It’s amazing how many opportunities some companies miss due to failing to profile and segment their customers. The day job often takes over and tasks like data analysis get pushed to the bottom of the pile of priorities. However, there’s no doubt that it’s vital to be able to identify what makes a good customer from a poor one. There are so many attributes that can provide useful information for targeting. The basics include:
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- Sector
- Size of business
- Decision maker
- Location
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But you can also measure…
But there is so much that can be analysed, over and above the basics, within the data that you have about those customers including:
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- Products and services purchased
- Types and categories of purchase
- Value of purchase
- Frequency of purchase
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You need to analyse for results
The trouble is that without robust analysis, it’s difficult to make valid decisions. Sometimes a formal customer survey is needed. If the numbers are large, it can be done by email. We’d recommend that you offer some form of incentive to encourage response. A survey can also throw up new opportunities since it shows you care and prompts the customer to consider their needs. If your customer base is smaller, it may be that an in-depth phone survey is viable or preferable. That allows you to pick up potential customer service issues that could otherwise have led to a lost customer.
Ultimately, we all want our customers to feel loved. It’s all too easy to become bogged down by the day job and with those customers that shout loudest. It is, though, rarely a bad thing to undertake both analytical research and formal customer research that supports better targeting to sell more to current customers, reduce attrition and to generate new business.
If you’d like to sell more to your current customers, check out our video.
