18 September 2025
Reading your customer mix before the next hire
Before you add another salesperson or project manager, check whether your revenue mix is teaching you the wrong lesson.
Hiring feels like progress. It also hardens whatever demand already exists. If most revenue comes from a noisy, low-contribution segment, a new hire may simply amplify the noise.
Signals we look for
In market position reviews we sort customers by revenue, contribution, complaint load, and how often the owner must intervene. Clusters emerge: a quiet mid-size commercial group that pays on time; a public-sector slice that looks prestigious and consumes management attention; a handful of “friends of the firm” who never quite match the price list.
What to do with the picture
You do not need a perfect model. You need a conversation: which cluster deserves the next capable hire, and which cluster should meet a firmer price or a polite exit. That conversation belongs before the job advert, not after the probation period fails.