Benchmarking, or how to learn from the mistakes of others?
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 3:22 am
Many times companies are faced with the problem of competition. In such a situation, the simplest question that management can ask itself often arises: “How are they better than us?” This is a good start for the considerations necessary for the first stage which is benchmarking, followed by a flood of questions such as: “What makes our rival in the market perform better in terms of sales?”, “Why would more consumers recommend their product?”, “Why do they enjoy higher employee satisfaction?” or “How do they actually perform?”. Answer the above questions with the help of a process such as benchmarking.
These and many other similar questions are answered by benchmarking, a method of comparative analysis of one’s own company with the current market leader in a given sector. The aim is to latvia email list improve the quality of the products and services offered. At first glance, it might seem that the definition cited is a mere euphemistic imitation. However, benchmarking is not only about copying the processes of a competing company: it is the ability to learn from the mistakes of others rather than reproducing the wrong scenarios.
Before judging others, start with yourself
For members of the various departments of a company, some processes that are routine for a particular department are only superficially understood by the other teams. Benchmarking allows you to gain a deeper understanding of the significance of these activities and thus increase the effectiveness of the company as a whole. It is important to start by selecting the topics to be covered by the analysis. For example, if you want to benchmark consumer satisfaction with a product, you need to take into account, among other things, product quality and factors affecting price, the marketing mix and service, as a guarantee of brand authenticity.
By considering these issues, we create an initial analysis plan and then choose the most suitable data collection methods. These will help us find out whether a competitor sells its products better because of the seller's approach to the customer, or perhaps because of the way the product is advertised and the fact that it is perceived better in the eyes of the consumer than ours. This can be a SWOT analysis, a TOWS method, or any other method that allows us to visualize the advantages and disadvantages of the object of study.
These and many other similar questions are answered by benchmarking, a method of comparative analysis of one’s own company with the current market leader in a given sector. The aim is to latvia email list improve the quality of the products and services offered. At first glance, it might seem that the definition cited is a mere euphemistic imitation. However, benchmarking is not only about copying the processes of a competing company: it is the ability to learn from the mistakes of others rather than reproducing the wrong scenarios.
Before judging others, start with yourself
For members of the various departments of a company, some processes that are routine for a particular department are only superficially understood by the other teams. Benchmarking allows you to gain a deeper understanding of the significance of these activities and thus increase the effectiveness of the company as a whole. It is important to start by selecting the topics to be covered by the analysis. For example, if you want to benchmark consumer satisfaction with a product, you need to take into account, among other things, product quality and factors affecting price, the marketing mix and service, as a guarantee of brand authenticity.
By considering these issues, we create an initial analysis plan and then choose the most suitable data collection methods. These will help us find out whether a competitor sells its products better because of the seller's approach to the customer, or perhaps because of the way the product is advertised and the fact that it is perceived better in the eyes of the consumer than ours. This can be a SWOT analysis, a TOWS method, or any other method that allows us to visualize the advantages and disadvantages of the object of study.