It’s common practice to benchmark channel programs against competitors. It’s natural that channel leaders want to understand how they compare. But for many the process is a ‘dark art’ and is not well understood. An outside specialist is brought in and a brief is provided. Results may or may not meet expectations.
For buyers of benchmarking and best practice insights it’s worth understanding the processes used by specialists, and the types of project undertaken. Informed buyers get better results.
TYPES OF BENCHMARKING
Industry benchmarking projects can typically be categorised into three types as follows.
POINT INSIGHTS
These projects are undertaken to get a view on a specific topic. The brief is narrow, and might even consist of a single question. The project is not targeted at a specific competitive vendor, it’s about cross-industry best practice.
A common challenge with Point Insight Projects is that clients might want ‘hard outputs’. The client may want to see example terms and conditions, or precise percentages. That’s hard for specialists to deliver but some won’t tell you that, which leads to disappointment. Good providers will be honest about what’s possible. If a specialist is pushing back on what’s possible then they probably know what they’re talking about.
COMPETITIVE BENCHMARKS
Projects of this type are undertaken to compare a client’s partner program with the programs of competitors. The brief is wide, and the focus is on the target vendor list. Which companies will we compare to? The benchmarking specialist will compare programs across a range of topic areas, which they will be expected to recommend. The client will ask for focus on the topic areas that matter most to them.
A common challenge with Competitive Benchmarks is trying to compare with too many benchmark vendors, or to cover too many topic areas in a single project. Projects with broader briefs deliver less depth of insight. Clients and specialists need to ensure there is focus.
GAP ANALYSIS
Gap analysis projects are usually focused on an aspect of the program, like rebating for example, and the specialist is asked to compare the client’s process against industry best practice. The specialist might be asked to recommend the vendors to compare to, based on their knowledge of the market. The client will share details of their own process and results, and the specialist will flag areas of concern.
For Gap Analysis projects to be successful clients have to share. The client needs to spend time with the specialist to explain their own process, so that realistic comparisons can be made with other vendors. The more time the client puts into a Gap Analysis project the more value they will get out of it.
HOW IS IT DONE?
All specialists use a mix of techniques for any one project. Here are the most common.
Experienced specialists undertake projects for clients all the time, so they have a bank of up-to-date insight on any given topic. Ask your specialist if they’ve undertaken similar work recently. If they have that’s likely to help.
Benchmarking specialists are good at research. Which means they know how to use web resources to find content you might not realise is out there. Don’t be disappointed if your specialist talks about web research as part of the mix. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Perhaps the most important for many specialists is their contact network. Look for a specialist with a long track record, because that means they know people who know people.
INFORMATION IS NOT KNOWLEDGE
A significant part of the value of a benchmarking specialist is their opinion. Benchmarking specialists see trends and spot differences that you don’t see. The more you share, the more you ask and the more you listen, the more value you get.
Benchmarking specialists talk about good and bad clients. Bad clients send a brief and don’t collaborate. Good clients get more value because they understand what they’re buying, they take advice on the brief, and they seek opinions on the outputs.