I was eating Tony’s Chocolonely ‘Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie’ chocolate today. It’s nice. And I’m a fan of Tony’s Chocolonely and their open chain approach. They want to change the way chocolate is made globally, ending exploitation in cocoa. So they willingly share positive supply chain secrets with other cocoa users, so they can copy. Nice!
And whilst I’m not as globally significant as Tony, I do like sharing useful things with nice people. So, here’s something that’s been useful for me and people I try to help for years when it comes to strategy. Here goes:
You only have 5 types of customer:
- Core Customer. They only use you. And in a fixed pattern.
- Development Account. They normally use you. But they are sometimes unfaithful.
- One-off Customer. They used you once.
- They know about you, but have never used you.
- They don’t know about you, but should.
There’s no sixth category. When you’re pondering how to grow your business, develop 5 separate strategies that move 5 to 4, 4 to 3, 3 to 2, 2 to 1 and something designed to keep a 1 at 1. Loyalty schemes can move 2 to 1. One-off incentivised offers move 4 to 3. Education about the power of sole supply move 3 to 2 and maybe 2 to 1. Friendly, laid back loveliness (a brand build) can move 5 to 4. And so on.
Look, I know it’s not as yummy as chocolate. But with the right attitude and systems, it’s a fab way of looking after different types of customer with care and common sense. It moves us from the broadness of (say), ‘what’s the best way to sell’ to the precision of ‘how do I move a 3 to a 2’ etc.
Good luck.