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Contents | Chapter 1
| 2 | 3 | 4
| 5 | 6 | 7
| 8 | 9 | 10
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The Ecosystem: Competitors, Customers, and Partners
- Competitors: A Fine Distraction
- Customers and the Many Markets Inside Each One
- Partners and Allies: Learning from Hollywood
Excerpts
Paying too close attention to one's competitors can distract you from paying close enough attention to your customers. One certainly should not ignore competitors, but too many executives becomes obsessed with matching or beating competitors, at which point ego grabs the wheel from wisdom. Earlier, I cited example of perfectly profitable companies…that became obsessed with competitors…lost their customer focus, and eventually lost their trousers. It's better to know what your customers want for breakfast than what your competitors served.
Customer focus does not mean being totally subservient to your customer, or waiting to be told what your customer needs. If you do that, you'll be treated like a waiter and dismissed with a $2 tip. To win, you must lead your customers along the path your are building to their dreams. The competitive advantage of the event-driven infrastructure, properly integrated with your customers' IT systems, is that you, and your customers, will have visibility into relevant areas of each others' businesses in real time…Not only will each of you have access to such information, but the relevant information will be directed to the appropriate people within each of your organizations.
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