A- Market definition ? 1 2 3 4 5 1. Our business has clearly identified the needs of the clientele that our service tries to satisfy
2. Our organization has defined precisely the target clientele to serve, the market size and its evolution
3. The target market is in a growth stage
4. Our organization serves both the individuals / households and the commercial / institutional markets
5. The economic conditions favor a service like the one we offer or our service corresponds to present social or cultural trends
6. There are very few or no barriers to entry or to exit in our industry (e.g. important investments in technology)
7. We have little information on our competitors
8. In our industry, the market is open to international competition
9. There are substitutes to our service, direct or indirect
10. In our industry, consumers need to gather information on services and do comparative shopping before buying
B- Service evaluation ? 1 2 3 4 5 1. Our service provides value (economic, social) to our clientele
2. We regularly monitor our customers? satisfaction
3. Our service has unique features compared with what the competitors offer
4. Our service serves a niche (geographical, segment-based market-based, specialty-based)
5. Our service is of higher quality than our competitors?
6. We offer a broad service line (range of services) to our clientele
7. We conduct surveys, focus groups or other formal marketing research to know how our clients evaluate our service
C- Pricing policies ? 1 2 3 4 5 1. Our profit margins are tight
2. Our price levels are above what the competitors charge for a comparable service
3. We have an excellent control over all the costs related to our service
4. In our industry, price is the main buying criteria
D- Communications ? 1 2 3 4 5 1. We have defined a communications strategy and its budget
2. Our personnel is our most important promotional tool
3. We keep a regular and direct contact with our clients
4. There is a 1-800 line for service, information or inquiries, or our clients can reach us by e-mail or through our WEB Site
E- Distribution ? 1 2 3 4 5 1. Our service requires a physical presence close to our clientele
2. We serve a local market (district, city) exclusively
3. There is potential in franchising our service or in developing strategic alliances to expand our market coverage or service line
F- Other marketing elements ? 1 2 3 4 5 1. The environment where the service is bought is an integral part of our service offering
2. Our human resources policies and activities reflect a great emphasis on selling, quality of service, customer service and quality of operations
3. There are multiple ways to provide our service: human-related, automatically or electronically
4. There is a clear customer service policy with targets and standards in place
5. We have built a customer data base
6. Our enterprise has the financial resources to support the development and the marketing of our services (present and new)
Steps to Competitiveness
