Focus
July 2009
What is your real competitive advantage? Where have you been most successful? What are your greatest strengths as a product or service provider? Surprisingly, many companies do not know the answers to those questions – or they think they do but are mistaken – and that will ultimately lead to their demise.
Markets change. Companies change. Products change. You may have entered a market (or even created one) years ago and yet you may still be operating under objectives and assumptions that are no longer valid. Competitors may have taken actions that may have changed prospects’ perceptions of your products’ features and therefore influenced your actual strengths and weaknesses in the market. I could go on . . .
Needless to say, when you are fighting tooth-and-claw for every marketing advantage, you are well served to focus your efforts where they are most likely to yield success. Most companies do business in competitive markets and vie against multiple challengers for every sale. Does it make sense to go after every opportunity that’s out there? Wouldn’t it be better to focus on fewer opportunities but have a higher probability of success at each one?
The critical element, though, is to know where that advantage truly is. Start with a thorough analysis of past sales to identify patterns – vertical markets, geographies, company size, etc. You may think you know your customer demographics but your assumptions may be off-base. Next, look behind the numbers and identify the factors that contributed to those successes. Finally, determine how you can leverage past success by putting resources into those things that are your strengths, whether that is functionality, service (and perhaps partners), geography, market segment, or other.
A few years ago, a software company I worked with commissioned just such a study to quantify their sense that they should be more focused on vertical markets. I was able to identify several very specific verticals where they had a distinct competitive advantage, and what they could do to enhance their competitiveness in each of those markets.
At a time where it is critical to get the most out of every marketing and sales dollar, it only makes sense to spend those dollars where they will do the most good. If you could use some help figuring out just where that would be, contact us.