Order Winners and Order Qualifiers
Most companies will struggle to compete in all these areas at once. Instead, the company should analyse its competitors and products to focus efforts. The SWOT tool can be used to analyse its organisation and its competitors.
It is critical that the organisation can identify the Order Qualifiers and Order Winners. In product terms, an order qualifier is an attribute that qualifies the product for selection by the customer. In some sectors, low price is an order qualifier. The company may not offer the lowest price, but it must be competitive in price to be considered.
Increasingly, quality is a key order qualifier. In almost every sector, the customer expects and demands quality with almost every product. If the company cannot guarantee quality, it’s not in the competitive game.
In product terms, an order winner is the dominant factor that tips the customer one way or the other. In a broader sense, order winners are the characteristics that make customers choose one company or product over another.
SWOT Analysis
Figure 1 – SWOT
One of the purposes of a SWOT analysis is to help gain a competitive advantage. This includes:
- Price;
- Quality;
- Flexibility;
- Responsiveness; and
- Competing on price.
Two key ways to compete on price and maintain margin are by either;
- Increasing sales prices (only in non-competitive markets) or
- Reducing internal and supply chain costs.