Business Model Canvas
Osterwalder and Pigneur’s (2010) Business Model Canvas (BMC) guides startups to construct a solid operational foundation. The BMC’s nine pillars are its partners, activities, resources, value proposition, customer connections, channels, costs, and income streams. This task will expand upon the BMC by answering the four unanswered gaps. The gap model defines the four gaps that might cause dissatisfied clients for service providers. This task will illustrate how BMC’s nine pillars can fill these four voids and keep clients happy.
The Business Strategy Canvas is a powerful strategic tool for outlining and designing a company’s business strategy. The nine parts that make up the Business Model Canvas are the following, as highlighted in Table 1: target markets, products and services, distribution channels, customer connections, sources of income, strategic partners, and supporting infrastructure and processes (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). Individuals or organizations who assist the company in generating, delivering, and collecting value are considered key partners. Key partners in the context of services marketing might be suppliers, distributors, or strategic collaborations that help with service delivery (Lovelock et al., 2014).
The most crucial things a company must do to deliver on its value offer are known as key activities. Key actions in the context of services marketing include planning and developing the service, maintaining client connections, and assuring service quality. Key resources are the assets a company needs to execute its value offer. Key resources in services marketing include physical resources, such as buildings and equipment, and human resources, such as trained personnel and managerial knowledge.
A company’s value proposition is the unique benefit it offers customers. The quality of the service, the simplicity of delivery, or the emotional experience associated with the service may all be part of the value proposition in service marketing. Customer relationships relate to how a company engages with its customers to foster trust and loyalty (Lovelock et al., 2014).
Client connections in services marketing involve customized service, reaction to client feedback, or the development of long-term partnerships. Channels are the many methods by which a company distributes its value offer to its clients. Channels in services marketing include physical locations, internet platforms, or collaborations with other firms.
The expenditures incurred by a company to achieve its value offer are referred to as its cost structure. Cost structure in services marketing might include expenditures connected with service creation, service delivery, or client acquisition. Revenue streams are how a company receives consumer money (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2021).
Revenue streams in service marketing include service delivery fees, partnership commissions, or subscription-based models. Customers are the individuals or organizations that a company services. Customers in the context of service marketing might be individual consumers, corporations, or government entities.
Not Knowing What Customers Expect
The first gap occurs when senior staff members and managers need help comprehending the demands of their customers. In this case, customer expectations and corporate capabilities are sometimes in line. To better understand its clientele, a business needs reliable partners. To better comprehend the needs and desires of its customers, for instance, a business can collaborate with a market research firm (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2021). Thanks to these relationships, businesses may improve their offers by learning more about what their consumers desire.
An organization’s activities are critical to its success as they teach its leaders and workers to meet its expectations. Employees may benefit from training and development programs to better understand client needs and how to meet them (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2021). These initiatives help bridge the gap between customer expectations and the company’s capacity to satisfy those expectations. Building trusted relationships with your customers is critical for management and staff at your firm to understand their requirements and expectations. Regular client communication and feedback may assist a firm in better meeting its demands (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2021).
This data might be utilized to improve offers and better serve clients. Channels are the way through which a company gets its goods into the hands of consumers. A well-functioning channel may assist a firm in better understanding its consumers’ demands and needs. Using social media, you can learn about your customers’ experiences and expectations (Berners & Martin, 2022). A company may learn more about its consumers’ desires and expectations by connecting with them through various channels.
Revenue sources are the various ways a business makes money from its products. Profitability may be increased by learning more about a company’s clients and tailoring new products and services to those customers. As a result, the gap between consumer expectations and actual performance may close (Berners & Martin, 2012). The most outstanding individuals to ask about expectations are, in the end, consumers. A business may more effectively build its solutions to meet the demands of its customers when it is aware of what they want and anticipate. The discrepancy between customer expectations and actual performance may narrow as a result.
Not Selecting the Right Service Quality Standards
The gap model provides a theoretical framework for examining the discrepancy between actual and perceived service quality. It identifies five reasons that might contribute to lousy service. The second gap exists between management and the expectations of their clients. This gap can emerge when managers must address staff complaints, provide enough training, or establish reasonable expectations for meeting client demands and preferences (Lovelock et al., 2014).
It is essential to work with reliable partners to accomplish or surpass purchaser expectations for quality and timeliness of delivery. Key partners might incorporate providers, merchants, and partners with a personal stake in the venture’s success. For instance, an organization with practical experience in good food delivery might work with neighborhood ranchers to give the best quality products (Lovelock et al., 2014). Clients are confident that our organization will fulfill their needs for healthy food.
To succeed, a business should fulfill its objective of meeting the market’s needs. These incorporate creation, publicizing, delivery, and examination. A skincare company, for example, may utilize surveys and focus groups to discover more about the best items and services for their target market (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).
The company’s most valuable assets should correspond to its value proposition and the needs of its target market (Lovelock et al., 2014). Such resources include human resources, technology assets, and physical buildings. A company that provides virtual fitness classes may acquire professional-grade cameras and audio equipment to match its clients’ high expectations for a seamless and engaging experience.
