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The Seller's Hidden Advantage

January 15, 2004 | Niraj Dawar , Mark Vandenbosch | Marketing

Sellers know things about their customers' businesses that the customers don't know and can't find out on their own yet value immensely. Because they come into contact with many and varied buyers, sellers have a bird's-eye view of the forest -- the industry's competitive landscape -- in contrast to customers, who often see only the trees. And they can use their wide range of experience to teach customers about their own businesses.

This isn't a matter of divulging confidential aspects of clients' businesses to their competitors. The challenge is to translate an industrywide perspective into knowledge that customers can use. Companies that can do that successfully reduce their customers' costs or operating risks and are rewarded in turn with customer loyalty, pricing flexibility or both.

The authors lay out three strategies that companies can adopt to turn a view of the forest into value for customers and competitive advantage for the business. They also explain the steps companies should take to collect, aggregate, adapt and share customer experiences.

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