Targeting and Motivating High-Potential to Become Best Customers ...

In order to target High Potential Customers (customers who have the greatest potential to increase their relationship with the company), they must first be identified. Identifying customers who most resemble Best Customers along key attributes (business type, product purchase, frequency patterns, cross-purchase behavior) permits the company to focus resources (people, time and dollars) against those customers with the greatest potential to drive growth.

Customers can be categorized using a range of approaches, based on available data and critical time-to-market requirements. The end result, no matter what the approach, is to enable "pinpoint marketing," where the company can, in effect, overspend on specific customers based on the their potential. This focused allocation of marketing budget (often in terms of higher quality, multichannel communications, multistage campaigns, etc.) can generate higher spending by these customers thereby increasing profitability, customer base stability and long-term growth.

Leveraging customer data and tailoring the approach to the business need and timing allows clients to "get points on the board" quickly. The success of this approach can dramatically increase buy-in across the organization while facilitating a shift to true data-driven marketing.