Market Intelligence (MI) is “country specific” key commercial CONFIDENTIAL data relevant to a company’s current and new market strategies and sales plans with clients in the defense industry in that specific nation. This information needs to be gathered and analyzed by true regional experts. When it does, it is specifically designed to provide accurate and confident decision-making moves in strategic areas such as current favorable market conditions in country XXX, low hanging fruit opportunities in nation B, recommended market penetration strategies with the Mexican Navy, and suggested market/business development activities (trade show attendance in Colombia) leading to “in-country” field demos and follow-on initial contract signature.

With the inflow of vast volumes of confusing marketing data – with most of that negative information being probably false and timely created by your competitors — comes the need to handle it better. Accordingly, you MUST find that special business opportunity and those military clients several months ahead of your competitors, aggressively promote your brand, and create purchasing preference through the actions of your local agents. The need for an effective data management tool (or an elite group of Latin American market intelligence advisors) has never been so significant.

You don’t say! You just hired a new Director of Sales for Latin America? Well, he is now in charge of Market Intelligence (MI) operations. A senior “in-house” full- time director will cost your company – on average – $250,000 dollars per year between his/her salary plus the cost associated to some international travel. The problem is that he’s probably unfamiliar with every single country in Central America or the Caribbean, doesn’t have all the key CinC generals and admirals on speed dial, no access to congressmen and senators in these countries, no fluent Spanish, and no combat experience in any Latin American country. Can you fire him after failure on year one? No, you can’t. You should give him a second year to consolidate the network of contacts he’s creating from scratch.

Or… you can hire a team of independent intel contractors for a fraction of that price and make them work for your new Director of Sales. The purpose of incorporating Market Intelligence into the Business Intelligence process is to provide senior decision makers (i.e , the management team of the company) with a more complete “true picture” of ongoing corporate performance in a set of given market conditions, usually at the international level, meaning… you must get out of your comfort zone and go beyond conventional research and boring, timid and predictable actions. For instance, some of the key questions to be answered by your Market Intelligence advisors are: