Market Attribution Framework: The first step to revenue growth

When a business stops growing there is a natural tendency to start looking at new products and services from the most recent client meetings that will stimulate the immediate growth needed. ‘If we add this to the portfolio it could drive more revenue’ or ‘If we respond to this current customer’s unique need other customers will want it’. This is defined as a reaction to a unique customer need.

What should happen more often, and unfortunately does not due to the whirlwind of everyday business, is for the business to look pro-actively at the external market and identify how they can generate a market differentiation for their business in areas of the market where there are clear areas for potential growth. This is defined as a reaction to a market need.

A Market Attribution Framework is a methodology to identify a market need and to create a differentiated strategic position in that market from which to achieve revenue growth.

There are three generally accepted ways to create a differentiated strategic position:  

1. Serve the broad needs of a few customers.  

2. Serve some needs of many customers.  

3. Serve many needs for many customers in a super-specific market.

A Market Attribution Framework may sound like a heavy lift, but there is a pragmatic way to achieve this and provide the business with a growth structure that can be fully integrated into everyday decision making.

The starting point is being clear that the strategic intent of a Market Attribution Framework is not a methodology to focus on competing against your competitors, it is about competing to be unique in the marketplace. The framework provides the foundation to define:

• Where you really want to be, what is your real passion.
• What core customer you will serve and where you will not.  

• Setting your aspirations for your unique and valuable position in the market.

The Framework should pull together the:

1. Key attributes of the market you play in.

2. Rank how well your business serves each of these attributes.

3. Identify and rank the key competitors for each attribute.  

The outcome of this exercise provides a structured discussion on which attributes are important to the business. One of the key things in defining importance is which attributes generate the passion in the business. Passion from leadership and those delivering the products or services is such a key component to success. It is unlikely that a single attribute will create differentiation in the market. What will generally create the market differentiation is the combination of number of attributes that a business has. Rating these combinations against competitors identifies who are fulfilling the market needs well today and the gaps where those market needs are not be fulfilled. The latter is what creates the white space, the space where the business can focus energies knowing a market already exists.    

There are only two possible outcomes from a Market Attribution Framework exercise:

1. We are in the right position with the right products, let’s keep momentum going.

2. We look like everybody else but look at that white space we could be attacking.

In most cases the outcome will be the ‘aha’ moment driven by outcome two. A Market Attribution Framework now provides the guide rails for the Leadership Team to focus on the next two critical steps:

1. The Market Map – What type of customer buys this product and service, and how does this align to the current go-to-market model.  How big a business change is this going to be?

2. Core Customer – Who is the target audience for these products and services, what are their roles, what are their core needs, what are their drivers.  This targeted strategic insight establishes the foundation for the development of a unique position for the business in serving the needs of this market.

Importantly, the Market Attribution Framework is not a one-time exercise. The leadership team in the business must be and continue to be market experts. The market and the players in the market will continue to evolve, whilst the business may identify a unique place in the marketplace today, that position needs to be under constant review.    

The graphic below shows an output of a Market Attribution Framework. It is the result of identifying on the X axis the key attributes the business wanted to play in.  The Y axis is the 1-5 scoring of the business and each competitor.  What this shows is that when you combine a number of attributes a unique place in the market can be created, in this case when you combine attributes A and B with E and F, nobody is in competition with the business.

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