Strategic Clarity

Ask your team members to envision a "good" or "typical" customer, and then have them write down what they believe are that customer's top three pains.

Developing a real strategy requires a strong understanding of the market.   The key to developing market insight is simplicity itself: looking at the world through your customers eyes.   Here is a simple exercise you can try.  

Ask your team members to envision a "good" or "typical" customer, and then have them write down what they believe are that customer's top three pains.  chances are they will be guessing--because they have never actually taken time to ask--and that all three will be related to your business rather than the customers business.   Now have someone else in your organization call a key decision maker at those same customers and actually ask him or her the question.  You are likely to find very little overlap between your internal view and what the customer really thinks.

ACTION POINT: Seek to understand your market through your customers eyes.