本文章介绍了为什么要为你的产品和服务进行客户分组，瞄准一个或多个客户群如何可以帮助你发展业务并保持盈利？

文章会为你提供了一个循序渐进的过程：

•如何找到最有价值的现有客户

•如何对现有客户进行描述

•如何对客户进行分组（细分）

•如何为你的业务选择最佳团队

•如何编写目标列表

什么是细分？

当一个小企业他们只有少数客户时，那么这个企业往往会以不同的方式来对待每一位客户，来提供高水平的个性化服务。但是，随着业务的发展和客户数量的增加，在提供如此高度个性化的服务的同时盈利就变得十分困难。

将客户分组或细分是一种在为企业盈利的同时继续为客户提供高水平价值和服务的方式。这是一种“大规模个性化”的形式，基于了解他们想要什么、如何购买，以及你认为哪些客户“对你的业务有利”，来帮助企业管理大量客户。

例如，汽车制造商会根据车辆的使用情况确定汽车和小型货车市场中的以下客户群体（细分市场）：

当一家企业知道哪些现有客户是盈利的——这是衡量客户是否“对企业有利”的常用标准——它就可以确定这些客户的特征（称为“特征分析”），并着手寻找和吸引更多像他们这样的客户。

为什么它很重要？ 

市场上每一个客户都不一样，俗话说，“如果你想要取悦所有人，你一个人都取悦不了”。因此，尝试对具有相似特征的客户进行细分是有意义的。这能帮助你完善和定制你的产品和服务，以便更接近地满足这些细分市场的特定要求，以及与他们的任何沟通。

以这种方式细分和定位客户可以帮助你的企业：

•随着业务的发展，满足更多客户的需求。同时向潜在客户表明，你有适合他们需求的产品或服务，可以定制以满足对他们特别重要的任何方面

•随着业务范围接纳更多客户，保持或增加利润

•通过为客户提供定制产品和服务来留住客户

•通过细分你能知道目标客户正在使用的渠道（在线杂志等），以此来传达与他们相关的信息，从而集中营销

•通过关注规模太小而无法盈利的顾客的特殊需要，避免来自大公司的竞争。

如何细分和扩大客户

以下是对客户进行分组并决定目标客户群的五个步骤：

步骤1-确定哪些客户是盈利的

步骤2-描述你的客户

步骤3-定义客户群

步骤4-确定你要瞄准的客户群

步骤5-编制潜在客户的目标列表

步骤1-确定哪些客户是盈利的

利用经验对客户进行了解是必要的，这样你就能确定哪些客户是最有利可图的。

第2步-描述你的客户

确定关键客户的特点：

•他们如何使用或消费你的产品和服务？

•他们多久购买一次你的产品和服务？

•他们是否在寻找你的产品或服务所带来的特定好处？

•他们的生活方式是否使你的产品或服务具有吸引力？

•这些产品或服务是他们重要组成部分吗？是生活还是工作？

弄清楚这些不是一件容易的事。但是，如果你能看到是什么让这群客户有所区别，你就可以很好地发展你的业务，并在这个过程中获得可观的利润。

如果你不知道从哪里开始，了解谁购买，他们为什么购买你的产品或服务，以及他们为什么从你那里购买，下面这些内容可能会有所帮助。

谁买？

你可能是为了个人需求而向消费者销售，也可能是为了商业需求而向组织销售。你可以直接向他们销售，也可以通过分销商、批发商、零售商或代理商进行间接销售。

•面向消费者——只要你对他们的购买活动有足够的了解，从而建立一个特定消费者群体行为的集体档案，你就可以识别和了解他们。

•面向组织——会有多人参与采购决策。组织越大，参与的人就越多。研究表明，影响决策的人超过五人，就会出现很难有超过2人得到供应商认可的局面。相关人员在“决策单元”或DMU中往往扮演不同的角色。

他们为什么要买？

•这只需询问客户为什么购买。试着了解他们是如何使用它的，以及他们想要什么好处（而不是功能）。

•列出产品或服务包的所有主要特征（如价格、质量、包装、客户服务、可靠性、保证等），并考虑每一个特征对购买决策的重要性。按重要性降序排列这些项目。根据这些特征对你的产品进行排名，可以让你发现差距，从而找到改进的机会。

他们为什么向你购买？

现实表明，他们从你那里购买是因为与其他供应商相比，你能很好地交付客户最看重的东西。

这些可能不是你在产品或服务中精心设计的，而是你认为的附加福利。所以，要记住的是，当客户从你那里购买产品或服务时，他们也在购买与你的关系。

尽管你可能知道你的客户为什么要从你那里购买，但去联系一些关键客户征求他们的反馈是有意义的。这可能会给你更多的信息（甚至提供一个销售更多的机会），还能让你对自己的分析充满信心。

