You can also gather information from customers, suppliers and other observers mentioned in step 1. Your own employees' industry knowledge, contacts and experience will be invaluable help in the benchmarking process. But the most valuable information often comes through direct exchange of information with companies that recognise mutual benefits of sharing best practice. Many of the companies who represent best practice are often among the most willing to share. They recognise that to keep ahead, they have to cull the best of other people's ideas, too.
Personal contacts can play an important role, as does a professional approach.
Your potential benchmarking partners need to be convinced that you have the backing from management to exchange the sort of information you are asking for and that there will be mutual benefits. Competitors will normally only exchange information via a trade association or a survey by an independent body. Car manufacturers, for example, exchange information in this way on a wide range of production and customer satisfaction measurements. In practice, exchanges with competitors usually mean that you have access only to figures for best, worst and average performance. They probably won't give you an insight into how these companies achieve their results.