Customer Segmentation Study · ¥36,000 · 5 Weeks
Know which customers your business is actually equipped to serve well.
A study distinguishing the customer groups a company actually serves — based on purchasing behaviour and service cost, not on demographic categories that may not reflect how the business operates in practice.
What This Study Delivers
Segment definitions built from transaction records — including the ones served at a loss.
Most companies describe their customer base in terms of industry, size or geography. These categories are easy to report and easy to present. They are often not the categories that determine which customers are profitable and which are not.
This study derives segment definitions from purchasing behaviour and service cost — what customers actually buy, how they buy it, how much it costs to serve them, and what they contribute once that cost is accounted for. The output includes contribution figures by segment and a plain note where a group is currently served at a loss.
What you receive at the end
- —Segment definitions built from transaction records, not from demographic categories
- —Contribution figures by segment including the cost to serve each group
- —Assessment of which segments the business is currently equipped to serve well
- —Plain note where a segment is currently served at a loss — without editorial on what to do about it
- —Written study document with sourced figures throughout
The Situation
When the customer base has broadened without deliberate choice.
PATTERN 01
Revenue is spread across very different types of customer
The company sells to a range of customers whose requirements, purchasing patterns and service expectations differ substantially. It is not clear whether this breadth is an asset or a source of operational strain that the margin figures do not yet reflect.
PATTERN 02
Service costs are not allocated to customer groups
Revenue by customer is tracked. Service cost by customer group is not. The company knows which customers generate the most revenue but not which generate the most margin once the actual cost of serving them is included.
PATTERN 03
The existing segmentation does not match how work is actually distributed
The company has a view of its customer segments — typically by industry or revenue size — but the operational team would not recognise those categories as reflecting how work actually arrives and how it is handled. The categories are for reporting, not for managing.
This study is appropriate for companies whose customer base has grown or shifted over time without a deliberate decision about who they are trying to serve. It provides the information needed to make that decision — not a recommendation about what the decision should be.
The Approach
Segments derived from data, then tested against operations.
AREA 01
Segment derivation from transaction records
Customers grouped by purchasing behaviour — what they buy, how frequently, in what volumes, and with what service requirements. The groupings are derived from the transaction data, not imposed from a framework decided in advance. Where the data produces unexpected groupings, those are presented as findings rather than adjusted to fit a neater picture.
AREA 02
Service cost allocation
The cost to serve each segment calculated using the company's own cost data — order processing, delivery, returns, customer service contact, credit terms and payment timing. This is not an activity-based costing exercise; it is a segment-level view of service cost sufficient to identify where contribution is materially different from revenue.
AREA 03
Contribution by segment
Revenue minus service cost for each segment, expressed in absolute terms and as a percentage of segment revenue. Where a segment is served at a loss, that is stated plainly. The contribution view is presented alongside the revenue view so both are visible at the same time.
AREA 04
Capability fit assessment
An assessment of which segments the company's current operations, systems and staff are equipped to serve well — and where serving a particular segment requires workarounds, exceptions or resources that are disproportionate to the return. This is not a capability gap report; it is a view of fit between what the business does and what each segment requires.
What Working Together Looks Like
Five weeks across sales, finance and operations.
WEEK 1
Data transfer
Transaction records, customer master data and service cost data transferred. Scope confirmed. Introductory session with named contact to clarify any data questions.
WEEK 2
Segment derivation
Transaction data analysed. Preliminary segment groupings derived and reviewed internally. Any data queries raised with the finance contact at this stage.
WEEK 3
Cost allocation
Service cost allocated by segment. Contribution figures calculated. Progress note shared covering preliminary segment definitions and any early findings on contribution spread.
WEEK 4
Capability fit
Brief sessions with sales and operations contacts to test segment definitions against operational reality. Capability fit assessment completed. Second progress note shared.
WEEK 5
Written study and review
Full written study delivered. Review session held with sales, finance and operations. Findings presented to all three functions simultaneously.
What data is required
- —At least twenty-four months of transaction records — customer, product, volume, value, date
- —Service cost data: order processing, delivery, returns and customer service by account where available, or as total figures by activity
- —Customer master data including any existing segment or classification fields
- —Credit terms by customer or customer group
What the study does not include
- —A recommendation on which segments to exit, reduce or prioritise — those are decisions for the company to make with the findings in hand
- —Customer satisfaction research or primary market research
- —Sales strategy development or account planning
Investment
A fixed fee. Confirmed in writing before work starts.
The fee covers five weeks of work across sales, finance and operations, the full written study with sourced figures, and the review session. It is fixed when the scope note is signed and does not vary with the number of segments found or the complexity of the contribution picture.
Companies sometimes find after this study that a portion of their customer base — one that has been served without question — is consuming resources at a rate that is not reflected in what they pay. That information has value that is not straightforwardly comparable to the study fee. It depends entirely on what the data shows.
What ¥36,000 covers
Methodology
How segments are defined and what the contribution view is based on.
Segmentation studies produce different results depending on what they are based on. Demographic categories — industry, company size, geography — are straightforward to define and to report. They are not always the categories that matter for how a business actually operates.
This study derives segments from purchasing behaviour because that is where the cost of serving a customer is most directly expressed. A customer who orders frequently in small quantities, requires expedited handling and contacts the service team regularly costs more to serve than the revenue figure suggests. A customer who orders infrequently in large volumes on standard terms costs substantially less.
The segments that emerge from this analysis are not always the ones the company expected to find. Where they are different from the existing internal view, that difference is itself a finding — and it is presented as one.
What "served at a loss" means in this context
A segment is noted as served at a loss where the allocated service cost exceeds the gross margin on revenue from that segment. This is a contribution view, not a full cost allocation. It identifies where the relationship between revenue and cost is worth examining further — not a definitive accounting treatment.
Why the capability fit view matters
Contribution figures alone do not tell the company which segments it should serve. A segment that is currently loss-making may be one the business could serve profitably with modest adjustments. A segment that is currently profitable may require disproportionate management attention that does not show up in the service cost calculation. The capability fit view adds that dimension.
Two progress notes during the five weeks
A written progress note is shared at the end of week 3 covering preliminary segment definitions and early contribution findings, and again at the end of week 4 covering the capability fit assessment. The final output in week 5 should contain no findings that were not already partly visible in those notes.
Commitment
What Scope Lab Zone commits to, in plain terms.
COMMITMENT 01
Segments follow the data
The segment definitions produced by this study are derived from transaction records. They are not adjusted to match an existing internal view or to produce a cleaner result. If the data produces five segments, the study presents five. If it produces two, it presents two.
COMMITMENT 02
Loss-making segments are noted plainly
Where a segment is served at a loss on a contribution basis, that is stated directly in the written output. It is not softened, deferred to an appendix, or presented as a provisional observation. The company needs the information to make decisions; it is not served by having it qualified out of view.
COMMITMENT 03
No obligation from making contact
An initial enquiry does not start the engagement. A scope note and fee are shared before work begins. If the company's situation does not fit this study — for instance, if transaction records are not available in sufficient detail — that is confirmed early.
Next Steps
How to get started, if this looks right for your situation.
01
Send an enquiry
Describe the customer base situation — roughly how many customers, what the current segmentation approach looks like, and what the question is. Use the contact form or email info@scope-labzone.com.
02
Data check
Scope Lab Zone will confirm within two working days whether the transaction records available are sufficient for this study to produce useful results. If not, that is stated clearly before any scope note is shared.
03
Scope note shared
One page confirming data requirements, the functions involved, the output structure, and the fixed fee. The engagement starts on an agreed date once you confirm.
04
Five-week study
Data transferred in week 1. Analysis and progress notes in weeks 2–4. Written study and review session with all three functions in week 5.
Customer Segmentation Study · ¥36,000 · 5 Weeks
If you are not certain which customers your business actually serves well, this study is worth considering.
Describe the situation briefly. Scope Lab Zone will confirm whether transaction records are sufficient for the study and what a scope note would look like. No commitment follows from making contact.
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