A Customer-oriented Manager for B2B Services

4Modeling the Industrial Sector

4.1. Direct market

A manager may be in charge of a single major account or, on the contrary, have a portfolio marked by a strong geographical or sectoral dispersion. Whatever its size or complexity, this is the manager’s market. It does not always overlap perfectly with the company’s overall strategic analysis. Hence, it is important for managers to conduct their own analysis of their market.

4.1.1. Knowing one’s market in its entirety

The first thing a manager should do is to build a big picture of his or her market, by representing it around the few most salient points.

4.1.1.1. Defining it

First, it is important to define one’s market in a qualitative way. Naming one’s market is not always easy and the terms used often indicate the way in which the manager approaches it. Do managers define it in terms of the service they offer, the markets they serve or the solution they provide (see Table 4.1)?

The approach that managers adopt to name their market impacts not only the size and value that will be attributed to it but also the competitive perception that one has of it and the value that one believes one must bring to it.

The managers’ territory must clearly appear in the definition of their market. Is it a simple geographical territory or a more precisely defined territory in terms of business, client and activity sectors?

Table 4.1. Defining one’s market

From the service offered	From clients served	From the the solution provided
Consulting ...