market intelligence top 1%

MI and knowing your customers, the top 1%

Most organizations have a good idea who their best customers are. But do you know who your top 1% are? Do you know how they are using technology to gain advantages? Who are their role models? What does this mean for organizations?

Last year, Don Scheibenreif, Ed Thompson, and Jenny Sussin explored these questions as part of Gartner’s annual Maverick research competition. Maverick research is an incubator for new ideas. It inspires to challenge Gartner’s mainstream research and positions. This helps clients take advantage of trends and insights that could impact their strategy and their organization.

The research results intentionally contradict prevailing wisdom, namely that the internet and technology are great equalizers. Instead, it is suggested that technology is a key way that the wealthiest people gain, retain and grow their wealth and position. And, this is being imitated by your 1% most valuable customers. Often at your expense. Learning how the elite use new technologies as a weapon will prepare CIOs and CX leaders for what is coming next in customer engagement.

What was found

  • The most successful techniques for and approaches to using technology by billionaires are imitated by the next tier in society, and so on down. This means that what your most valuable 1% learn from the wealthy elite will impact your organization sooner or later.
  • The past 20 years have seen the unequal access to information and technology between supplier and customer shift in favor of the customer. In some cases, particularly the top 1% most valuable, customers now have access to more information and technology than their suppliers and can exert astonishing influence.
  • The top 1% most valuable of your customer base needs more active management, because they are better at using informational, referent and technology expert powers than in the past (historical sources of power amplified in the digital age).

What organizations can do

  • Investigate how your 1% most valuable customers use referent, informational and expert powers to achieve their own ends. Make proposals to mitigate their negative actions.
  • Position your organization to benefit more from the top 1% most valuable of your customers by
    • Learning who your 1% most valuable customers are and what percentage of revenue, profit and lifetime value they represent
    • Turning your insights into strategy
    • Earning their loyalty while protecting your profitability

Billionaires have used and will use technology to gain and keep power and wealth, so will the 1% most valuable of your customers. This trend represents the continued erosion of your ability to control the nature of your relationships with your customers. Savvy digital leaders can help their organization to be prepared for the ways in which the 1% most valuable customers can hurt their business.

Source: Gartner