这有助于了解你的竞争对手提供了什么，这样你就可以确定客户在哪里看到你的优势。

第3步-定义你的细分市场

在介绍了你的客户之后，你现在可以确定一个或多个细分市场。

保险经纪人确定的细分市场的一个例子可能是“35岁以上的女性司机，她们在过去三年内没有索赔，并且住在当地”。如果保险经纪人希望在为低风险司机提供低成本保险方面建立当地声誉，这种类型的细分将特别合适。

第4步-决定你要瞄准的细分市场

单独为你确定的所有客户群体提供服务是不大可能的。选择你将集中资源的一个或两个组。某个细分市场能否发挥作用，需要来判别一下：

•你应该能够通过相同的营销组合来满足这一客户群体的需求。想要了解更多信息，请参阅实用指南实现有效的营销组合

•这个群体应该是独一无二的。它应该对你提供的营销组合做出某些特别的反应。

•这个客户群应该用与购买决策相关的明确术语来表达（例如，对于保险经纪人来说，“35岁以上没有最近索赔的女司机”有用，而“左撇子女司机”则不然）

•这个客户群应该是可识别的。也就是说，你可以找到这一群体的数据（例如，确定“左撇子女司机”的名单是不切实际的）

•这个团队必须足够大，才能让你盈利，并支付营销传播等固定成本。

任何不符合所有这些标准的细分市场都应被PASS。因为它不会对你的产品或服务以及特殊促销活动或材料有任何优化。

这里的每一个环节都应该根据你的目标进行进一步的评估。现在列出你的商业目标，并根据这个目标对每个细分市场进行评分。最简单的评分系统是1-3，其中3最具吸引力。在下面的例子中，最符合业务目标的细分市场是B。

步骤5-编制目标细分市场中潜在客户的目标列表

确定了你要瞄准的一两个客户群体后，你就需要找到新的潜在客户。

你可以：

•通过商业网络和研究建立自己的潜在客户列表

•根据你的细分标准，在社交网络/广告平台上创建匿名池

•或从商业渠道购买这个列表

创建自己的列表会很耗时，但作为成长计划的一部分，你可以学会如何使用和开发它。有很多线上和线下的资源可以帮助你入门：

•搜索引擎

•在线目录

•社交媒体兴趣小组

•展览和贸易展

•行业协会

随着数据质量的提高，你的列表变得更加准确。同时，你购买的列表可能会很昂贵，而且你可以使用这些信息的次数可能会受到限制，因此对购买数据和列表的使用要非常谨慎。

我们要使用最终客户的“反馈成本”而不是最初的“触达成本”来考虑成本。

行动

你需要决定如何开始与你所建立的客户群联系，以及使用什么流程来完成订单。你需要考虑信息、媒介和演绎等。

有关策划营销传播的更多信息，请参阅《实现有效促销组合实用指南》

What is segmentation?

A small business with just a few customers tends to treat every customer differently, providing a high level of personal and personalised service. However, as the business grows and acquires more customers, it becomes difficult to make a profit at the same time as providing such a highly personalised service. 

Grouping customers, or segmentation, is a way to continue to provide high levels of value and service to customers while making a profit for the business. If you like, it is a form of ‘mass personalisation’ that helps a business to manage large numbers of customers. It is based on understanding both what they want and how they buy, as well as which customers you would regard as ‘good for your business’. 

For example, a car manufacturer might identify the following groups of customers (segments) in the car and small van market based on the usage of the vehicle:

When a business knows which existing customers are profitable – the usual measure of whether customers are ‘good for the business’ – it can establish what characterises those customers have (called ‘profiling’) and set out to find and attract more customers like them.

Why is segmentation important? 

All customers in the market are not the same and, as the saying goes, ‘if you try to please everyone you’ll end up pleasing no one’. So, it makes sense to try to segment customers with characteristics that are similar. This will enable you to refine and tailor your products and services to meet the particular requirements of these segments more closely, and so too any communication you have with them.

Segmenting and targeting customers in this way can help your business to: 

• Meet the needs of larger numbers of customers as the business grows. Such an understanding shows these prospective customers that you have a product or service which suits their needs and can be tailored to meet any aspects particularly important to them 

• Maintain or increase profits as the business takes on more customers 

• Retain customers by providing products and services specifically for them 

• Focus marketing communications by communicating messages relevant to your target customers through channels (online magazines etc.) that you know they are using 

• Avoid competition from larger companies by focusing on specialist needs that are too small for those companies to serve profitably.

How to segment and grow your customers 

Here are five steps for grouping customers and deciding which group you are going to target: 

Step 1 - Establish which customers are profitable 

Step 2 - Profile your customers 

Step 3 - Define customer groups 

Step 4 - Decide which customer group you will target 

Step 5 - Compile a target list of prospective customers.

Step 1 - Establish which customers are profitable 

It pays to use your own experience and knowledge of customers, starting with identifying which are the most profitable.

