Market Development

The concept of a market is straightforward. So why do suppliers often struggle to identify and/or address their target market... or buyers fail to leverage the power of markets?

The answer, in the case of suppliers, usually appears to stem from a failure to answer the questions “what business are we in?” and, sometimes more importantly, “so, what business aren't we in?”. This lack of clarity can manifest itself in a lack of focus – leaving suppliers chasing every “opportunity” rather than those that really matter to their business. You know, the ones aligned with their strategic goals.

For buyers, we believe it’s because developing a vibrant market, that delivers benefit for all participants, is often challenging – particularly when the products/services involved are novel or complex. This is never more the case where buyers need to create markets from scratch due to changing political/legislative requirements.

Crocodilio’s team has experience of researching and developing markets for specialist products/services, facilitating participation and ensuring that benefits accrue to all parties. We can assist with:

1. Identification of relevant markets, their success factors, and the alignment with your organisation’s needs or competencies
2. Helping suppliers identify uncontested market niches – and those market sectors already occupied where they face competitive threat and/or have the opportunity to build highly defendable positions
3. The quantification of the scale of market opportunity and the development of supply-side market development/entry strategies... ask us about the work members of our team undertook for one of the world’s largest credit card networks, and one of the UK’s leading rail freight operators, to hear about how our pragmatic approach is particularly well suited to this type of engagement.
4. Helping buyers understand and leverage the power of markets... building both awareness and technical skills within their organisations
5. The development of effective buyer strategies that deliver appropriate participation – yet in a sophisticated, sustainable manner. For those new to market based procurement we use our expertises to help shorten the learning curve and reduce the time period for you to benefit from market development.

Needless to say, should it be required, we’re more than happy to undertake modelling from the standpoint of “pure” finance, economics, or competitive standpoints – helping you understand the broader implications of any proposed market development activities.

Importantly, for public sector clients, Crocodilio possesses a deep understanding of the recently updated Public Contracts Regulations and European procurement legislation… helping you avoid the inconvenience of subsequent legal challenge whilst developing markets that deliver. Ask us, for example, about our recent engagement to develop a robust “contestability strategy” for a NHS Trust... the process we went through, the output (described as “exemplary” by their SHA) we provided, and the practical tools we provided our client with for them to start actively using the strategy in their day-to-day operations. But don’t forget that, due to our team’s first-hand public sector experience, we understand the broader challenges that markets present for public sector organisations and are entirely comfortable achieving a pragmatic balance between “ideal” commercial market approaches and the aims/objectives of public sector organisations.