If you’re in B2B sales, you know “competitor analysis” is thrown around a lot. But most teams either overcomplicate it or end up with a pile of data that doesn’t move the needle. This is for people who want practical, actionable info—especially if you’re considering Thecompaniesapi to help with the heavy lifting.
Let’s break down how to actually use Thecompaniesapi to get insights on your competition that you can act on (and ignore the stuff you can’t).
Why Bother With Competitor Analysis?
Before we get into APIs and technical stuff, let’s be honest about why you’d invest time in competitor research:
- To win deals you’d otherwise lose (by knowing what you’re up against)
- To spot gaps in the market (and pitch accordingly)
- To avoid getting blindsided by new entrants or pivots
If your “analysis” isn’t helping with those, you’re just making more work for yourself.
Step 1: Get Clear On What You Actually Need
Don’t start by pulling down every data point you can find. Start with your sales process and work backward:
- Who are your real competitors? (Not just the big names—think: who shows up in your deals)
- What do you wish you knew about them? (Pricing, customer list, funding, headcount, tech stack, etc.)
- What info actually changes your pitch or approach? (Most doesn’t)
Write these down. You’ll ignore 90% of the other data Thecompaniesapi offers, and that’s a good thing.
Step 2: Set Up Thecompaniesapi (and Sanity-Check the Data)
Thecompaniesapi is an aggregator—it pulls company data from a bunch of public and semi-public sources. You get a unified API endpoint, which is handy, but it’s only as good as the sources it scrapes.
Getting Started
- Sign up and get your API key. Don’t skip the free trial (if they offer one), and don’t pay until you know the data is usable for your vertical.
- Check the docs. The API is straightforward—a single endpoint for company lookups, plus some filters. But read the rate limits and pricing fine print.
- Try a few test calls. Use Postman, curl, or whatever you’re comfortable with. Start with a few known companies and see what comes back.
What to Look Out For
- Data freshness: Some fields (like funding rounds) may be out of date by months. That’s not Thecompaniesapi’s fault—it’s an industry problem—but you need to know what’s stale.
- Coverage gaps: Not every company is in the database, especially smaller or stealth ones.
- Junk data: Some fields (like “company description”) can be generic or even wrong, especially for international companies.
Pro tip: Don’t rely on company size or revenue estimates as gospel. Use them as ballpark figures only.
Step 3: Build a Simple, Repeatable Workflow
It’s tempting to try to “automate everything.” But for competitor analysis, you’ll get further with a simple, manual process you can trust—then automate later.
Here’s a basic workflow:
1. Make Your Competitor List
- Start with your CRM or notes from lost deals.
- Add any new names that keep popping up.
- Keep it short—10-20 is enough for most B2B teams.
2. Pull Data with Thecompaniesapi
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For each competitor, query the API for:
- Basic info: Website, HQ, industry, employee count
- Recent funding: Amount, date, investors
- Tech stack: What tools or platforms are they using?
- Notable customers or partners: If available
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Export this to a spreadsheet or simple database.
- Don’t worry about fancy dashboards yet. Clarity over flash.
3. Identify What Matters
- Highlight anything unusual or new:
- Big hiring spike?
- Recent funding that might change their sales push?
- New tech adoption that could affect their product?
- Ignore info that doesn’t matter for your sales conversations.
4. Share With the Team
- Short, focused summaries beat long reports.
- Drop updates in your sales channel or weekly meeting—no need for a PowerPoint deck.
Step 4: Go Beyond the Obvious (But Don’t Get Lost in the Weeds)
Thecompaniesapi offers more than just the basics. Here’s what’s useful—and what’s mostly noise.
What’s Actually Useful
- Recent funding: Signals growth, possible price changes, or new product lines.
- Tech stack details: Helps if you compete on integration or technical fit.
- Hiring trends: A sudden jump in engineering or sales hires can hint at a new direction.
What to Approach With Skepticism
- Estimated revenue: These are almost always half-guess, half-magic. Treat as “directionally correct,” not precise.
- Company descriptions: Often just scraped from old press releases.
- News feed: Can be overwhelming or irrelevant unless you filter hard.
What to Ignore (Most of the Time)
- Patents and trademarks: Unless you’re in a very IP-heavy field, this won’t help most sales teams.
- Random social signals: Number of Twitter followers rarely tells you anything actionable.
Step 5: Turn Insights Into Action
All the data in the world is useless if it doesn’t change your approach. Here’s how to actually use what you find:
1. Adjust Your Pitch
If a competitor just raised $50M, don’t act surprised when they undercut you on price. Lean into your stability or service.
If they just rolled out a new integration, prep your technical team for those questions.
2. Spot Opportunities
Did a competitor just lose a major customer (publicly)? That’s a door you can knock on.
Did they pivot to a new market? Maybe you can double down on the one they’re leaving.
3. Prep for Objections
If you know what your competitors are saying—or what their strengths/weaknesses are—you can handle objections with facts, not guesses.
Pro Tips and Honesty Checks
- Don’t get paralyzed by data. The best sales teams use a handful of real insights, not 20-page competitor dossiers.
- Automate only what’s painful. Start simple—manual spreadsheet, weekly review. Automate as you see what’s worth repeating.
- Always sanity-check API data. Even the best sources get stuff wrong or go stale.
- Respect legal and ethical lines. Don’t scrape or store data you shouldn’t. Stick to what’s fair game.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Chase Shiny Objects
Competitor analysis isn’t about outsmarting everyone with fancy tools—it’s about having a little more context than the other guy. Thecompaniesapi can help cut out the grunt work, but it won’t magically make you a better salesperson. Focus on real insights, ignore the noise, and tweak your workflow as you go. The smartest teams keep it simple and keep improving—so don’t let “analysis” become another excuse to stall.