Step 2 - Profile your customers 

Then you should identify what it is that characterises your key customers. 

• How they use or consume your products and services? 

• How often they buy your products and services? 

• Are they looking for a particular benefit that your product or service delivers? 

• Does their lifestyle make your products or services appealing? 

• Is it where they are based, live or work? 

Nobody said this would be easy. But, if you can see what it is that makes this group of customers different, you are well on the way to growing your business and making a healthy profit in the process. 

If you don’t know where to start, it may help to understand who buys, why they buy your type of product or service, and why they buy from you.

Who buys? 

You may be selling to the consumer, or individuals for personal needs, or to organisations for business needs. You may be selling directly to them or indirectly through distributors, wholesalers, retailers or agents. 

• Consumers – It’s not vital that you can identify and understand them all personally, so long as you know enough about their purchasing activities to create a collective profile of how a specific group of consumers behaves. 

• Organisations – Several people are likely to be involved in the purchase decision. The larger the organisation, the more people will be involved. Research has shown that often many more than five people influence the decision, yet rarely are more than two recognised by the supplier. People involved tend to have different roles in the ‘decision making unit’ or DMU.

Why do they buy? 

There are two ways you can. Your sales people should already know. 

• Simply ask your customers why they buy. Try to find out how they use it and what benefits (not features) they are looking for. 

• List all the main characteristics of your product or service package (eg price, quality, packaging, customer service, reliability, guarantees etc) and consider how important each is to the buying decision. Put these items in descending order of importance. Ranking your offering against these characteristics should enable you to identify the gaps, and therefore the opportunities for improvement. 

Why do they buy from you? 

Common sense says that they buy from you because, in relation to other suppliers, you deliver well on the things your customers value most. 

Interestingly, these may not be what you have carefully designed into the basic product or service but what you would regard as fringe benefits. It is also worth remembering that, when customers buy a product or service from you, they are also buying into a relationship with you. 

Even though you think you know why customers are buying from you, it pays to contact a few key customers for their feedback. This may give you more information (or even provide an opportunity to sell more). At the least, it may give you confidence in your analysis. 

It helps to know just what your competitors are offering so that you can identify where customers see an advantage in buying from you.

Step 3 - Define your segments 

Having profiled your customers, you are now in a position to identify one or more segments. It pays to list a number of possible segments for your business. 

An example of a segment identified by an insurance broker might be ‘female drivers over 35 who have not claimed in last three years and who live within the county’. This type of segmentation would be particularly appropriate if the broker wished to build a local reputation for providing low cost insurance to low risk drivers.

Step 4 - Decide which segment you will target 

It is unlikely that you will be able to individually serve all the customer segments you identify. Select the one or two groups that you are going to focus your resources on. For a segment to be useful it needs to pass a number of tests. 

• You should be able to satisfy their needs with the same marketing mix. For more take a look atthe Practical Guide Achieving an effective marketing mix. 

• This group should be unique. It should react specifically to the marketing mix you’re offering. 

• It should be expressed in clear terms that are relevant to purchasing decision (e.g. for an insurance broker ‘female drivers over 35 without a recent claim’ is useful while ‘left handed female drivers’ is not). 

• It should be identifiable. That is, you can find data on this group (e.g. it would not be practical to identify a list of ‘left handed female drivers’). 

• The group must be large enough for you to make a profit and cover fixed costs like marketing communications. 

Any segment that does not meet all these criteria should be rejected. It won’t warrant the refinements to your product or service and special promotional activity or material. 

All the segments that do pass the test should then be subjected to further evaluation in relation to your objectives. Now list your business objectives and score each segment against them. The simplest scoring system is 1-3 where 3 is the most attractive. In the example below, the segment that best meets the business’ objectives is B.

Step 5 - Compile a target list of prospective customers in your target segment 

Having identified which one or two customer segments you are going to target, you now have to find your new prospects. You can either: 

• build your own list of prospective customers through business networking and research 

• create an anonymous pool on a social network/advertising platform based on your segment criteria, or 

• buy a list from commercial sources 

The segment profiles you have generated above will help you define the specific characteristics to be used to define the list. Using the insurance broker example, you could identify females over 35 who live in a certain postcode area and have a specific salary range. 

Creating your own list may be time-consuming but you then have control over how you use and develop it as part of your plan for growth. There are a range of resources both online and offline that can help get you started: 

• Search engines 

• Online directories 

• Social media interest groups 

• Exhibitions and trade shows 

• Trade associations 

Lists you buy are becoming more accurate as the quality of data improves. Even so, buying a list can be expensive and you may be limited in the number of times you can use the information, or worse still, you might find yourself on the wrong end of a GDPR complaint. Be very wary of buying data and lists. 

Think about the cost using the final ‘cost per response’ rather than the initial ‘cost per contact’.