Are all customers equal?
Conventional wisdom tells us that ‘All Customers are Important’ and that the ‘Customer is King’. Whilst I do agree that it is important to look after your customers, I’m not sure I subscribe to the belief that they are all equal.
Broadly speaking your customers fall into one of three categories:
1) A Customers – Your most profitable customers.
Your most profitable customers are your top spenders. They refer you the most business and are the easiest to deal with.
2) B Customers – Your bread & butter customers.
This will be your largest category of customer. Bread & butter customers may not be your biggest spenders but they are the customers that deal with you frequently and like your product/service. The real opportunity in this category is identifying and converting some of these B customers to A customers.
3) C Customers – Your Can’t deal with customers.
These customers may not pay on time, want cheaper prices and are generally a little more challenging to deal with. In extreme cases they may even be unprofitable. Unfortunately this group tends to be the ‘squeaky wheel that gets the oil’ and consequently get more focus and attention than they deserve, diverting resource away from A & B customers!
Have you ever analysed your customer database and categorised your customers? You may have an idea of where some customers may fall but I’m sure that if you did this exercise thoroughly there would be quite a few surprises!
All customers are not equal and you and your team members should be crystal clear on who the A customers are and who has the potential to be an A customer.
What would the impact be on sales strategy, marketing and cashflow if this concept was properly understood and acted upon in your business?