Benchmarking is a process of continual improvement used to compare results "company-to-company" to identify the best of the best and achieve a level of superiority and competitive advantage. Unlike other planning tools, Benchmarking encourages companies to look beyond their own operations or industries, key factors that influence productivity and results. This philosophy can be applied to any function, which generally produces better results when implemented in the company as a whole.

Benchmarking is a process where you compare their practices, processes, products and results with those of their competitors.

This tactic is a good way to identify strengths and weaknesses, as much yours as the other companies of its segment, and of course learn from the results and can plan actions and changes to improve your sales.

Have a clear goal

To succeed in this learning process, you need to have clear objectives. Otherwise you will not know how to take advantage all the information discovered.

Before starting the research, define which parts of your business you want to improve. Continuing with the example of customer service, what you want to improve that your process? Phone? E-mail? Define and focus at this point, looking for companies to do well what you need to improve.

Look for references

When you look for the companies that you include in your benchmark, search for those that are considered reference on the subject.

Often, companies that have achieved great results for their work are proud to share your event with other entrepreneurs.

Journals and HR companies usually do rankings of the best companies in different categories and to tell some of their cases.

Grow with the results

More important than know which system adopts that company is, before all the information, have a good action plan.

This means that beyond find out what other companies do, you have to identify your flaws and take action to solve your problem or improve your practices.

With all the information discovered during the benchmarking process, look at your budget and strategies and see how you can adapt them to ensure your success.

Keep track of your competitors

Know what your competitors do best and worst is essential. Monitor how they work the catalog of products, prices, delivery policies, freight costs, special offers and other important information.

Provide continuity

The benchmarking process should continue even after you have implemented changes and you're getting better results. You must always be aware of what happens in the market not to be outdone the competition. A successful company is always looking for improvements.