by Cindy Waxer. Today’s business marketers are under extreme pressure to identify top customers and make smarter business decisions in record time. However, pinpointing a business’s most valuable customers is harder than it sounds. For starters, there’s more than one way to determine a customer’s worth. According to Mac McIntosh, a B2B marketing consultant and speaker from North Kingstown, Rhode Island, there are three main measures of a top-notch customer: The amount of revenue a...

by Reed Richardson. For those companies that are open only a few months during the year, all the normal obstacles to achieving small business success can be multiplied several times over. Yet a common misconception is that seasonal small business owners have it easier, spending half the year simply relaxing rather than working hard on their ventures. “People think I make money all winter long and then just go golfing all summer, but that’s a big myth,” explains Davey Pitcher, whose...

What makes your small business valuable to your customers? by Max Berry. These may not be economic boom times, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still attract new customers to your small business. The trick is in knowing which customers to go after. Here are some tips for identifying—and attracting—the right customers for your small business. Socialize For Success If you want to attract the right customers, you must first be explicit about who you are. “Our personality is reflected in...

by Christopher Freeburn. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) remains a topic that is heavily analyzed and debated among business consultants and academics. In the 1990s CRM became a buzzword in business management, spawning a legion of CRM experts and software applications meant to automate the CRM process for companies. CRM specialists have defined the entire sales process as critical to maintaining customer loyalty and satisfaction. There is a wide variety of CRM software...