A common question that I have come across, especially while dealing with CRM and Opportunities, is “Is there a way I can enter my competitors in NetSuite?”,” I got a business opportunity and I want to keep a track of all my competitors targeting the same project?”, “I need to get a report of which competitor took away my projects 😊?”

 

Well, yes, you can create competitor records and use that to track how other businesses in your industry impact your sales.

If you use the Opportunities feature, selecting a competitor on an opportunity record lets everyone working with that opportunity know who they are competing with.

By being aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the competition, sales reps can make educated offers and close more deals.

How do we create competitor record?

 

1. Go to Lists > Relationships > Competitors > New.
2. Under Primary Information:
   1. In the Competitorfield, enter the name of the competing company.
   2. Enter the website address of the competitor’s web page.
   3. In the Descriptionfield, enter information describing this company.
3. Under Strengths and Weaknesses:
   1. In the Strengthsfield, you can make notes on this company’s strengths.
   2. In the Weaknessesfield, you can make notes on areas where this competitor is lacking.
4. Under Strategy, Products, and Services:
   1. In the Strategyfield, enter a plan of action for sales reps to follow to keep a customer from being lost to this competitor.
   2. In the Products/Servicesfield, enter information about the products or services offered by this competitor.
5. On the Fileslist, you can select and add files from the File Cabinet that related to this competitor.
6. And if you feel you need to add more information or content, you always have the option to customise and add new fields
7. Click Save.

Where do we link the Competitors on the Opportunity record?

You can now select competitor on opportunity records for deals where you are competing with this company.

• Go toTransactions -> Sales -> Create Opportunities. (or to edit an existing one go to Transactions -> Sales -> Create Opportunities -> List and Edit the opportunity record)
• On the Relationshipssubtab, you can attach the competitors to your opportunities.
• Now say, for example, we lost the opportunity and one of your competitors got the deal. You can indicate that on the Opportunity record by checking the “Winner” check box.
• After a record is saved, you can see the opportunities won by a competitor on the Opportunities subtab.

And yes, you can do a report for the same.

 

Can I add the Competitors to the Customer / Lead / Projects Record?

Currently, this is an enhancement. I am sure it will be added by default in the future, but till then we could use a work around by creating a custom field sourcing the Competitor list and display it in the Entity Record.

1. Navigate to Customization-> Lists, Records, & Fields -> Entity Fields -> New
2. Label your field
3. Under Typefield > select List/Record (or Multiple Select)
4. Under List/Recordfield > select Competitor
5. Make sure to unmark the Store Value field
6. Under Applies Tosubtab > put a check on Customer ( and Project if that’s what you need to)
7. Under Displaysubtab -> Subtab field -> select Main or any other subtab you prefer to show this field
8. Click Save

Now open a Lead / Customer / Project Record, and you will see the option of selecting your competitors.

I hope the above helps. Give it a try and let us know if you have any concerns.