Andy in the news – a video case study.

In our post-crisis, unstable economy, we have learned first to survive.

We have cut expenses, chosen needs over wants and take few chances.

What is more important than focusing on your existing customers in a cash-and confidence-starved world? Nothing.

Nothing more important than focusing on your customer says Andy Birol.

Your profitable, paying clients are your quickest path to achieving Profitable Top Line Growth. They are already paying you and trust you to deliver.

Would you rather keep your customers or invest risky money to poach prospects from your competitors? The answer is clear, especially if your customers are at-risk being poached in return. Your loyal buyers need your focus because they already respect your value and provide you with cash.But have they changed along with the world in general?

Unless your current customers are going bankrupt, focus on them by learning know if and how they are:

• Staying profitable?
• Behaving differently?
• Pursuing new goals?

Chances are your customers have changed and will not buy just like they did. What new behaviors, needs and wants do they have? Now, who is your new real buyer? How has their approval process changed? What are their new expectations? Even before the economy improves and confidence grows, why would your customers keep buying as they did?

Instead, they are probably looking for new products, services, expertise, conditions and warranties when spending to meet their new goals. Knowing how they have changed is your first step to Profitable Top Line Growth, because if you do, you can change what you sell to profitably keep, grow or win-back your customers.

Refocusing on customers means changing your previous sales, relationships, margins and practices, often by reinvesting and retooling what you have been doing for years, just when cash is tight. Try to see your buyers’ changing behavior as an opportunity to meet their new needs and you will profit with them. But treat your historic relationship as a blueprint for a future you feel entitled to, and you will likely fail.

This blog will regularly bring you tools, techniques, resources and real-world examples on how you can leverage your customers first.