By Gordon

To help get us both back on track, I wanted to share my thoughts on a Client Census and what it might look like.

Our firm’s analyzes 100 clients dating back to the earliest history of the firm and looks something like the illustration below, which is done in Excell. Your 1st year billing and billing information is in your accounting package – we use QuickBooks and can readily get the information. If you are really ambitious, include annual purchasing history over the past five years and see what kind of changes are taking place.

Click to enlarge our sample client census

Separate in to top 20% of sales volume and compare to the average. This analysis help you identify your target market on a demographic and geographic basis. With a five year sales history, you can identify the low hanging fruit that used to spend $300,000 with you but is now only doing $100,000 – can you recapture this.

What segments or markets can contribute to your new reality in 2011? Where will you find some low hanging fruit?

Now – you can better define your target market just by looking at your top 20% of customers. In addition, you can find opportunities by identifying customers with declining sales, customers that are not using or purchasing across your product or service offering. Do you see any low hanging fruit? Do you see opportunities that if you start now could be fruit in the second half of 2011?

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About the Author

Gordon O'Neill is the founder and CEO of O'Neill Communications and has over 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations, Gordon is invested in each client’s success. He is talented in creating strong brand identities and setting the strategic direction for businesses and associations in a wide range of industries, including finance, government, tourism, manufacturing, professional service firms, technology, and consumer goods.

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