Marketing Strategy for Small- to Medium-Sized Manufacturers

Summary

This chapter discussed the Customer component of C-P-M™ and ­illustrated the value of first looking into the firm’s customer base from a strategic point of view before pursuing a growth strategy. Customer analysis can reveal circumstances that could hinder an SMM’s prospects for successful long-term growth—such as too much business concentrated in too few customers—and can identify the MVCs around which a company should create special programs and services to keep their business. It presented several steps showing how to identify winners and losers because not all customers are equally valuable or important to the SMM, how to prioritize customers and manage them more effectively and efficiently using account management strategies, and ...