For marketers and business owners with an innate sense of their target market and audience, pinpointing their ideal customer isn’t always straightforward. To simplify the process, they should examine their existing customer base and answer the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Any customer-facing role is at risk of landing a toxic client. Business leaders and marketers must evaluate prospective customers as they would prospective employees during the hiring process. They should assess the individual's cultural fit and identify any undesirable personality traits or mannerisms that contradict their organization’s values and growth objectives.

Direct competition is no longer the primary factor a business should consider critical to remaining relevant. A brand’s business strategy must continuously evolve to compete across industries based on customer experience.

Every business, whether product or service-oriented, has experienced the impact of limited product or component availability and long lead times. Now is the time, more than ever, to rethink sourcing, stocking, and sales strategies.