My husband’s family has been in sporting goods retail for over 70 years. His grandfather started off in 1939 with one of those downtown gun, tackle and camera shops that evolved over the years into a top 100 specialty outdoor, ski and bike retailer.

I have witnessed brazen, unrelenting, and impressive competitive intelligence carried out by my beloved family members over many years. I witnessed moments of poised incredulity from them when a sales person found one of them “lost” in the back room. Their zealous observation, consistent monitoring and extensive relationships within sporting goods set them apart from many competitors. Their respect for the industry and passion for outdoor sports drove their success.

There is an art to competitive intelligence, finesse to uncovering valuable information that can be used to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Countless changes and improvements were made in the family business based on the competitive intelligence they uncovered. It improved every aspect of the business including marketing efforts, product assortments and customer service.

Keeping tabs on your competition has never been more important and I am happy to say that SpaBoom clients are very aware of their rivals. In a recent, SpaBoom Blog post about Massage Envy’s (ME) foray into facials, I was impressed with the level of intelligence and sharing that went on among those who left a comment.

Many SpaBoom clients see these large spa concepts setting up shop in their neighborhoods and they are taking action. These local spa owners are making appointments at ME, experiencing the facials themselves, and comparing it with the treatment experience at their spa. They are monitoring their competitor's marketing efforts, analyzing their overhead and using that information to develop more specialized spa services.

In addition, these day spas are reevaluating their product relationships and requiring support from specialized vendors that have no intention of selling their products in Sephora or ME. They are creating unique services and re-instituting strong employee training programs that will distinguish their spa from the competition.

At SpaBoom, we have seen an increase in the use of our marketing tools, the online booking application and our spas are adding the Joy of Spa Badge to their website at a record pace. This all flows into the spas efforts to differentiate themselves, take part in the Joy of Spa Directory and find unique ways to reach their target spa customers.

Given all the changes in the marketplace, an influx of national spa concepts invading cities all over the country, local day spas need to get savvy about monitoring their neighbors around town. Ultimately, competitive intelligence is useless unless the information is used to take action and create an advantage for your spa business.