business. Having an accurate grasp of how customers, and potential customers, view your brand, products, and competitors allows you to determine your company’s strengths and weaknesses, and where improvements should be made.

But understanding customer and potential customer attitudes is easier said than done. Companies that try to gather this information themselves often run into difficulties. For example, those answering the survey may not be representative of the target user. Or they may be less candid because they know who is conducting the survey; telling someone their product is bad to their face can be daunting. It can also be hard to gauge how customers view competitor brands.

This is why many companies turn to consulting and advisory firms to conduct independent competitive assessments. To learn more about how competitive assessments can help companies, PaymentsJournal sat down with Pete Reville, Director of Primary Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group. Reville described how Mercator approaches these assessments and in what ways this approach benefits companies.

PaymentsJournalUnderstanding Customer Attitudes Is Hard. With Competitive Assessments, It Doesn’t Have to Be.PaymentsJournal Understanding Customer Attitudes Is Hard. With Competitive Assessments, It Doesn’t Have to Be.PaymentsJournaljQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap23537155 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"off" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",settings_backup_type:"full",playfrom:"default",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"off",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "ef6b13",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_comments_playerid:"23537155",php_retriever:"https://www.paymentsjournal.com/wp-content/plugins/dzs-zoomsounds/soundcloudretriever.php" }; try{ dzsap_init(".ap_idx_91569_2",settings_ap23537155); }catch(err){ console.warn("cannot init player", err); } });

Taking your competitive assessment to the next level

A common approach to competitive assessments is known as competitive intelligence. This means “gathering the information that you can on product features and specifications, maybe pricing, maybe distribution channels, market share, all that quote unquote ‘hard’ information,” said Reville.

These factors are certainly important; it’s helpful to know what products the competition is offering, the amount they’re charging, and how much market share they command. However, Mercator’s approach to assessments goes even deeper than merely hard information on pricing and specific features in product offerings. “What we’re talking about here is taking your competitive assessment to the next level, which is understanding what your customers and customers of your competitors feel about your brand and the brands they’re using,” said Reville. In effect, Mercator’s approach enables a company to better understand its competitive environment.

Competitive Assessment Overview

As the graphic above depicts, Mercator will determine the awareness, familiarity, and consideration target customers have not just...