CSM Market Research & Competitive Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A sales manager wants to understand why the company lost three major accounts last quarter. Which research method is MOST appropriate?
- Customer satisfaction survey
- Win/loss interview analysis (Correct answer)
- Focus group with current customers
- Secondary market data review
Correct answer: Win/loss interview analysis
Win/loss interviews directly capture the reasons prospects chose a competitor or churned, making them the most targeted method for understanding lost accounts.
Question 2: Which competitive intelligence technique involves systematically tracking a competitor's job postings to infer their strategic direction?
- Mystery shopping
- Patent analysis
- Talent signal analysis (Correct answer)
- SWOT benchmarking
Correct answer: Talent signal analysis
Talent signal analysis uses competitor job postings to deduce investments in new capabilities, products, or markets before public announcements.
Question 3: A company's Total Addressable Market (TAM) is $500M. Its Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) is $150M. Its current revenue is $30M. What is its market share within the SAM?
- 6%
- 15%
- 20% (Correct answer)
- 30%
Correct answer: 20%
Market share within SAM = ($30M / $150M) × 100 = 20%.
Question 4: Which Porter's Five Forces element is most directly affected when a new technology allows customers to easily switch between vendors?
- Threat of new entrants
- Bargaining power of suppliers
- Bargaining power of buyers (Correct answer)
- Threat of substitutes
Correct answer: Bargaining power of buyers
When switching costs decrease, buyers gain leverage to demand better prices or terms, increasing their bargaining power.
Question 5: In the context of competitive analysis, what does a 'blue ocean' strategy refer to?
- Undercutting competitors on price in existing markets
- Creating uncontested new market space where competition is irrelevant (Correct answer)
- Forming alliances with competitors to dominate a segment
- Copying the market leader's strategy in an adjacent geography
Correct answer: Creating uncontested new market space where competition is irrelevant
Blue ocean strategy, coined by Kim and Mauborgne, focuses on creating new demand in uncontested market space rather than competing in saturated markets.
Question 6: A sales manager notices that a competitor recently slashed prices by 20% in the mid-market segment. What is the BEST immediate analytical step?
- Match the price cut immediately to retain deals
- Analyze the competitor's cost structure and margin sustainability (Correct answer)
- Exit the mid-market segment
- Launch a new product line
Correct answer: Analyze the competitor's cost structure and margin sustainability
Understanding whether the competitor can sustain the price cut long-term helps determine if it's a temporary tactic or a strategic shift before committing to a response.
Question 7: Which of the following is an example of PRIMARY market research?
- Reading a Gartner Magic Quadrant report
- Analyzing competitor annual reports
- Conducting structured interviews with prospective buyers (Correct answer)
- Reviewing industry trade association data
Correct answer: Conducting structured interviews with prospective buyers
Primary research involves collecting original data directly from sources, such as conducting interviews or surveys, rather than analyzing existing published data.
CSM Market Research & Competitive Analysis 2
A sales manager wants to understand why the company lost three major accounts last quarter.
Which research method is MOST appropriate?