there are no average customers

Imagine that you have two customers to whom you are selling beef. One is a greasy-spoon hamburger joint and the other is an upscale French bistro that offers a pricey version of steak tartare as one of its gourmet entrees. In figuring out the terms of offer for each restaurant, would you create a profile of an “average customer” based on these two data points and sell a single variation of medium-grade beef at a mid-range price to both the burger joint and the classy bistro? Of course not – you know perfectly well that approach would please nobody and result in two lost sales. Yet that is exactly what sellers in many industries are doing every day – marketing to some notional “average” customer that in reality does not exist. It may seem less absurd when the average is based on thousands or tens of thousands of customers as opposed to two – but it is no less flawed as a marketing approach. Every single customer has a unique set of needs, preferences and priorities. It is your job as a seller to tailor your offers as close as possible to each unique demand curve. Fortunately, technology and science make that daunting challenge possible.   Continue reading →