August 20, 2010

WHO to SERVE? Your Choice

I read an interesting blog article recently by Seth Godin titled Choosing Your Customers. Seth’s view which I agree with is that you really have a choice who to do business with. The marketer has an array of tools to select the Fans she wants: the Value provided, price and distribution to name a few.

I would like to add another dimension to the discussion, however, as I don’t think Seth goes far enough. Customer selection is much more than a marketing task. It is a fundamental element of an organization’s strategy. And the selection decision needs to be integrated with the overall direction the company intends to take.

Let me explain. The Strategy Creation Process I have talked extensively about involves answering three questions. For the complete discussion check out the blog Articles referenced below. For my purposes here I will talk about only the first two questions.
1. HOW BIG do you want to be? Start with your overall growth goals. Do you want to grow top line revenue by 10% over the next 12 months or 25%? It makes a difference. A 25% growth target is more aggressive and more risky and will require a different strategy than a 10% growth goal.

2. WHO do you want to SERVE? This is the customer selection decision. And it needs to b made within the context of the HOW BIG question. This is where Seth’s Article in my view oversimplified the issue. The customer choice needs to be made within the context of HOW BIG. It can’t be made on its own using micro-marketing tools. A 25% growth goal requires a customer group that has the latent potential to deliver that type of growth. Selecting a group of customers based on any other criteria will result in missed financial targets.

Bottom Line: Choose a group of customers that has the inherent capability to satisfy your growth goals, THEN use marketing tools to attract and keep them.

Cheers, Roy

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Related Blogs
HOW BIG do you want to be?
WHO do you want to SERVE
HOW will you compete and WIN?
The Strategic Game Plan

Marketing | Strategy | Permalink
Posted 8.20.10 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment