A score in this range indicates that there is at least a recognition for the importance of and understanding of key financial measures. It generally says they are either not in place or they are beginning to be put in place but not yet fully implemented.

In this regard, we would suggest starting with a few areas as a basis for understanding and action. Start with a basic profitability analysis of your customer base to know which customers and segments are the most profitable. Then overlay this analysis with an analysis of which customers you consider to be loyal. A visual example of this type of analysis can be found in our discussion on Profitability.

The final component is to do an assessment on understanding the Promises your top customers want you to make and understand the financial implications of not keeping these promises. The other area is to look at the functions in place that are there to support the promises the customers don't really care about and finding ways to eliminate these.

A score in the bottom range almost always indicates that very little has been done in both the understanding of the importance of tracking the financial measures of your customers and processes and in understanding the customer audience.

It is critical to understand at least the basic financial measures and what they could mean to the organization. We would start with a basic Profitability Analysis, as described above, and gain a high level understanding of where your best customers contribute to your bottom line. We would also strongly recommend looking at the scorecard that may currently be in place and see ways to incorporate some of this key customer information in those measurements.

Finally, we would strongly suggest doing a Promise Assessment to understand at least the key Promises your customers are looking for you to keep. You can start with one or two of these critical processes and begin to track how well they can start to improve your customer loyalty. The final component would be to define what is a Loyal, Satisfied and Dissatisfied Customer looks like as part of the analysis.