Building reliable connections with those consumers is essential since managers’ perceptions of what customers want might only sometimes be reflected in delivery standards. Personalization, feedback mechanisms, and loyalty programs are examples of consumer interactions (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). A company’s channels must be planned so that they successfully and effectively reach the desired customer base.
There may be coverage for social media, the internet, and even physical establishments. For instance, a new business selling handcrafted jewelry can advertise on social media to draw customers. If you choose this option, you can be sure that your premium, unique jewelry will arrive in pristine condition.
Service Delivery Not Meeting Expected Standards
The performance gap, which is gap 3 in the gap model, will be addressed by a new service venture that BMC plans to launch. The gap model states that unhappy customers happen when promised and delivered offerings need to align. What management anticipates and what employees provide is the third area of disagreement. The following description of the BMC’s nine pillars demonstrates how they interact to create a robust and distinctive business model, paying particular attention to gap 3.
The project’s main partners are an organization that provides technical solutions and a corporation that offers professional advice. The IT service provider will make modern cloud-based technologies available, allowing the business to streamline operations and guarantee prompt, high-quality service delivery (Budianto, 2019). The expert consulting business will help identify potential client demands and trends by providing market insights and data. Market research and analysis, establishing and overseeing strategic alliances, developing and putting into practice service delivery strategies, and managing customer relationships will be the company’s main priority areas. The company will offer continuing training and assistance to guarantee that its workforce is prepared to satisfy consumer expectations.
Digital and traditional media, social media, and direct sales will all be used as the company’s distribution methods. The corporation will also leverage meaningful collaborations to increase its reach and access to new markets (Carter & Carter, 2020). Fixed and variable expenses will serve as the foundation for the pricing method. Rent, technology costs, and employee pay are all fixed expenses. Incentives for employees, fees for marketing and advertising, and fees for training and assistance are all examples of variable costs that vary depending on the service volume.
Balance Between Promise and the Level of Performance
The gap between client expectations and actual performance is the subject of the gap model’s fourth component. As a result, client satisfaction and the overall shopping experience may suffer. The business model must be created to bridge the gap between expected and actual performance.
The fundamental ingredient of the value proposition is necessary to close this gap (Carter & Carter, 2020). What sets a company apart from its competitors is described in the value proposition. For clients to understand what they are receiving, the value offered must be crystal clear and unambiguous (Budianto, 2019). The value offering must align with the degree of performance given, which can only be done using the Key Activities and Key Resources pillars.
The Key Activities building block indicates the many operations that must be carried out to provide the consumer with the promised value. If a company’s actions align with its value proposition, it may fulfill its customer promises (Carter & Carter, 2020). This value proposition must be provided by the Key Resources listed in the building block for Key Resources. These resources must also sync with the value offer to match client promises with actual performance.
The Channels component is essential for the organization to meet those objectives and exceed consumer expectations. The Channels component explains how the company communicates with the client and how they take in the value offered (Budianto, 2019). If the company’s communication channels are crystal clear, the customers will understand precisely what they are paying for. Additionally, by offering channels for feedback and complaints, the business may address any problems and guarantee the consumer will be happy with the performance level.
Reflection
The creation of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) provided an insightful grasp of how the different components of the innovative concept fit together. By adding concepts from Lovelock et al.’s Services Marketing, I demonstrated how each component of the gap model works to fill a particular lack. The value proposition is one part of the innovation concept that has significantly evolved. I was able to better serve our target customers by modifying our value proposition in response to the information gained from the customer persona and the customer journey map. I also discovered untapped revenue streams that may be expanded into long-term sources of income.
A broader approach to customer relations was also used. Thanks to the information gleaned from the customer journey map, I was able to better connect with consumers and form long-lasting bonds. I also created a loyalty program to promote repeat business and word-of-mouth promotion. Despite these changes, several components of the innovation notion have stayed constant. Two examples are the concept’s primary collaborators and the resources required to accomplish it. We have also maintained our focus on delivering a low-cost solution that gives significant value to our clients.
Reference List
Berners, P. and Martin, A. (2022) “Why is customer satisfaction important?” The Practical Guide to Achieving Customer Satisfaction in Events and Hotels, pp. 30–51. Web.
Budianto, A. (2019) “Customer loyalty: Quality of Service,” Journal of Management Review, 3(1), p. 299. Web.
Carter, M. and Carter, C. (2020) “The Creative Business Model Canvas,” Social Enterprise Journal, 16(2), pp. 141–158. Web.
Lovelock, C., Patterson, P. and Wirtz, J. (2014) Services Marketing. 6th ed. Melbourn, Australia: Pearson Education.
Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur, Y. (2010) Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. 1st ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
Wirtz, J. and Lovelock, C. (2021) “The Services Marketing Framework,” Services Marketing, pp. 404–405. Web.