Can You Research Only Your Best Customers?

Customer research often focuses on what all customers think. It's designed to get a glimpse of what the general customer consensus is, and how you can use that information to improve your company.

But many experts have argued that not all customers are created equal. A customer that spends a great deal at your store regularly on full priced items is more valuable than a customer that only comes on days you have clearance sales and solely buys a few clearance items. Both of these people represent regular, recurring customers, yet one customer is extremely valuable, while the other may actually represent a loss to your company.

Generally, research is completed on all customers, finding out what every customer wants in order to continue to provide good business. But you don't want all of your customers – you want all of your profitable customers, ideally all of your most profitable customers. You may want to consider weighing the value of your responses based on this information. If you can link the value of the customers to their responses, you can ensure that the data you collect is providing you with information that will help you develop a better bond with your most profitable customers, rather than caving to what the least valuable customers need.

It's possible that your valuable customers may have a different opinion about what they need from your business than the less valuable customers. When that's the case, it may be advantageous to tailor towards the valuable customers, because you want to encourage more of their type of business. Perhaps more importantly, it is likely to help you maintain that business.

Those are your most valuable customers and the ones whose satisfaction matters most. Targeting them specifically and meeting their needs will improve your profitable customer retention. It's certainly not a perfect strategy.

For one thing, just because a customer isn't as valuable as another doesn't mean that they're not valuable, and if you lose those less valuable customers your company may experience repercussions. Similarly, maintaining your best customers may be a worthwhile business strategy, but it certainly isn't the only way to generate more business and not necessarily going to attract new great customers. Still, researching your best customers is a strategy you may want to implement.

If you can find an effective way to measure who your best customers truly are, researching their needs can help your company. Related Articles: Customer Satisfaction Survey Market Research Survey Can You Research Only Your Worst Customers?