YRC Worldwide is a Fortune 500 company that provides a full range of transportation services for customers across all U.S. industry sectors. YRC's customers, which number more than 300,000, include industrial and consumer-goods manufacturers, large and small, as well as retailers, including those that operate on a regional or national scale. Whereas key account teams serve large corporate customers, YRC serves the majority of its customers through a network of local sales offices.

For example, in a metropolitan area, such as Seattle, Chicago, or Boston, account managers-working out of a fully staffed sales office and directed by a sales manager and area director-are assigned a particular section of the city and given responsibility for covering all of the customers within those boundaries. Depending on the concentration of business activity in an area, the number of potential customers that fall within an account manager's assigned territory might range from 300 to more than 1,500. Of course, the transportation services each customer requires are unique-some need guaranteed, time-definite delivery service or expedited delivery, whereas others are looking for the lowest-cost route. Moreover, the products involved are equally diverse, ranging from appliances or heavy machinery to apparel, component parts, or specialty chemicals.

Given the large number of potential customers they cover, coupled with the unique shipping requirements that each can present, account managers must give special attention to the most promising prospects, reaching others only if time permits.

Discussion Question

Develop a list of criteria an account manager at YRC could use to evaluate the relative attractiveness of 600 potential customers and isolate the "top100" prospects. Assume that you have full access to any company information, including past purchasing behavior, revenue and profit data, customer satisfaction reports, and a complete demographic profile of each customer organization.