Like most business owners, you probably focus a lot on how to be chosen by customers – good. There’s almost nothing more important than that – except (sometimes) being the one who does the choosing. Here’s why…
Choosing Your Customers.
Being chosen is a function of very basic marketing (although few are good at it) but choosing…that’s much more difficult – not just strategically, but emotionally and even financially initially.
But it’s important, because not all customers are created equal.
Different segments have different characteristics (budgets, attitudes, interests, selling points, trends, etc). It all has a profound impact on the direction you go – the money you’ll make, products you supply, the strategies you’ll be forced to employ and ultimately, your impact and contribution (if any).
And besides all that, some customers stink. Really.
They negotiate your prices down to nothing, they complain and generate negative word of mouth, they’re excessively picky and are too much work to maintain – and they’re extremely hard to satisfy. In the short term, they’re financially profitable, but in the end they’re not worth it.
You see, it pays to ask yourself
- Who do i want to serve?
- Who do i want in my network?
- Who can i really satisfy?
- Who is most profitable to me?
- Who do i really care about?
And questions like that.
I think you’ll find that, unless you’re a church (maybe), your answer to these questions…is NEVER “Anybody, Everybody”.
It takes guts to decide on this and actually follow through. It takes clarity in your vision and strategy. I’m just learning how myself.
Go ahead, get fussy.
Max Soutter
Max Soutter 
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