Tackling CI through a series of levels addresses the “problems” of scalability. There usually has to be more scaling in CI because there are ever expanding products and services being offered to ever expanding customer needs. One of the primary elements that should be tackled is how to respond to external events. It’s important not to “freak out” with emergency meetings and email storms when a competitor releases a new product or earnings transcript. Typically, a “freak out” is the result of being caught by surprise and being unprepared.

Establishing a rapid response process is an essential aspect of maintaining calm and balance when learning about new industry events. It can show the entire organization that there is a responsible party, and can establish organizational structure that influences how information is shared internally.Where should a person go when new information comes in? A rapid response and reaction can help a team respond appropriately and understand what the event means. An established rapid response process might result in a certain individual or division of the organization being “branded” as the response team, and in turn can create a need for a full-time employee dedicated solely to rapid response.

It builds a foundation of content. Staying up-to-date with market trends and events is, of course, a central element of being a CI analyst. In the overall architecture, this is on the bridge between Level 1 and Level 2. In the long run, rapid responses as a process becomes a foundation of content for other deliverables like strategic analysis or battlecards. As an organization goes toward Level 2 deliverables, it is more important for a single individual to be in charge of the rapid response process, rather than having it as an additional task.

Specifically, some best practices include establishing service level agreement within the organization. What will be the norm for responses? What is the expected timeframe? Is there a standard template that others can expect?

A template can be tailored for the audience, whether it is an executive or sales team, and can be used for understanding past and present events, and the predicting future events. More templates or chapters of templates can be added as the team builds experience. Additionally, a template facilitates creating original content and analysis, thereby adding overall value.

Rapid responses should be a foundational norm for a CI team, and for it to work, the team must be committed to the process or processes. In one case study, rapid responses had an affect on 3% of the organization’s overall revenue. This is just one example of how much one process can affect an organization.

CI rapid response teams create competitive processes so that strategic decisions are ultimately more competitively impactful. Better strategy makes you and your organization a better competitor with better internal and external service, and building a rapid response process is just the first step.