Customer ABC’s – Crucial for Effective Use of Your Database

One of the first things we do when starting to work with a new client at Super Size Your Sales is to help them to analyze their customer database to determine who their A, B and C clients are.

There are many criteria, filters and reports you can choose from but we find that a simple spend and frequency formula shows us what we need to know to install a successful Super Size Your Sales program. This easy formula is based on how much your customers spend with you and how often.

‘A’ Customers

Usually, business owners and senior managers know who their ‘A’ clients are. ‘A’ customers spend the most money and buy your product or use your service most frequently. They are very special and so get a lot of your company’s time and attention – visits, phone calls, emails and sometimes a regular lunch meeting, too! While ‘A’ customers generally only make up around 15- to 20-percent of your total customer database, they require (and deserve) specific treatment in the way we communicate with them.

‘B’ Customers

Now, your ‘B’ customers are always very interesting. When you drill down using the spend and frequency formula, you will most likely find that around 60-percent of your customers are ‘B’s.

These customers spend less than your ‘A’s, sometimes a lot less. ‘B’ customers may use you frequently but usually nowhere near as often as an ‘A’. Still, sometimes you just know that a ‘B’ should be doing a lot more business with you. The orders a ‘B’ places may reflect what they bought from you when they first came on board, which could be anywhere up to four years ago.

Since then some will have grown and with that growth comes new needs and new requirements. They would buy more from you but just don’t know enough about you and your company’s products or services, or how you can solve their problems.

Once you have identified your ‘B’ customers you can actively engage with them to re-ignite their business and put you top-of-mind again. ‘B’ customers are often where we see instant growth and new opportunities springing to life as we implement a Super Size Your Sales program.

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‘C’ Customers

And the remaining 20-percent of your database? These are usually made up of ‘C’ customers. What does a ‘C’ look like?

They could be someone who enquired a while back and never took it further. Maybe it’s a prospect you built a proposal for a few years ago but it went into a black hole. They could even be someone you used to do business with but for one reason or another, they drifted away. And sometimes ‘C’s can be an untouched new business opportunity just waiting for you to make the right approach.

Once you’ve identified who’s who in your customer database you can begin to build a focused customer care program and sales campaign just for them.

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