Selective Marketing: When Is It Time to Sack Your Customers?

Not every company welcomes all customers, regardless of spending power, social status, religion, race and political conviction. Inclusiveness is a cosy notion, but savvy marketers know that some customers are more equal than others. Those who are unprofitable or who are pains in the neck may need to be cast off. And there's a risk in customers who do not fit with a product's target market causing irreversible brand damage. According to marketing experts at the Australian School of Business, customer retention strategies essentially involve developing long-term, cost-effective links "for the mutual benefit of both parties". So exactly when is it time to say "goodbye"?