In the same way a landscape architect needs to understand the elements of the property he is designing for in order to achieve the goals of the project, you need to understand how your website stacks up to your competitors, what gold (or iron) may be underneath the surface, and how your surrounding environment can impact the outcome of your campaign.
You need to know what you are getting yourself into before you go throwing away your clients money at writing content and building links targeting a specific set of keywords. You need to assess the foundations and maturity of your competitive market.
Think of yourself as an asset portfolio manager, because that's what you are. In the same way fund managers need to analyze company financial data and operational performance before making investment decisions, you need to analyze your SEO competitors to inform your investment decisions.
I see a lot of companies dive right into a new market and immediately start spending money on pay-per-click advertising, landing page design, and social media marketing without really identifying if and where the opportunity lies.
This whole approach of ready, fire, aim may work for some but it is the exception and not the rule.
Instead you should take steps to calculate your risk: