Measuring the efficiency of company and profitability of customers in firms dealing with sales in B2C markets

This article describes facts resulting from partial survey. The purpose was to find out indicators of market performance used in companies dealing with sales. Most common indicator of efficiency in companies dealing with sales was volume of takings from sales and relative quality of products in comparison with competition from the customer's point of view. Next most utilized indicator was general knowledge of firm, brand or product, satisfaction or dissatisfaction of costumers. As the least used indicator, firms referred to portion of key-customers on expenses and loyalty of customers. Indicating the profitability of markets and customers is for the large majority of firms in this field of business necessary (positive answer gave approximately 90% of questioned firms). Firms in this field of enterprise consider using the information about profitability of customers to be important and most of all utilizable, They all agree that utilizing those is mainly required for creating plans, strategies and for targeting specific markets. Term profitability of market means for firms sales and volume of takings. In the given field of business five out of ten questioned firms monitor profitability of target markets. One firm stated that they are monitoring only profitability of individual customers but not whole markets. Firms in the given field of business do not estimate or anticipate future costs on markets. Because of that, they were unable to answer questions regarding utilizing of used methods for anticipating of future takings. Only three firms out of six stated that current information system helps them significantly with determining profitability of markets. Rest of the firms do not have information system or do not use them for determining profitability of markets. Firms have not heard about marketing profitability expressed by clean marketing contribution (CMC) in meaning of indicator of profitability. One firm holds an opinion that every businessman is monitoring this contribution without even knowing it is CMC. And another questioned firm thinks that it would be possible to monitor this in the given field of business - if it were not for the concerned being too busy.