3A: Customer and market knowledge

On the commercial level of the framework, you could write an entire book on every single item. Suggesting I know the best three items per element, would therefore not be useful.

For me, the following three elements are important. Let’s read, discuss and improve!

I always like it when a business plan or a start-up is clear about the customer segment they are focussing on. I believe that focus brings success. And not all customer segments will bring results. Because with focus you will create deep insights, motivation for producing the right propositions and happy faces when there is a success.

Market research, marketing intelligence, and all other instruments to discover the market are useful, but most useful I find the knowledge about the addressable market. Which part of the market is there to be conquered? And how can we acquire this? A good understanding of the ‘free’ market is essential for all activities in the internal commercial chain.

It is essential to know about the competition. Deep knowledge makes your own proposition stronger and keeps you awake. I always advise to make a short SWOT for each competitor and when you take the abstract of all these you have a complete picture of the competitors. It can be done every two-three months and even more important when you are the game changer.