This document discusses how companies can maintain market leadership through a strong focus on customers. It recommends that companies:
1) Understand what customers truly value in order to define their market leadership approach.
2) Identify "customer-driven market anchors" - guiding principles that enable autonomy and focus on consistently delivering customer value.
3) Achieve market leadership by mastering delivery of value to customers along key dimensions like operational excellence, customer intimacy, or product innovation, as exemplified by companies like Starbucks, Dell, and Nike.
2. Pathfinder Background
Founded 2000
Three principals
Process improvement through focused
business strategy
Target Customers
Software, engineering, hardware
Non-profit
3. Topics
Understand What Customers Value
Define Types of Market Leadership
Identify Customer-Driven Market Anchors
Achieve Market Leadership by Delivering
Value
4. Don’t Lose Sight
The role of Product Managers
Focus on the business
Once successful companies
Case-in-point: Gateway
5. Customer Value
Can you be everything to everyone?
Who are the right customers?
Does it pay to fire customers?
What do customers value?
7. What is Value?
In the mind of the customer, a product or
service is of value if what is delivered is
Worth What Was Paid
How do you know what customers
value?
11. Success - Starbucks
Premium Pricing
Focused advertising
Lo
cat
i on
, lo
cat
Aggressive growth ion
, lo
cat
ion
12. Market Anchors - Starbucks
Convenience
Location
Easier ordering
Quality/consistency
A latte in Cleveland is like a latte in
Sacramento
Driven by Company Culture
13. Success – Dell Computer
Convenience
der
o-or
Bu ild-t Integrated logistics
Manufacturer direct
15. Gain Market Leadership
Relation between anchors and market
leadership
What are your market anchors?
Using anchors to move towards market
leadership
Where are you now?
Where are you relative to your competitors?
17. Value Chain Analysis
Systematic approach to analyzing
activities that create and build value
Product Management can influence or
control many value chain activities
Primary and Support activities