If you are a true student of your business…be it a private or public sector entity… it is a good strategy to annually:  Try A “Market Analysis”!
 
What specifically am I suggesting?  Take a look at this excerpt from the Michigan Guide To Starting & Operating A Small Business to best answer this question:
 
 “Paint a picture of what is happening in your industry and explain how you can plan to take advantage of opportunities within the industry.  Use your understanding of the industry to demonstrate how your sales/service projections are realistic.  Explain how fast your industry is growing with sales, numbers of customers, performance and profits.  Discuss if any segments are growing faster than others and how you might leverage that information.
 
You may want to highlight the following elements:
– Current industry size, status and trends (to show how you will position your company for market opportunities and to identify areas of growth or decline)
– New products or services in the industry, especially ones that will affect your business/agency directly or indirectly
– Trade associations that support your product or service and that you will be contributing to
– Opportunities and threats affecting the industry (how you will capitalize on the opportunities as well as handle the threats).”

In our current customer marketplace… it is my belief that nothing stays the same and the only constant is CHANGE.  Too often in my consultant experiences I find that both public and private organizations discuss customers with a “lack-of-change” point of view.  The end result are products and services that may be high quality… but lack up-to-date components.
 
So… Try A “Market Analysis”… and be ready for a new set of discoveries!