7 Questions to Ask for the End of Year Review of your Vertical Industry Strategy

Gartner technology and service provider clients stepped up their industry focus in 2019. We heard various reasons for this increased attention, with the top ones usually sounding like these:   

“My buyers are changing, and they are asking for more.”  Business executives are displacing IT managers in the purchase process. They demand more tangible business value.

“My competitive advantage is harder to find and keep.”  Sophisticated enterprises are often ahead of emerging trends and are therefore more challenging to sell to.

“Help me grow!”  Leverage solutions across industries to scale.  

Before you begin, re-evaluate your organizations vertical mindset. Which one are you?

 Industry entrant — You have a vertical marketing strategy built on a horizontal product approach. You may have a sales organization with an industry focus, but verticalization is not a design principle for your organization.

 Industry associate — You may have started with a vertical-specific solution and won a few early clients. Now you have some vertical-industry business units and have aligned product development to scale up and out to adjacent verticals. Your sales effort doesn’t scale; it’s limited to industry-specific partnerships for delivery.

 Industry peer — You have a well-defined industry strategy and organizational structure. Product development is based on vertical-specific IP and your marketing messages focus on business value. Your clients view you as "peers" with deep industry understanding and expertise.

 Industry visionary — Your clients and the industry see your organization as a "market maker." You fund solutions and acquire IP that showcase industry-specific thought leadership and innovation. All operations are focused on the “what’s next” solution that promises to disrupt the market.

Ask me about doing a full audit of your organizations vertical industry strategy. As a start, here are the 7 basic questions to ask yourself about your organizations progress in 2019.

The End of Year Review Questions:

1.      "What are the key forces reshaping the industry?"

2.      "Do I solve meaningful industry problems?"

3.      "Am I focusing my resources appropriately?"  

4.      "Do I deliver intended outcomes?"

5.      "Am I optimizing my routes to revenue?"

6.      "Who and what am I competing with?”

7.      "Are my people organized and trained for success?"