Four Corners Analysis

The Four Corners Analysis is a 2x2 matrix used to evaluate the potential of a product or service. It helps to identify the most promising areas of opportunity and the areas that need improvement.

At a very high level, the Four Corners Analysis is used in the context of business, marketing, finance.

Four Corners Analysis quadrant descriptions, including examples
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What is the Four Corners Analysis?

A visual explanation is shown in the image above. The Four Corners Analysis can be described as a matrix with the following quadrants:

  1. Customer Needs: Identify the customer's desired features, outcomes, and experience. Example: Customer needs a product that is easy to use.
  2. Customer Wants: Identify the customer's desired price, delivery, and support. Example: Customer wants a product that is affordable.
  3. Company Capabilities: Identify the company's ability to deliver on the customer's needs, wants, and desired outcomes. Example: Company has the capability to develop a product that is easy to use.
  4. Company Resources: Identify the company's financial resources, human resources, and technological resources. Example: Company has the financial resources to develop a product that is affordable.

What is the purpose of the Four Corners Analysis?

The Four Corners Analysis is a 2x2 matrix used to evaluate the potential of a product or service. It helps to identify the most promising areas of opportunity and the areas that need improvement. The four corners of the matrix represent four different perspectives: customer needs, customer wants, company capabilities, and company resources.

The customer needs quadrant is used to identify the needs of the customer. This can include the customer’s desired features, the customer’s desired outcomes, and the customer’s desired experience. The customer wants quadrant is used to identify the wants of the customer. This can include the customer’s desired price, the customer’s desired delivery, and the customer’s desired support.

The company capabilities quadrant is used to identify the capabilities of the company. This can include the company’s ability to deliver on the customer’s needs, the company’s ability to deliver on the customer’s wants, and the company’s ability to deliver on the customer’s desired outcomes. The company resources quadrant is used to identify the resources of the company. This can include the company’s financial resources, the company’s human resources, and the company’s technological resources.

The Four Corners Analysis can be used to identify areas of opportunity and areas of improvement. For example, if a company has the capability to deliver on the customer’s needs but lacks the financial resources to do so, this would be an area of opportunity. On the other hand, if a company has the financial resources to deliver on the customer’s wants but lacks the capability to do so, this would be an area of improvement.


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What templates are related to Four Corners Analysis?

The following templates can also be categorized as business, marketing, finance and are therefore related to Four Corners Analysis: Effort Impact Matrix, Gap Analysis Matrix, Growth Share Matrix, Kraljic Matrix, Outsourcing Matrix, Quadrant Analysis, Risk Analysis Matrix, Risk Value Matrix. You can browse them using the menu above.

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