O
bviously, different is better than me-too. The question is not whether or not to be different, but rather how to communicate those differences in a way that customers will believe. The real challenge resides in market knowledge that can be used to an advantage. To understand good market research and development of market intelligence, the business owner should realize three things.
These three things are true, regardless of the state of the industry your business is in.
- All businesses do the same thing: They Attract and Serve Customers.
- All customers want just one thing: The Best Possible Deal.
- Your marketing should do just one thing: Articulate Why You’re The Best Deal for Your Target Customer Segment.
This is not complicated. If this is such simple stuff … then why do most businesses have so much trouble marketing? It is because, in general, businesses are poor collectors of market knowledge and even poorer communicators on these critical differences
!
Surprisingly, very few businesses really make more than a token attempt to distinguish themselves from their competitors. This is true partly because they have not made an effort to know the meaningful differences.
Fortunately, a business can cash in on what its competitors are doing both right and wrong. To get ahead of the pack, “Business Knowledge” must be sought and analyzed on a continuing and consistent basis.
Market research is a critical function within any organization. Today the term has broadened to “business intelligence.” To succeed, every business should endeavor to learn “What it needs to know” and figure out how to acquire that information in a timely manner. In a crisis, use what you know and add to it before you make major marketing shifts.
Strategic Learning
, a great book by William G. Pietersen, suggests that your research on markets and market segments should begin by you answering the following questions. Answer all these questions twice, first, to describe the conditions before the business disruption and second, to provide your best estimate for those conditions after the problems begin to subside.
- How big is the pie? (What is the estimate of the market size in dollars and key potential customers?)
- How big is the current slice of the pie held by your company? (Dollars or number of key customers.)
- Who has the biggest slice of the pie? (Who is the market segment leader in $ terms?)
- What is the current market leader doing right?
- What might this market leader be doing wrong?
- Who has the second largest slice of the pie? (Answer questions 4 and 5 for them also.)
- What are the strategies that have been adopted by these top two market segment leaders?
- How does your company measure up, in terms of dollars and numbers of key customers, strategy execution, and so on?
- What can your company strategically do next to become the leader in the market segment?
- How long will it take to become the market segment leader as you define leadership?
As information is developed and organized on any market segment,
it should become truly clear:
- Who are the key customers
in the market segment?
- Who are the actual end users
of the products provided by these customers? (Who is the ultimate driver of the extended purchasing process?)
- Who are the decision-makers
in these companies?
- Who are the key influencers
in each of these companies?
- Are there other critical supporters of decisions
inside these companies? Who are they?
- What do these end users, decision-makers, influencers, and critical-decision supporters value most?
- Who is currently providing this value for them?
- Is this supplier providing the desired level of value (benefits)?
- How are the key customers’ current suppliers assuring the delivery of value? (What are their strategies and tactics?
)
You want to answer all these questions as you begin the critical planning for your business’s future. This knowledge is a controlling input for your repositioning and strategy adoption. Simply write this information on a blank sheet of paper or use the Survive and Thrive Workbook
you can find at
The development of business intelligence is a process that should have the highest priority within any company. Every employee can contribute to the collective market knowledge. Little bits of information add up and help to complete the picture of “What is happening?” and “Why is it happening in this certain way?” each day in the marketplace. Armed with superior knowledge, your business can effectively develop strategies and tactics to meet or exceed customer expectations
and outcompete the competition
.