Competitive Intelligence Gathering
Know everything about competitors before they know you exist
What This Intel is Worth:
- Know their exact revenue (±10%)
- Identify their biggest customers
- Spot their weak points
- Predict when they'll sell
- Steal their best practices
Phase 1: Digital Reconnaissance
The Google Dorking Method
Advanced search operators to find hidden data:
site:competitorname.com filetype:pdf
site:competitorname.com "confidential" OR "internal"
site:linkedin.com "works at CompetitorName" "sales"
"CompetitorName" AND ("revenue" OR "annual sales")
inurl:competitorname -site:competitorname.com
What you'll find:
- Old proposals with pricing
- Employee manuals
- Customer lists in PDFs
- Internal documents
Website Intelligence Mining
| Tool |
What It Reveals |
Cost |
| Wayback Machine |
Historical pricing, old team pages |
Free |
| BuiltWith |
Tech stack, monthly spend |
$295/mo |
| SimilarWeb |
Traffic, sources, engagement |
$199/mo |
| SpyFu |
Ad spend, keywords, history |
$39/mo |
| Wappalyzer |
Technologies used |
Free |
Phase 2: Financial Intelligence
Revenue Estimation Formula
Method 1: Employee Count
- Service business: # employees × $125-150k = revenue
- Construction: # employees × $200-250k = revenue
- Manufacturing: # employees × $175-225k = revenue
Method 2: Vehicle/Equipment Count
- HVAC: # trucks × $400-600k = revenue
- Plumbing: # trucks × $350-500k = revenue
- Landscaping: # crews × $300-400k = revenue
Method 3: Job Postings Analysis
Growing companies hire at predictable ratios:
- 1 admin per $1-1.5M revenue
- 1 sales per $2-3M revenue
- 1 manager per $3-5M revenue
Phase 3: Human Intelligence (HUMINT)
The "Mystery Shopper" Approach
- Call for Quote: Learn pricing, process, capacity
- Facility Tour: Count employees, equipment, activity
- Vendor Conversations: "Who else uses you in this industry?"
- Employee LinkedIn: Recent hires reveal growth/struggles
Script for calling:
"Hi, I'm looking for [service] for my properties. I've heard good things about you from [make up a name]. Can you tell me about your services and rough pricing?"
Phase 4: Regulatory & Public Records
| Source |
What You'll Find |
How to Access |
| State Licensing |
Owner names, violations, insurance |
State contractor board website |
| BBB Profile |
Complaints, years in business |
BBB.org (free) |
| OSHA Records |
Safety violations, employee count |
OSHA.gov database |
| Property Records |
Real estate owned, mortgages |
County assessor website |
| Court Records |
Lawsuits, liens, judgments |
County clerk website |
| UCC Filings |
Equipment financing, debt |
Secretary of State |
Phase 5: Customer Intelligence
Review Mining Strategy
What to extract from reviews:
- Pricing mentions: "paid $X for Y"
- Service area: where customers are located
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Employee names mentioned
- Response time and capacity
Automated scraping setup:
1. Use Phantom Buster or Octoparse
2. Scrape Google, Yelp, Facebook reviews
3. Export to spreadsheet
4. Search for keywords: "$", "price", "cost", "charged"
5. Map customer locations
6. Identify patterns in complaints
Phase 6: Vendor & Partner Intelligence
The "Supplier Backdoor" Method
Call their known suppliers as a "potential customer":
Script:
"I'm looking at working with [Competitor]. I know you supply them - are they good to work with? Do they pay on time? How much volume do they do with you?"
What suppliers reveal:
- Payment terms (cash flow health)
- Order volumes (revenue proxy)
- Growth or decline patterns
- Other customers in industry
Phase 7: Employee Intelligence
LinkedIn Deep Dive
Sales Navigator searches:
- Current employees: Team size, roles, tenure
- Former employees: Why they left, where they went
- Job postings: Growth areas, problems
- Company updates: Wins, changes, struggles
The "Recruit to Learn" Tactic:
Post a job similar to theirs. Their employees who apply will tell you everything:
- Current pay scales
- Company problems
- Customer base
- Future plans
Phase 8: Competitive Positioning Map
Build Your Intel Dashboard
| Competitor |
Est. Revenue |
Employees |
Key Customers |
Weaknesses |
Acquisition Potential |
| ABC Plumbing |
$3.2M |
18 |
City contracts, hotels |
Old owner, no succession |
HIGH - approach in 6mo |
| XYZ Services |
$5.1M |
28 |
Residential only |
High debt, price wars |
MEDIUM - distressed |
Advanced Intelligence Tactics
The "False RFP" Method
Send request for proposals to gather:
- Detailed pricing structures
- Service capabilities
- References (customer list)
- Insurance and bonding info
- Team bios and experience
⚠️ Legal Boundaries
Always stay legal:
- ✓ Public information is fair game
- ✓ Mystery shopping is legal
- ✓ Buying their service to learn is fine
- ✗ Don't hack or steal data
- ✗ Don't misrepresent who you work for
- ✗ Don't bribe employees for info
Turning Intel into Action
Strategic Applications:
1. For Acquisitions:
- Identify distressed competitors
- Know their real revenue before offering
- Understand their customer concentration
2. For Negotiation:
- "I know you're struggling with X..."
- "Your main customer just did Y..."
- "The market is shifting away from Z..."
3. For Competition:
- Steal their best practices
- Target their unhappy customers
- Exploit their weaknesses
Monthly Intelligence Routine
Set Up Automated Monitoring:
- Google Alerts: Competitor names, key employees
- LinkedIn Sales Nav: Save leads on all competitors
- Review Monitoring: BirdEye or Grade.us
- Website Changes: Visualping or ChangeTower
- Social Media: Mention or Hootsuite
Monthly investment: 2 hours to review, $200 in tools
ROI: One insight can save/make $100k+ on a deal
© The Blueprint System™ - Competitive Intelligence Gathering
Part of the Complete Blueprint System (Document #16 of 32)