All Customers Are Not Equal. Prioritize.

So many small business owners treat all customers the same, meaning they produce on a “first in, first out” basis, purely based on the date of the order. In moments of sales spikes, which may occur more frequently and harshly because of downsizing, a small rush of new orders could cause a backlog or cause pent-up demand to be suddenly released as a result of a sale. It may result in some customers waiting a lot longer than others as the order priority is date-oriented and the later ones must wait their turn. This is very typical. Priority by date of order.

But what about the relative importance of each customer in line? Should you push an order to the front of the line for an individual who spent quite a bit of money and bought deeply into your line? Of course. Should you favor the client who can potentially reorder? Of course. How about the wholesale order from a powerful distributor, or a store in a prime location with a great customer base? Should you favor them and ship their orders first? Absolutely. How about more profitable sales? Yup, bump those orders forward… and so on.

There are a thousand reasons why any one customer should be prioritized over another; not every customer can–or should–get immediate service and order fulfillment. Someone has to wait. Yet, for ease of operations, no one prioritizes the list, forgoing the task of making affirmative, proactive decisions about who should be handled first, who second and for what reasons when there is a backlog of orders.

The operations department wins on this one, big time, with many small business owners and managers preferring to follow the order dates for ease of decision-making as opposed to considering other factors and setting priorities. Decision-making requires effort, consideration, guidelines and evaluation, and a system to handle this process. That is far more complicated and difficult and thus is frequently avoided, especially if a “no-brainer” system can be utilized and is considered adequate, like following a dated order sequence.

But let’s be real… of course, all clients are not the same and, of course, you tend to bump good opportunities and more important deals forward. We all do it. The problem is, you do it on an “as needed” basis rather than recognizing that this is a normal part of the process and one that ought to be systemized so every customer is serviced in the best order for the business. That is a better plan.

Whatever your priorities may be, as determined by many different factors, create the system that will support appropriate and effective prioritization every day, not just when you recognize a unique situation. Every day’s production and delivery should be evaluated for its importance to the company, and prioritized for specific objectives. This works best. Figure out how to accomplish this, design the system that is required and implement it. Define who your best customers are. Keep your best customers satisfied. Work smart.