The Executive Steering Committee (ESC)
Teams often focus on analysis, but not as much on the operations that support and facilitate the analysis. So far, Ed has discussed the different teams that aid and help with competitive intelligence (CI) analysis, as well as operations and customer support. Here we discuss in detail the Executive Steering Committees (ESC).
Issues that CI teams Face
One issue that CI teams face is sponsorship and finances. Sometimes, teams can lose funding and become disbanded, and then re-established when finances are better. An Executive Steering Committee can help with this issue. This is a C-Level organizational team: heads of marketing, sales, and products, and more as the company grows. Other teams consume data. The ESC team is involved in the investment and sponsorship of the CI effort, and utilize the data for decisions. This is a more permanent role that requires long-term emotional investment in the company. They are leaders, rather than individual contributors.
How does the ESC address the problem of scale?
The short answer is that they manage the finances. An ideal ESC is able to effectively manage finances and prioritize the software or systems that facilitate operations so that everyone has the resources they need. This can be a Level 3 development, but Ed does not recommend waiting until Level 3 to establish an ESC if resources are available to establish one earlier.
Who is on an ESC? First and foremost is a director or VP, who calls and directs the meetings. One of the first things an ESC should do is build a relationship with sales, which they can do by having a sales executive on the committee. For other parts of the team, it is important to show the value of a ESC, and why it matters in the overall functioning of the company. Data-based metrics of a program and its competitors can help bring executives or leaders from products, engineering, and marketing divisions within in the company. These leaders can each use that data to see the financial value of an investment in a CI effort.
Overall, an effective company and CI team has effective processes. These processes can be decided or guided by an ESC, who can delegate resources to maximize productivity and efficiency. CompeteIQ software is one way that CI teams can become more efficient. An ESC can lead an organization to better efficiency, which in turn can lead to better deals!