Performing a SWOT analysis is business as usual, but the value of the SWOT analysis is entirely dependent upon the questions you are asking and whom you are getting the information from.

In this blog post, we share 22 thought-provoking questions to help you unlock the truth about your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

11 SWOT Analysis Questions About Your Business

Strengths

  1. Why do your customers think your product or service stands out from the crowd? (Their perspective is more important than yours)
  2. What part of your business cannot be replicated by a competitor? (Think culture, unique product moat, vertical domination etc.)
  3. In looking at your largest closed sales this year, what is the common thread amongst all of those wins? (Listen to your sales reps’ call recordings or interview them)

Weaknesses

  1. Why do certain customers churn?
  2. In your latest customer survey, what were some of the main negative comments?
  3. Which processes do your employees feel are inefficient?

Opportunities

  1. What have your sales reps been asking for for years that hasn’t been built?
  2. What new trends are you seeing in your industry? (Pay attention to news, other companies, and social media)
  3. What new regulations or compliance changes are affecting your industry? (Instead of looking at these as risks, look at them as opportunities.

Threats

  1. What technological advancements could disrupt your business? (Think big, because the startups looking to disrupt your industry are thinking big.)
  2. Why did a sales prospect choose your competitor over you? (Answer this at scale as part of your win/loss analysis as well.)

11 SWOT Analysis Questions About A Particular Competitor

Strengths

  1. Is your messaging clear to the market? (Listen to sales or customer service calls to see if the terminology the customers are using aligns with your marketing messaging.)
  2. What are the top 3 ways your customers think your product is superior to the competitor? (Ask customers who have switched from the competitor to you.)
  3. Talk to sales and ask; what feeling do you get inside when you are in direct competition with this particular competitor? Why?

Weaknesses

  1. What are the top 3 ways customers think the competitor’s product is better than yours?
  2. When you lose to this competitor, what are the top 3 reasons why? (Strangely, this answer is usually different than the last question we asked.)
  3. When comparing product to product, which features does your competitor offer that you don’t?

Opportunities

  1. Is there a common sales objection you hear when prospects are considering this competitor? (Double down on that then.)
  2. Can you use new technologies to accelerate your product’s value? (AI enhancements, more accurate data analysis, real-time pricing/quotes)
  3. What additional markets do you serve that your competitor doesn’t? (It’s better to dominate in a few than be small in most.)

Threats

  1. What are popular features potential customers are mentioning on G2, Capterra, and online forums about your competitor’s product?
  2. In an economic downturn, would you come out ahead or would your competitor? And why?

We hope these questions have helped you think outside of the box in relation to key SWOT survey questions you may ask. The idea is to go beyond your organization’s internal assumptions and go direct to the feet on the street (customers and sales reps) to unlock the truth. This information will help guide your business strategy and give your entire commercial team the tools they need to market and compete. Fortunately, this is where Wide Narrow comes in. With our intelligence hub, you can manage your SWOT research process and quickly build out your company-wide and competitor-specific SWOT reports. And, using our dynamic insights modules, components of your SWOT reports can be updated in real-time so you will never be behind again!
If you’d like to boost your SWOT analysis and maintain a comprehensive view of your market, don’t hesitate to contact one of our solution experts and see our platform in action.