The Benefits of a Market Orientation is a Competitive Advantage

Why would a company want to pursue a market orientation? What benefit is it to them? 

Werll - being market oriented will lead to superior performance for the business.

Some would argue that having a focus on customers and aiming to satisfy their requirements is a costly exercise. However, the benefits of market orientation have been shown to include financial gains for the organisation, improved customer satisfaction, improved workplace conditions, and superior new product performance.

Competitive Advantage

A strong customer orientation forms the foundation of an organisation’s sustainable competitive advantage. Developing a thorough understanding of all customer groups allows an organisation to develop products and services that are tailored to customer needs and requirements. If an organisation can provide superior value to their customers, there is a greater likelihood of purchase, repeat purchase, and word-of-mouth recommendations. This will lead to a potential increase in sales, market share, and profitability.

For a competitive advantage to eventuate, an organisation must provide value to its customer that is superior to that of its competitors.

If an organisation is going to achieve optimal quality and value for the customers it is essential that every employee in the “chain of production” be committed to working toward this goal. A delay in delivery, a production flaw, a rude credit officer, or an unreturned phone enquiry can all contribute to the customer’s perception of your offering.

If every employee provides a product (goods and services) of optimal value to the next person in the chain of production, then the final product should be of optimal quality. However, the end consumer will notice weak links in this chain.

Check out the previous article as well - Let me know what you think?

Strategic Marketing Planning

The Key Factors of Strategic Planning

There are a number of key factors to consider with any planning. The areas are as follows:
Focus refers to concentrating limited resources in the areas that will reap the most rewards.
Goals are what we are aiming to achieve from our efforts and investment. All too often that is simply equated with money and does not consider other, more important factors.
Competitive Advantage refers to the fact that we are operating in a competitive environment. If we are not aware of the fact that there are other players competing with us for the same client’s money, then we are likely to lose.
Superior Performance. What is important for the organisation, is to plan a position which takes into account all of the players.  Firstly the strategist must achieve superior performance to the competitor.  At the same time the strategy must be in line with the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and must also meet the needs of the market.   A successful strategy is one which gives a stronger matching of organisational strengths with market needs than that provided by the competition.
Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA), which suggests that there are many possible good ideas, but which one will remain yours (that the competitors cannot take away) and work for the longest time?
Creativity and Innovation.  What gives a strategy its competitive impact is the creative element and the will of the mind that conceived it to make it work.
Flexibility - The best strategies are flexible and allow for innovation.  They are based on information, which gives us a series of probabilities to work with.  Strategy is vulnerable to reality.  One cannot totally predict the future.  All business decisions are probabilistic.  There is always a chance of the plan failing.
Basic Conceptual Simplicity - Complicated, long range plans rarely work and require constant adaptation and change - usually into another detailed long range plan.  We must remember that any strategic plan is based partly on historic information and partly on future prediction.  Once written it also becomes part of history.
The Ability to be Implemented.  A wonderfully conceived and crafted strategy is meaningless unless it can be implemented to achieve the Mission and Goals of the organisation