Keeping track of one’s competition and the current state of the industry is an indispensable and fundamental aspect of operating any business. The present market scenario is so rapid and dynamic than any possible blindside may prove to be a detrimental error of judgment. Therefore, it is imperative that businesses need proper market intelligence to stay afloat, relevant and drive growth.

But acquiring apposite and accurate market intelligence is not an easy task. It has to be performed by a qualified, skilled and experienced team. This is the reason why many enterprises approach call center outsourcing companies to take care of this requirement.

What is market intelligence?

It is the process of gathering information and data relevant to a company’s market and analyzing it specifically for the purpose of accurate and confident decision-making. This decision-making is in regards to determining business strategies in key areas such as market opportunity, market penetration strategy and market development.

Through this information, the company is given an understanding as to what exactly is happening in the marketplace and what is the real potential of the market. And with a steady stream of real-time information and data businesses are able to make well-informed decisions.

Since gathering market intelligence is a specialized field, it usually does not fall under a business’s core competencies and this is where reputed call center outsourcing companies come into play.

The services that an ideal outsourcing partner with regards to market intelligence usually provides are as follows.

• Offer various ideas, insights and recommendations on how to build and nurture relationships with potential customers during the buying cycle. And also the techniques and tactics on how to convert those qualified leads into sales prospects.
• The delivered market intelligence solutions should encompass ad tracking, brand equity research, ad research, customer satisfaction studies as well as sales forecasting. The solutions should not only help the organization to build but also to foster and maintain profitable customer relationships.
• The deliverables should help business marketers to prepare effective real-time campaigns.
• In addition to the above, many of these call center outsourcing companies also offer online marketing intelligence services such as email marketing, text-based advertising, newsletter marketing, viral marketing, pay-per-click as well as search engine optimization.
• They should also be able to help out an enterprise during complicated campaigns and stuck-in scenarios.

If an organization is intending to outsource their market intelligence services to an outsourcing partner. The following are the features that one should look for

• Experienced workforce- As mentioned above, the acquisition of market intelligence requires a skilled an experienced team who can deliver the best-of-the-breed real-time market intelligence.
• Confidentiality- The outsourcing firm should be able to respect and maintain the organization’s privacy and confidentiality at all costs.
• Customized solutions- Every business is unique and so is the market they operate in. Hence, the outsourcing partner should be able to devise a customized solution according to the needs of the organization.

Quality assurance- One should make sure to follow stringent control measures so as to avoid inaccurate collection of information.