2026-10-24 · Data Innovations

How to monitor competitors: a practical plan for a B2B company

Most companies "analyse" competitors once a year, when preparing their strategy. But competitors make the decisions that drive sales every week: they win tenders, open branches, hire people. Here is how to monitor competitors continuously without drowning in information.

Why once a year is not enough

An annual analysis shows what was. By the time it is updated, a competitor may already have won two projects in your core region. In a B2B market with long sales cycles and few customers, what matters most is finding out early: when the buyer is only planning, when the tender is announced, when the contract is signed.

Which sources to monitor

News in the languages of your markets: expansion, investment, management, problems.
Public tender winners: TED for the whole EU and national portals (Doffin in Norway, Hilma in Finland). This is where you see what a competitor actually does, not what it says.
Company registers: new branches, changes in headcount.
Job ads: mass hiring in a particular city often means a new project.

How to write keyword rules

A good rule is narrow and has exclusions. For example:

"Veidekke" OR "Skanska" AND (kontrakt* OR "vant anbud" OR sykehus*) NOT aksje*

It finds news about contracts and hospital projects for two contractors but filters out stock market items. Always combine ambiguous names (e.g. a company whose name is also a common word) with industry terms.

Rules, sources and signals in one place

The MarketScope company radar tracks your competitors in the news, tenders and registers and classifies events: wins, expansion, problems.

Book a demo

Who is responsible and how often to review

Appoint one owner (often the sales director or a business development manager). Important signals should arrive straight away, and the rest in one weekly summary. Every Monday, 15 minutes: what has changed, what we are doing, who is responsible.

How to turn a signal into action

A competitor won a large project → it may lack capacity: offer subcontracting or a partnership.
A competitor is in trouble (delays, disputes) → its customers may be looking for an alternative.
A competitor is expanding into your region → review your prices and contact your key customers.

Record what was done with each signal. After a month you will see which sources actually bring results, and you can switch off the ones you do not need.