Home topics small-business-resources Small Business Small Business Why it’s OK to play favourites with your clients Ceinwen McNeil November 27, 2018 Growth can mean different things to different organisations. Growth can be a mindset, of the founders, investors, employees and stakeholders. A vision for growth can be a powerful motivator. However, there comes a point where growth needs to be translated into tangibles. This can mean be measured through a range of metrics, for example: ● Revenue growth; ● Profitability; and/or ● Market share. But how does this occur? It can be through winning new business, acquisition or through strengthening existing relationships and systematically targeting higher value clients. A better type of client if you like. Profitable and sustainable business growth can from all three sources. However, to effectively grow the following three questions need to be considered: 1. What is our desired future state? Three years from now we want to be… 2. Who are the clients we want to work with, who value our expertise and are prepared to pay for the value created?; and 3. What does our organization need to do to achieve this? When we consider the firm through this framework, we use an evidenced based methodology to determine the current state of the organization and build the firm’s Client Hierarcy This segments the clients into the following categories: 1. Premium clients represent the highest value, either financially or reputationally and should be prioritized by the business; 2. Growth clients should be nurtured to increase