Benchmarking is defined as a strategy of competition analysis and industry-leading companies to achieve internal improvement. Do you want to know why it is so necessary for any company? Read on and you’ll find out!
What is benchmarking?
It seems like the new buzzword among marketing experts, but the truth is that it is a strategy that has been implemented for a long time in many companies.
Benchmarking consists of a continuous improvement technique. It is based on competition analysis or industry-leading companies to achieve continuous improvement of the marketing strategy itself. The goal is to grow, get better results and greater differentiation.
In other words, we do not observe or try to be aware of what other companies in our sector do because it is what all companies have to do or because all companies do it. But we do it in order to optimize the lines of business.
Why would a hardware company need benchmarking?
Well, simply, to improve and be more successful.
Through this competition analysis process and leading companies, we will be able to effectively develop our marketing strategy.
Benchmarking is NOT copying what the competition does
It must be very clear that benchmarking does not mean at all copying the ideas of the competition. If we did, what we would really be achieving would be losing the company’s identity as well as customer trust. We don’t copy. We learn from what our competitors have to teach us in order to innovate.
How to carry out this strategy?
The tactic is to extract information from those companies that we consider direct or indirect competence to be able to apply it for the benefit of our company. And for that…
- We will do an analysis of the internal situation of the company. We will see where we are and where we want to go, that is, we will plan on paper the steps to be taken.
- Aspects to be improved at a general level or in any department are defined.
- We will determine who the competition is and start with the collection of data that can give us something.
- Analysis of the data and the information collected and then define the action.
- And finally, study whether the strategy has been profitable and start over from the first step.
The main benefits for your company from benchmarking strategy
The main benefits of carrying out such strategies in any company are:
1 Knowledge of the competition
First of all, to be able to differentiate yourself from the competition you have to know who they are and what their goals are. Besides, we will know the niche market they operate on.
2 Knowledge of the sector
If we listen well, we can find out what users are saying about us and the competition; which gives us great clues about the sector in which we move.
3 Greater engagement with target audiences
When analyzing the competition, we will know if their target audience is common to ours. In this way, you can bet on engagement strategies to connect with customers.
4 Improvements in marketing strategy
Benchmarking is a great help in planning your overall marketing strategy. Why? Because we will know what our strengths and weaknesses are and those of our competitors.
5 Identify the points where performance needs to be improved
The analysis of the data that benchmarking gives us will help us to detect those areas in which our own company must improve. Performance and productivity increase.
What do you think of benchmarking? Do you think it is a tactic worth trying? At IBMH we are always aware of what companies in our industry do to continue to improve in ours. That is why we want to share with you our know-how and count on us as your Strategic Purchasing Management Office in China. We will take care of your imports of hardware and construction furniture with total guarantee of success. Call us today!
