Improving Company Profitability in 5 Steps – Getting Customers

Nov 01, 2018 Improving Company Profitability in 5 Steps – Getting Customers

Step 2 – Getting More Customers

Types of Customers

Do you need more customers?  While the answer is usually yes, the key question is what kinds of customers do you want.  And key to answering that question is figuring out what kinds of customers are the most profitable or desirable.  What are their characteristics?  How do I get more of these?  Specifically identifying what kind of customers or orders you need is important.  Very often in my work with clients, I figure out that many customers are unprofitable or marginally profitable.  Another group is profitable and the best customers are very profitable.  It usually has to do with a combination of the cost of the product sold or of delivering the service, the pricing, the volumes, the discounts and the amount of time it takes to sell or service (i.e. hand holding).

Marketing Plan

If you can answer the above questions, the next step is to turn that information into a Marketing Plan.  A Marketing Plan is where you identify what specific actions you are going to take to get more customers.  As a consultant, I usually prepare a marketing plan in three steps.  The first is to identify the events that trigger a prospective customer to need or consider a product or service.  The second step is to identify where a potential customer will reach out for information or recommendations about the item they are considering (e.g. internet search, recommenders such a doctor, relative or celebrity, social media, friends, etc.).  The third step is to identify how to provide the information needed and to influence the recommenders.  The actions need to be put into priority order (potential impact, cost, ease, timeframes for effectiveness, etc.) and then elaborated into detailed actions and marketing channels to be used, the sequencing, the people/resources needed and their assigned responsibilities.  Finally you need to identify the metrics of success for each action so you can tell if that action is working.

Once you have identified the best type(s) of customer you are looking for and have established a solid marketing plan, you well be ready to progress to the next step.  In the next post I will be discussing how to keep customers.

Free Profitability Seminar

I am giving a free seminar on how to improve profitability at the Providence Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday 11/13.  I will be covering the topics covered in this series of posts.  You can register at this link https://apollogr.com/event-registration-profitability/

Bryan B Mason

Apollo Consulting Group, Newport, RI