Sometimes You Must Lose to Win

Not all customers are equal … that goes without saying for most businesses. A winning business understands that to win the best customers, you must be willing to lose a customer at times. And you must pick your spots to do special things for customers.

Costco wins customers by losing customers. Its membership model shuns consumers not willing to pay the annual membership fee. It's broad yet shallow merchandise mix loses customers to desiring more choices. Costco makes these explicit choices because it believes its customers will make these sacrifices in order to gain lower prices.

More details … Customer Orientation: How Not to Become a Loser

American Apparel wins customers by losing customers. Its provocative advertising and its strong stance on political issues it stands to offend some consumers. American Apparel sacrifices appealing to everybody to the only appeal to select customers who appreciate the brand’s unique personality.

Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.