Just as the universe comprises a wide variety of types of stars, so does your customer base. And like the universe, where some stars shine brighter, some of your customers are better than others.

Now imagine the power of being able to separate your worst customers from your brightest star customers—and find more like your brightest ones!

Doing so entails evaluating and understanding what it takes to attract, acquire, keep, and grow your new and existing customers' value. And to find, keep, and grow the value of your customers requires a customer-centric culture and approach in your marketing.

Dr. Peter Fader, author of Customer Centricity, defines customer-centric marketing as looking at a customer's lifetime value and focusing your marketing efforts on the high-value customer segment in order to drive profits. The suggestion here is that by understanding who your current high value customers are, you are better positioned to acquire more customers like them.

That idea of customer-centric marketing entails placing the customer at the center of your marketing strategy so you can create and extract customer value. Gautam Mahajan, president of the Customer Value Foundation, defines customer value as "the perception of what a product or service is worth to a Customer versus the possible alternatives. Worth means whether the Customer feels s/he...got benefits and services over what s/he paid."

When your value proposition and offer match with the right customer segments, both you and your customers benefit. But that type of synchronization requires data. For space travel, you need data (think star maps and the locations of planets and moons because their gravitational forces will affect your trajectory.

Your marketing will also require data and science to locate and navigate toward your brightest star customers.

Take three steps to illuminate your brightest star customers

Before you begin exploring and interpreting your data, you need to know what a bright star customer looks like: You need to know what constitutes an ideal customer. Once you know whom you are targeting, you then need to understand where they reside and why they buy. Then you need to know these customers' engagement preferences.

After you complete those three steps, you can apply your knowledge to identify prospects that reflect the qualities of your best customers.

1. Define your ideal customers

Let's look at the first step. One of the best ways to understand what constitutes an ideal customer is to examine your current customers. Here's what you need to do:

• Establish the criteria for your best customers, and weight each factor. Define at least three criteria. For example: customers who consistently buy from you, who are profitable, who are first to upgrade or buy a new product, and who regularly recommend your products and company.
• Then delve into your customer database. List all the customers who meet your best-customer criteria. Customers who meet all the criteria are your very best, whereas those who meet some of the most important criteria, but not all, might be your next-best group of customers.