Enterprise research skills to make your products and services more popular

In a market economy, competition is everywhere, and no matter how good your products and services are, there will always be other companies trying to share your market share. Therefore, understanding and analyzing benchmarking enterprises is an important link for enterprises to formulate strategies and optimize products. But how to effectively analyze benchmarking enterprises to find out their own advantages and differentiation points? This article from the definition of benchmarking enterprises, research content, research methods and research cases four aspects, to provide you with some practical skills and suggestions to help you better understand the competitive environment, enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of your products and services.

Who are the 1. benchmarking companies?

The definition of benchmarking enterprise is not static, but should be determined according to the characteristics and target market of your products and services. Generally speaking, benchmarking enterprises can be divided into the following categories:

Direct benchmarking enterprises: those enterprises that provide the same or similar products and services as you, meet the same or similar customer needs, and have similar prices and quality. For example, a direct benchmarking firm for Champu Consulting may be other consulting firms that provide market research, investment consulting, IPO consulting, and other services.

Indirect benchmarking enterprises: those enterprises that provide different but replaceable products and services, meet the same or similar customer needs, and have different prices and quality. For example, an indirect benchmarking company at Champu Consulting may be a company that provides services such as data analysis, business intelligence, and financial technology.

Potential benchmarking companies: those that have not yet entered your target market, but have the ability and willingness to enter in the future. For example, potential benchmarking companies for Champ Consulting may be some internationally renowned consulting firms, or companies with strong resources and channels.

Heteroclass benchmarking companies: companies that provide products and services that are completely different from yours and meet different customer needs, but may affect your customers' purchasing decisions. For example, the heterogeneous benchmarking companies of Champ Consulting may be companies that provide services such as education and training, media communication, and social networking.

In determining the benchmarking enterprise, the following factors need to be considered:

Customer Needs and Preferences: Your benchmark businesses are those that can meet your customer's needs and preferences, not necessarily those that are most similar to your products and services. For example, if your clients need professional consulting services, then some companies that provide free or low-cost consulting services may not be your benchmark companies, but some companies that provide high-priced but high-quality consulting services are your benchmark companies.

Market size and growth: Your benchmark companies are those that have a certain share and influence in your target market, not necessarily those that are successful in other markets. For example, if your target market is the Chinese consulting market, then some internationally renowned consulting companies may not be your benchmark companies, but some consulting companies with strong market penetration and customer reputation in China are your benchmark companies.

Product substitution and differentiation: Your benchmark companies are those that provide products and services with higher substitution and lower differentiation from your products and services, not necessarily those that provide products and services that are exactly the same as your products and services. For example, if your products and services are extended-range electric vehicles, then some companies that provide traditional fuel vehicles or pure electric vehicles may be your benchmark companies, while some companies that provide other types of new energy vehicles may not be your benchmark companies.

What is the research content of 2. benchmarking enterprises?

After determining the scope of the benchmarking enterprise, it is necessary to collect and analyze the relevant information of the benchmarking enterprise in order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the benchmarking enterprise, discover the strategies and actions of the benchmarking enterprise, find the loopholes and opportunities of the benchmarking enterprise, and formulate its own competitive strategy and action plan. The research content of benchmarking enterprises can be divided into the following aspects:

Basic information: including the name, address, contact information, establishment time, registered capital, legal representative, shareholder structure, organizational structure, business scope, main business, main customers, main partners and other information of the benchmarking enterprise to understand the background and scale of the benchmarking enterprise.

Development history: including the founder of the benchmark enterprise, entrepreneurial story, development stage, important events, milestones, honor awards and other information to understand the origin and growth of the benchmark enterprise.

Competitive strategy: including the mission, vision, values, goals, positioning, brand, core competitiveness, innovation ability, risk management and other information of the benchmarking enterprise to understand the strategic direction and advantages of the benchmarking enterprise.

Product strategy: including the benchmarking enterprise's product portfolio, product characteristics, product quality, product price, product life cycle, product innovation, product differentiation and other information to understand the benchmarking enterprise's product strengths and weaknesses.

Marketing strategy: including market positioning, market share, market growth rate, market segmentation, target customers, customer demand and customer satisfaction.

Customer relationship strategy: including benchmarking enterprise customer communication, customer service, customer loyalty, customer feedback, customer maintenance, customer value-added and other information to understand the benchmarking enterprise customer relationship advantages and disadvantages.

Channel strategy: including sales channels, distribution channels, promotion channels, cooperation channels, channel coverage, channel efficiency and other information of benchmarking enterprises to understand the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises.

Financial status: including the benchmark enterprise's revenue, profit, cost, assets, liabilities, cash flow, investment, financing and other information to understand the benchmark enterprise's financial advantages and disadvantages.

