Identifying Market Gaps

Key gaps are usually small in number and pretty fundamental.  

How do you identify key market gaps?  The best place to start is by developing ideal supplier descriptions  for the segments and targets you want to go after.   The following are some additional pointers:

• Get back to basics.  Key gaps are usually small in number and pretty fundamental.  They are often chronic, meaning that you have been talking about the symptoms for a long time.  As a rule of thumb, if you never feel uncomfortable during the positioning process you are not doing real strategy.
• Examine your service levels.  Gaps are often the result of providing undifferentiated levels of service (for example, sales coverage, delivery, price point) to all customers and segments.  This results in under servicing some customers (a capabilities gap) while over-servicing others (a profit gap).
• Consider your overarching message.  Message gaps often extend far beyond blurbs on a brochure or getting sales reps to "talk about the right things with customers."  Every aspect of your business, from the appearance of the counter to the efficiency of the delivery driver to the courtesy of the all center agent, reinforces your brand image in customer's eyes.
• Be specific.  Gaps should be described as specifically as possible.  Don't say "poor communication" if you really mean that "sales doesn't get new product information from marketing in a timely manner," or "poor technology" if the issue is simply that you can't produce accurate small job estimates.
• Look to the competition.  Evaluating suppliers and competitors can be a great way to uncover or clarify your market gaps.  However, it is essential that this analysis comes after your customer segmentation analysis, so that you don't fall into the trap of solving a problem that isn't critical.

ACTION POINT:  Review the pointers above to identify market gaps within your business.