Understanding the market
The fundamental tenet of marketing is "know your market", yet few PSFs do. Most get by on the basis of partners' gut feel, anecdotal market intelligence and unreliable directories.
As a result, firms often have a very sketchy and inaccurate knowledge of:
- The demand for their services, how this is changing, and why
- Clients' views of the firm and its services
- The wider market's perception of the firm, including its awareness and reputation among decision-makers
- Competitor activity, including new market entrants
- The effectiveness of the firm's marketing and BD activities relative to those of its major competitors
- Other factors such as service innovation, IT developments, the impact of regulatory changes, the role of procurement and changing pricing strategies
How we can help
At Wheeler Associates, we provide a range of services to help firms to better understand the markets in which they operate, including:
- Market segmentation analysis to group clients and targets according to needs/characteristics
- Market perception surveys
- Client surveys (see Managing clients)
- Director, company and sector profiles
- Competitor analysis
- Market assessment surveys to identify users' changing needs