Top 6 – September 2012
Published September 4, 2012
How do you know you have a bad (unprofitable) customer (also known as a leech)?
Look for one of these known telltale signs:
- They make excessive demands for customer service.
- The have higher rates of returns and credit defaults.
- Most of their relevant wallet share goes to a competitor.
- They lack the purchasing power to make many purchases.
- They purchase a higher ratio of loss leaders.
- They request and receive deep discounts.
(Adapted from Denish Shah, V. Kumar, Yingge Qu, Sylia Chen, (2012). “Unprofitable Cross-Buying: Evidence from Consumer and Business Markets.” Journal of Marketing: Vol. 76, No. 3, pp. 78-95.)
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About The Author
Tim J. Smith, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Wiglaf Pricing, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Economics at DePaul University, and the author of Pricing Done Right (Wiley 2016) and Pricing Strategy (Cengage 2012). At Wiglaf Pricing, Tim leads client engagements. Smith’s popular business book, Pricing Done Right: The Pricing Framework Proven Successful by the World’s Most Profitable Companies, was noted by Dennis Stone, CEO of Overhead Door Corp, as "Essential reading… While many books cover the concepts of pricing, Pricing Done Right goes the additional step of applying the concepts in the real world." Tim’s textbook, Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, & Establishing Price Structures, has been described by independent reviewers as “the most comprehensive pricing strategy book” on the market. As well as serving as the Academic Advisor to the Professional Pricing Society’s Certified Pricing Professional program, Tim is a member of the American Marketing Association and American Physical Society. He holds a BS in Physics and Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, a BA in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University, a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago, and an MBA with high honors in Strategy and Marketing from the University of Chicago GSB.