Why did the Guy next to You Pay Less for his Seat?If you’ve ever flown a major airline, you’ve probably been frustrated over the variations in the seat prices. How can the airlines sell basically the same seat on the same flight to a business traveler for $600 and a student for $200? Why should it matter if you stay over a Saturday night at your destination or if you fly there and back the same day?

One answer is marketing. Airline personnel spend a good deal of time and money figuring out who their customer is, how to market to him/her and what he/she will pay. They know whether the passenger is traveling for business or pleasure and they know who exactly is a frequent flier of theirs. What does this have to do with you if you are an owner of a small to mid-size business?

A lot! You should have as much similar information about your customers as possible. Does your database let you know if customers buy for business or leisure? Do you know if you are a preferred business for their needs or not? Have you ever figured out how much each customer spends at your store each year? When? And on what?

You should already know the easy stuff about your customers such as their birthday, size, color preference, family information and work information. If you are going to be more effective than competitors at attracting customers, you must know even more about them.

Turn your sales staff members into detectives and have them find out the key information about your customer base. Give them a way to record the data. Implement a strategy to use the information to improve your CRM and your personal marketing campaign. Armed with an arsenal of information on your individual clients, you should be able to customize the customer’s shopping experience at your store!