You’ve won some new contracts, hit your monthly sales targets and your business is running smoothly. But how do you know what your prospects are thinking? Existing in your own little bubble is risky, because while you’re cruising along nicely, your competition is plotting new and innovative ways to pinch your customers.
Unless you take a good look at the competition, there’s no real way of understanding how you rate with customers. Of course, you’ll have a little snoop, perhaps do a bit of Google searching, check out competitor products or make an enquiry or two. But none of this tells you what customers really think.
This is where a structured approach to competitor analysis is crucial. We work with a number of proven strategy tools. This article discusses a competitive analysis tool, specially-designed to study important factors – value drivers – what matters most to your customers. This customer-centric approach, enables you to score your offering against those of your competitors, from your customers’ perspective. The structured approach also provides measurable results that we can take action on.
How does our competitor analysis tool work?
The competitor analysis tool we use begins with a set of parameters – value drivers – elements of a business offering which deliver value to the customer. These are based on what customers say is important to them. Typically, these value drivers fix the pains and challenges that customers have.
Getting the value drivers right is key, because they form the basis of your studies and influence the worth of the information you extract from the tool. To gather this information, we conduct a customer survey. After all, it’s what they think that counts.
The value drivers can then be weighted according to importance. These levels of importance are determined by customers, the data collected from the customer survey. Once all the weightings are set, the competitive analysis tool will help you determine how various elements of your business offering rate alongside those of your competitors. The tool helps you gauge your market position using data that’s clearly presented in a series of graphs, forms and tables.
What will a competitor analysis do for my business?
- A thorough competitive analysis will help your business identify and focus on value drivers, bringing them to the forefront of your marketing messaging.
- You can make an informed judgement about how your business compares with your competitors. The tool examines many different business elements such as pricing and market share, and differentiation and product positioning. For example, it shows whether your key differentiator is as attractive as that of your competitors or if your points of differentiation are of any importance to customers.
- Armed with this information, you can adjust your offerings to meet the needs of customers, finding new ways to win them over.
A thorough competitor analysis offers quantifiable, information that’s clear and easy to understand. It can be dissected, evaluated and presented in a number of different ways according to the needs of your business. It also offers a format that’s easy to share amongst colleagues or partners – a demonstrable illustration of your market position and the areas of your company that need to be addressed.
How can KG Moore help with competitor analysis?
A competitor analysis exercise is only as effective as the work that goes into it. The right value drivers need to be established and a great deal of research needs to take place. At KG Moore, we know where to look. We can examine the finer details of your business and the market around you to develop your value drivers. We can help you tackle the research needed to make it work, and help formulate a smart, informed marketing strategy based on the results.
