Back to School: What Grade Does Your Customer Database Get?

Dear Dr. pROfIt: How do I tell if my customer file is strong? Our CEO keeps saying we have a strong brand with a great customer file. I’m just not certain our customer file is all that strong.

Dr. pROfIt: There are very simple methods for evaluating file strength. Maybe the easiest is to grade your customers. For example, any customer who spent more than $1,000 last year earns an “A”; any customer who spent between $500 and $999 last year earns a “B”; someone who spent between $250 and $499 with your brand last year gets a “C”; customers who spent between $100 and $249 last year earn a grade of “D”; and customers who spent between $1 and $99 last year are given “F's.”