The comparisons are hateful. We always say that. But the truth is that everything depends on how they utilize those comparisons. Sometimes, measuring yourself with the other is the best way to grow and improve in what you do. Of course, we must be willing to recognize our mistakes. If you can swallow your ego and want to give your company a boost, this post interests you. Today we talk about benchmarking.
What is benchmarking?
Do not worry if you have never heard this term because the definition is straightforward. Benchmarking is a process of studying the highlights of a company, whether competitive or not, to adapt after our company and improve them.
Eye! The benchmarking is not snoop and copy what others do. In fact, with the global competition we face today, differentiation is key to increasing sales. Instead, this technique is about learning about the good practices of other companies to move towards excellence.
But what areas are studied? The truth is that benchmarking occurs in all types of businesses and sectors with vastly different purposes. For example, companies can apply it to the manufacture of a product to optimize it, distribute the items in a store, the shopping experience, and even the communication or advertising strategy.
The types of benchmarking
Your company, like all of them, also has excellent potential for improvement. Doing a benchmarking study will help you find new ideas, detect errors, and implement changes to be more successful.
This analysis is something that you can carry out yourself. The first thing is to know the three types of benchmarking that exist:
- Competitive benchmarking. As you can imagine, it puts the focus on the companies of your direct or latent competition. Businesses with which you are disputing customers or those of your same sector are already major reference companies.
- Internal benchmarking. Here the protagonist is within the company itself. Evaluate an area of the company that is exemplary in adapting its practices to other departments. It is a type of study more focused on SMEs or large businesses with many employees.
- Functional benchmarking. In this case, the account takes off the operation, practices, or processes carried out by other companies, regardless of their size or sector. For example, a footwear company studies the logistics of a textile company.
How benchmarking is done: phases.
Now that you know the different options, it is time to talk about the benchmarking phases. If you want to start this technique, follow the steps:
- Think about what aspects you are going to analyze. For that, you must ask yourself some questions…
- What does not work in my company?
- What goals would I like to achieve?
- What is my improvement priority?
- In what areas am I behind my competitors?
Select the reference companies. As I explained in the previous section, benchmarks are not always competitors’ companies. You must try to identify the referents in that aspect that you want to study. Stay with this phrase: learn from the best to be the best.
Determine what information you should collect. Imagine that you want to improve the communication of your company. What do you want to know about others? For example, it could be interesting to evaluate your activity in social networks, the existence or not of a blog, the newsletter, the keywords by which the position, advertise, etc.
Collect and analyze the data. To obtain the information, you will have to use the Internet help and the most traditional methods: interviews, visits to companies, customer surveys, etc. See the data on the paper as schematically as possible so that later you can quickly analyze them. When you have finished, review them, and write down the main conclusions.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
