Summary of an article

Marketing starts with strategy, most profitable strategies are built to achieve a competitive
advantage over competitors. Most companies focus their energy only on their products or services,
in seeking to differentiate themselves but they should examine customer’s entire experience with a
product or service. While examining customer’s entire experience with a product or service
(consumption chain) it uncovers opportunities to position the offerings in ways that neither
companies themselves nor their competitors thought possible. Finding ways to differentiate one’s
company is a skill that can be developed.

They have designed a two-part approach that can help companies continually identify new points
of differentiation and develop the ability to generate successful differentiation strategies. The first
part, “Mapping the Consumption Chain,” captures the customer’s total experience with a product
or service. The second, “Analyzing Your Customer’s Experience,” shows managers how directed
brainstorming about each step in the consumption chain can elicit numerous ways to differentiate
any offering.

The first step is to map your customer’s entire experience with a product.

Naturally, every product or service will have a bit different consumption chain. However, a few
activities are common to most chains. Consider the following questions that help to identify new,
consumer-based point of differentiation.

1. How do people become aware of their need for your product or service? - Are customers
aware of your product and it has been successful to satisfy their need? Consumers even
had a need that they have not recognized, company can differentiate itself by making
consumers aware of their need that is unrecognized.

2. How do consumers find your offering? - Opportunities for differentiating on the basis of
the search process include making your product available in the place where competitors do
not offer theirs, and making your product all over the market. Make the search process less
complicated, more convenient, less expensive, and more habitual for the customer in which
 companies can differentiate themselves. Company should provide detail information about
the product to the consumers through internet.

3. How do consumers make their final selections? – Company should make the selection
process more comfortable, less irritating, or more convenient. Company should look for the
ideal situation, they should target the household’s decision making influencers.

4. How do consumers order and purchase your product or service? - Company can
differentiate itself by making the process of ordering and purchasing more convenient.
Company should connect customers directly to the company’s system, allowing direct drop
shipment and automatic restocking whenever supplies fell below a certain level. Net
booking of tickets along with home delivery.

5. How is your product or service delivered? - Delivery affords many opportunities for
differentiation, especially if the product is an impulse purchase or if the customer needs it
immediately. Warehouse-hub connection delivery strategy constitute a real benefit for
customers, due to limited number of opportunities, competitors will find it hard to adopt the
same strategy.
6. What happens when your product or service is delivered? - Opening, inspecting,
transporting, and assembling products are frequently major issues for customers. Company
should record all the information and provide a product to the customers at time so the
customer have not any issues.
7. How is your product installed? - This step is particularly applicable for companies with
complex products. The company should provide user friendly product to the customers.

8. How is your product or service paid for? - Company should address major difficulties that
customers face during payment. Company may find opportunities to set itself apart by
making the whole payment process easier for customers to understand and differentiate
them from competitors.

9. How is your product stored? - Expensive, inconvenient, or downright dangerous for

customers to have a product simply sitting around, the opportunities for differentiation
abound.
 10. How is your product moved around? - Customers encounter difficulties when they must
transport a product from one location to another. Whether the transportation is across a
room or across a state, this step often-overlooked opportunity for differentiation.

11. What is the customer really using your product for? – Finding better ways for customers
to use a product or service is a powerful differentiator.

12. What do customers need help with when they use your product? - The company should
provide the most helpful response to the customers facing difficulties while using their
product.

13. What about returns or exchanges? - Too many companies put all their efforts into the
selling side of the product life cycle, forgetting that long-term loyalty requires attention to
customers’ needs throughout their experience with a product. Handling things well when
the product doesn’t work out can be as powerful as meeting the need that motivated the
initial purchase.
14. How is your product repaired or serviced? - Both good and bad experience of repair can
influence a lifetime of subsequent purchases. Company should repair a product even before
the customer is aware that such service is needed.
15. What happens when your product is disposed of or no longer used? - Instead of spending
money on disposed product customer’s wants to replace the product. Company should
allow their customers to return disposed product. Company should provide discount to
customer on new product in the return of disposal product.

Analyzing Your Customer’s Experience

The strategic value of this approach lies in analyzing your customer’s experience. The objective is
to gain insight into the customer by appreciating the context within which each step of the
consumption chain unfolds. Applying 5 simple questions—what, where, who, when, and how at
each link in the consumption chain can determine the customer’s feeling towards your product and
service.
The process outlined in this article helps an organization to unlock its creativity, so that the vision
of particular individuals can contribute to a shared understanding of the customers, so that the
company basically, knows its customers almost better than they know themselves. Companies that
uses this approach successfully, find themselves deeply familiarize to their markets.