The competitive analysis questionnaire is a fundamental tool for businesses seeking to understand their market position, evaluate rivals, and develop informed strategies. For UK-based entrepreneurs, startups, and established companies, accessing structured templates can streamline the process of gathering and analysing competitor intelligence. This article details the available free resources for competitive analysis questionnaires, focusing on their structure, purpose, and practical application, based exclusively on the provided source materials.
A competitive analysis, sometimes referred to as a competitive market analysis, is a process conducted by an organisation to identify competitors, assess their products and services, determine their advantages and disadvantages, and formulate a marketing strategy based on this intelligence. The outcome of this research can be presented as a competitive analysis chart, which visually compares companies using specific parameters such as products, prices, quality, service, location, reliability, stability, company reputation, sales method, credit policy, and advertising. This chart should indicate whether these parameters represent strengths or weaknesses for each company and their importance to clients. The purpose of a competitive market analysis is to allow entrepreneurs to identify competitors' strengths and weaknesses within a marketplace, enabling the development of effective strategies to improve their own competitive advantage.
Several platforms offer free, downloadable templates for competitive analysis. These templates are often available in multiple formats, including Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, and PDFs. A common approach involves completing the top row with the names of key competitors and the second column with information about one's own company, including an honest assessment of weaknesses. Subsequent columns are filled with competitor information gathered from online research, colleague consultation, or personal market experience. Comparing across these columns provides a clearer understanding of how a company stacks up against its competition.
One specific resource is a template for conducting a competitor analysis that includes sections for collecting information on an organisation's competitors. The sections cover an overview and profile, competitive advantages, target market, market share, marketing strategies, products and services, pricing and costs, distribution channels, and a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). This template guides the user to research competitors using various sources and methods to gather intelligence for populating the template, facilitating analysis and comparison.
Beyond static templates, some platforms provide interactive questionnaires designed for competitor analysis. These questionnaires can be used by startups and small businesses for strategy formation and product launch planning, as well as by medium and large businesses for market expansion, brand revamping, and staying competitive with new trends. The questionnaires can be useful for competitor SWOT analysis, developing product positioning strategies, determining optimal market pricing, identifying potential partners, and recognising potential threats.
Sample questions within such a questionnaire might include: - How do you perceive our competitors’ products and services compared to ours? - What are the key differentiators between our products and those of our competitors? - How do our competitors’ prices compare to ours? - What do you like and dislike about our competitors’ products and services? - How do our competitors’ sales pitches differ from ours? - What are the main features of our competitors’ products? - How do our competitors’ services compare to ours? - How do our competitors’ customer support and success services compare to ours? - How do our competitors’ marketing materials differ from ours? - How do our competitors’ sales and marketing strategies differ from ours?
The information gathered from these questions can help businesses understand who their competitors are targeting, the strategies they employ, and how they position themselves in the market. Understanding why customers choose a competitor's product can provide insights into necessary improvements for one's own offerings.
Features of a competitor analysis questionnaire template often include the ability to tailor the questionnaire based on initial responses, guiding respondents through a customised series of questions to gather specific and relevant insights. These questionnaires can be integrated directly into business platforms or websites to facilitate easy access and comprehensive data collection from stakeholders. Different question types, such as multiple choice, rating-based, matrix type, and open-ended, can be used to collect competitors' customer reviews and ratings. Some platforms offer a conversational UI with emojis, gifs, and interactive messages to make the questionnaire more engaging, guiding respondents one question at a time to ensure thoughtful responses. They may also support over 20 question types and over 130 languages, allowing for the creation of multiple translated versions for global research teams. Members from marketing and sales teams can also upload their analysis, charts, or other relevant documents within the questionnaire via drag-and-drop or attachment, with files accessible in the dashboard. After customising a questionnaire template, a printable version can often be downloaded instantly as a PDF, available in landscape or portrait style, with the option to add branding for record-keeping and in-person discussions.
For those seeking a visual presentation of findings, a competitive analysis PowerPoint with over 22 competitor analysis templates is also available for download. These templates help systematically evaluate competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, simplifying the process of gathering and analysing data to gain a competitive edge.
In summary, a variety of free competitive analysis templates and questionnaires are available for download in PDF and other formats. These resources provide structured frameworks to guide businesses through the process of evaluating competitors, their strategies, and their market performance. By using these tools to collect and compare data on key parameters, businesses can identify market gaps, opportunities, and threats, leading to more informed decisions and improved strategies. The availability of interactive questionnaires with multiple question types and translation capabilities further enhances the depth and reach of competitor research for businesses of all sizes.