Tuesday 19 November 2013

A Good Way To Get Strategic Insight For Your Business

By Georgia Diaz


For a business to prosper and continue to grow in future years, managers understand that particular strategies need to be put in place. However, not many people really know how to give their company a competitive edge, and leave others in their dust. Strategy can become so complicated that even the most intelligent of business men battle to grasp the real concept, or there so many problems with technical side of things like strategic insight.

Managers who have attended training courses may be familiar with certain strategical concepts that are known to improve the way a business is run, both internally and externally. One makes use of a few circles, and is a simple tool that is used to display the relationship between a business and its clients. This representation can assist managers when it comes to decisions as well.

A team of business leaders will initially concentrate on the first circle. This is a representation of the clients' wants or needs. Thought should be placed into what their customers could possibly benefit from, and the advantages of making such changes for the business itself. For example, the customer may appreciate a fast delivery of service above many other things.

Once the first circle's details have been completed the managers can move on to the second. This circle is all about how the managers feel their customers view the business' operations. Now the two circles will overlap, and the extent to which this happens will depend on how well the company is meeting the customer's needs. The managers should keep in mind, even if they are part of a well-established company, that customers don't always voice their opinions.

It is rarely found that customers ask a business to supply a certain product. Things usually happen the other way around. A business will determine the need for a service or product, and supply it. The customer will be happy and buy it, because they need it. The main thing is therefore to try and determine the customer's unexpressed problems or needs, and develop them into something profitable.

Now only the third circle is left to complete. This one is saved for information regarding other businesses of the same nature, and will help the company to determine the positive and negative aspects of their competition. As you can see, the circles all pinpoint very important, but different portions of the business, and help the managers to find room for improvement.

The information for each circle is obtained by asking questions. The question if the company is available to customers in a particular area is an example for the first circle, while the question of whether the company is able to compare to their competitor's advantages is a an example for the third. With the use of questions, a discussion is encouraged.

If there is any way to confirm a customer's viewpoint, it should be pursued. Additional information direct from the customer will provide further strategic insight for the business. The method described above for working out strategies will also help a company to eliminate services or products that are not appreciated. Sometime it is discovered that customers would rather not be subjected to certain advertising campaigns, or certain promotions, even though the managers of the business have felt that these were critical aspects of marketing.




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