The Reciprocal Consulting Blog » posing as a customer http://reciprocalconsultingblog.com Internet Marketing Collaboration for Success Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:10:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Posing As A Customer http://reciprocalconsultingblog.com/competitive-intelligence/posing-as-a-customer/ http://reciprocalconsultingblog.com/competitive-intelligence/posing-as-a-customer/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:03:16 +0000 Writer http://reciprocalconsultingblog.com/?p=1307 One way to spy on the competition to see how they handle customer service and to check pricing is to pose as a customer. Many companies do not disclose prices publicly. And if you are in an industry that typically keeps prices under wraps so that businesses can sell directly to consumers using consultative practices and hide their pricing models until it’s time to close, you can always have someone pose as a customer for your competition.

This is a highly risky endeavor. If the competition believes that you are spying on them in this manner then there might be repercussions. But if you do it right then it’s possible to get the information you are looking for.

Of course, there is the concern of expenses. If your competition’s services are expensive then it could you just to gather information. Some businesses, however, are willing to hire secret shoppers to spy on the competition and let the shopper keep anything that is purchased for personal use.

We don’t necessarily recommend this strategy for your business, but if spying on the competition is a necessity then keep in mind that someone can pose as a customer and gather the data.

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