Are You Competitive Enough?

This chapter focuses on the importance of Customer intimacy and competitive advantage in exploiting successful Opportunities. It emphasizes the need to identify and understand Customers’ Decision Criteria (CDCs) and highlights the significance of brand recognition and customer connection. The chapter introduces the concept of Customer Benchmarking, which involves comparing the proposed Solution with Alternatives to demonstrate Customer fit. By thoroughly knowing the Customer and their buying patterns, entrepreneurs and project developers can fill the Customer Benchmarking table and compare the proposed Solution with Alternatives based on the Customer Decision Criteria. To obtain Customer buy-in, it is necessary to identify and understand all the Customer Decision Criteria of each customer to tailor the Solution that best meet its needs. Additionally, it mentions the role of market analysis and competitive intelligence in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of key players in the industry. The chapter concludes by emphasizing the need to define areas of excellence and make strategic decisions accordingly. The Customer Benchmarking demonstrates to what extent there is hope to obtain Customer buy-in. Since ISO 56007 mentions customer fit but without explaining how it should be done, the IpOp Model Customer Benchmarking described in this chapter is a practical way to demonstrate ISO 56007’s customer fit.