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Why Not Treat All Your Customers as Equal

We have limited resources that we need to allocate such that we get the best possible returns from them. Customer research shows that all customers are not equal. They differ in many respects such as income, shopping frequency, brand loyalty, purchase amount, etc.

One of the reasons why customer data is so valuable is that it segregates customers into groups based on similar attributes. This allows you to conduct your marketing activities in a much more targeted manner. You can tweak your emails and letters to supply your customers with information that will be of maximum value to them and eschew stuff that is irrelevant to them. Doing this not only saves you time and money but also assures you better results from your marketing efforts.

Customer-segmented marketing is a keenly practiced concept these days. High-end and premium customers are prized for their shopping spends and frequency of purchase. As a business, you want maximum ROI from your marketing spend and targeted marketing allows you to do so. You can develop a core customer base that you can bank on to help you with achieving minimum topline targets. Unequal focus on customers also throws up a lot of data that is useful in customer acquisition. You can even reposition your brand based on the information. Along with marketing, it’s the activities of the sales people and customer support that can make or mar your efforts to target the most lucrative customer segments.

Your staff will require some education on how to treat the high-end customer once he has been identified. You may also need to deploy specially trained staff or your best talents to interact with your premium customers. Know that customers who are prepared to shell out big bucks are usually the savviest ones. So, be prepared to answer their queries and to assuage any doubts that they may have. Yours may not be the only business where they are getting special treatment. Listen to the voice of the privileged customer. There may be ideas in it for you.

It is important to understand that treating customers differently does not imply a negative discrimination; the idea here is not about being partial to one customer at the cost of another, doing such a thing is a surefire way to drive a lot of customers to your competitors. Instead, you need to be able to communicate with your customers in such a manner so as to inspire a feeling of empathy within him. You have to be respectful, reliable, and engaging with all of them.