November 26, 2019B2B Marketing, Customers, Cost of Acquisition
By Marilyn Heywood Paige
While you may look at the cost of customer acquisition as the money you spent to acquire new business, there is more to it than money spent. Read on to discover the true cost of customer acquisition.
First, you must determine if you are acquiring customers or the right customers? As B2B marketers, we focus on getting more leads, not just from any customer but from your ideal customers. Your best customers purchase more frequently. They are easy to work with, and they tell other people good things about your company. Everyone wants 100,000 more of their ideal customers. However, many companies only think about getting more customers--any customers. The result is they attract too many of the wrong kind of clients who end up costing them more than just dollars.
While there is always a cost to acquiring a new business, you pay a bigger price for working with customers who are a poor fit for your business. Below, we explain three signs that you have too many of the wrong customers and how these problematic buyers are hurting your business.
When a customer demands so much extra attention that you have to alter your usual business processes, it’s a sure sign that they are not the right fit. The time and effort it takes to adapt your customary processes to meet this customer’s needs can impact service to good customers, and more importantly, it can lower employee efficiency overall.
While some customers make you happy you came to work, the wrong customers make you dread your workday. Every time you have to interact with them, you put it off as long as possible and feel drained, frustrated, or stressed after the encounter.
Think about how that stress affects the rest of your workday. How much of your time and energy are eaten up by this customer? Ask yourself if you had that time and energy back, how could you channel it toward providing better service to your ideal customers?
When you have particularly toxic customers, it takes the biggest toll on your employees. Many employees will simply keep trudging on in the face of the toxicity because, well, it’s their job. However, their demeanor and attitude will change and it will affect everyone around them. When a customer affects your company culture and morale, it’s a sure sign they are the wrong fit for your company.
While you probably can’t fire all of your bad customers right away, you can alter your customer acquisition cost formula by calculating the cost of these folks on your business processes and culture. Once you tally the true cost, you can decide which ones can cut loose first. And in the meantime, read How to Attract Your Ideal Client to Your Business to discover how to adopt a strategy to attract more of your ideal customers.
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