Human resources: including the number of employees, employee structure, employee quality, employee training, employee motivation, employee benefits, employee mobility and other information of the benchmark enterprise to understand the human resources advantages and disadvantages of the benchmark enterprise.

External environment: including the impact of political, economic, social, technical, legal, ecological and other factors faced by benchmarking enterprises, in order to understand the opportunities and threats of benchmarking enterprises.

What is the research method for 3. benchmarking enterprises?

After determining the research content of the benchmarking enterprise, it is necessary to select the appropriate research method to collect and analyze the information. The research methods of benchmarking enterprises can be divided into the following:

Desktop research: refers to obtaining the information of benchmarking enterprises through the Internet, libraries, newspapers, databases, reports, papers and other public channels. It is a low-cost, high-efficiency and wide-ranging research method, but there are also incomplete, inaccurate and non-new information.

Field research: refers to the direct understanding of the quality, price, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the products and services of benchmarking enterprises through visits, observation, experience, purchase, trial, etc., which is an intuitive, real and in-depth research method, but it also has the disadvantages of high cost, high risk and high difficulty.

Questionnaire research: refers to the design and distribution of questionnaires to the benchmark enterprise customers, employees, partners, suppliers and other relevant personnel to collect the information of the benchmark enterprise, is a systematic, quantitative and objective research method, but there are also low recovery rate, poor quality, distortion of the shortcomings.

Research: It refers to communicating with customers, employees, partners, suppliers and other relevant personnel of benchmarking enterprises through telephone, video, face-to-face, etc. to obtain information of benchmarking enterprises. It is a flexible, qualitative and subjective research method, but it also has the disadvantages of difficult to contact, control and analyze.

Intelligence research: it refers to obtaining the information of benchmarking enterprises through secret, illegal and immoral ways, such as eavesdropping, secretly photographing, buying, deception, etc., which is a sensitive, dangerous and undesirable research method, which should be avoided.

When choosing a research method, the following factors need to be considered:

Information availability: different information has different availability. Some public, superficial and basic information can be obtained through simple methods such as desktop research or field research, while some secret, deep and key information may need to be obtained through complex methods such as questionnaire research or research research.

Reliability of information: different information has different reliability. Some objective, quantitative and official information can be obtained through objective methods such as desktop research or questionnaire research, while some subjective, qualitative and unofficial information may need to be obtained through subjective methods such as field research or research.

Availability of information: different information has different availability. Some fresh, timely and dynamic information can be obtained through timely methods such as field research or research, while some outdated, lagging and static information may need to be obtained through lagging methods such as desktop research or questionnaire research.

What are the research cases of 4. benchmarking enterprises?

In order to better illustrate the skills and effects of benchmarking enterprise research, the following are some examples of benchmarking enterprise research provided by Shangpu Consulting for its clients:

Case 1: For a European car manufacturer, research the benchmark enterprises in the Chinese market in order to enter the Chinese market. Shangpu Consulting Company adopts the methods of desktop research, field research and research, collects the information of automobile brand, product, price, sales volume, market share, customer demand, customer satisfaction, channel distribution, policies and regulations in the Chinese market, and analyzes the competition pattern, competition trend, competition opportunity and competition threat in the Chinese market, to provide customers with the Chinese market entry strategy, product strategy, pricing strategy, marketing strategy and risk response strategy, to help customers successfully enter the Chinese market, to achieve a good performance.

Case 2: For an American e-commerce platform, research benchmark companies in the Indian market in order to expand the Indian market. Shangpu Consulting Company adopts the methods of desktop research, questionnaire research and research research, collects the information of e-commerce platform, products, services, users, payment, logistics, law, culture and so on in Indian market, and analyzes the user demand, user behavior, user preference, user loyalty and so on in Indian market, it provides customers with user portraits, user segmentation, user growth, user retention, user conversion, etc. in the Indian market, helping customers optimize products and services, improve user experience, and increase user scale.

Case 3: For a Chinese education and training institution, investigate the benchmark enterprises in the Southeast Asian market in order to develop the Southeast Asian market. Shangpu Consulting Company adopts the methods of desktop research, field research and questionnaire research, collects the information of education and training institutions, courses, teachers, quality, price, certification, cooperation and so on in Southeast Asian market, analyzes the education demand, education level, education policy, education opportunity and so on in Southeast Asian market, and provides customers with the education profile, education trend, education opportunity and education threat in Southeast Asian market, help customers to develop the Southeast Asian market education strategy, curriculum strategy, teacher strategy and cooperation strategy, help customers to expand the Southeast Asian market, improve the education brand.