Insanely Profitable Customers

Some customers may think you are insane. But not the right customer.

A few years ago, I moved from the home I had been in for almost 20 years… and it had a basement that stored a lot of the accumulated “stuff”. When moving, one of my goals was to reduce my footprint. So I sold and gave away much of my “old stuff.” And after selling and giving, it embarrasses me to think how much of that “stuff” (I couldn’t even give away) still went into a dumpster and is now buried in landfill. Or so I thought.

Fast forward 3 years.

Yesterday, after having lunch with a friend, we walked through a neighboring Antique Mall filled with hundreds of booths setup by independent vendors.

“Perhaps I’ll find a bargain”, I thought to myself.

A few minutes into my browsing, I realized that several vendors must have gone through my dumpster 3 years ago and stole my trash. And now they had the nerve to try and make money off of MY OLD STUFF! The old typewriter that no longer worked ($135). Those etched glasses I couldn’t give away ($35). My old “Mad Magazines” ($5).

I commented to my friend… “It’s insane to pay $5 for an old magazine.”

It was then that I realized I wasn’t their target customer. The target customer for a garage sale is a bargain hunter. These sellers were targeting collectors… and collectors will happily pay a premium.

Needless to say, I didn’t walk out with a bargain. But I did walk out with an important reminder: Targeting the right customer changes (almost) everything.

Some customers may think you are insane to charge what you charge. The right customer is always “Insanely Profitable.”