Comparing Apples to Oranges: Benchmarking and Your Company

"Well, I think we're going to have a hard time coming up an apples to apples comparison for your idea."

I heard this phrase last week in the middle of a meeting with a new client. I had to jump in after the sentence ended.

"Well, if we are benchmarking, we don't necessarily an apples to apples business." Before an awkward silence had a chance to form, I continued. "Take for example, L.L. Bean. They are highly regarded for their efficient shipping and distribution. Lets say for example you own a sweets shop and you've had so much demand from your customers to make your products shippable, that you decide to do so. Small problem, you've never shipped your items. But you'd probably want to get them out quickly so you might turn to a company like L.L. Bean to see how they move their product more efficiently."

So, you don't always need an apples to apples comparison when you are looking to improve your company.

Therein lies the beauty of the process of benchmarking. We often times try to focus on companies that do the exact same thing that our own company does, that we miss someone else who is doing the same thing wonderfully but just in another industry.

How do you and your company benchmark, though? That will be answered in the next post where we will break down the steps and go deeper into comparing apples to oranges.