The Twist
What if everything you thought you knew about these customers was wrong?
Your "best" customer is actually losing you money.
The +22% margin hid $255K in deadhead costs. Every truck that delivers to Chicago drives 340 miles back empty.500 loads × 340 miles = 170,000 empty miles/year.
Midwest Manufacturing ALONE loses -$136K/year.
The "bad" customer is what makes the "good" customer profitable.
Midwest Manufacturing ships Des Moines → Chicago
Summit Supply Co. ships Chicago → Des Moines
They complete each other's circuits. Summit fills Midwest's backhaul.400 trucks return loaded instead of empty.
The Complete Picture
Toggle to see the transformation
The $258K Swing
Fire Summit → lose this much value
"You were about to fire the customer that makes your best customer profitable."
This is portfolio thinking.
You can't evaluate customers in isolation. The "worst" customer might be the linchpin that makes your "best" customer profitable. The sum is bigger than the parts.
136,000 empty miles eliminated. Two "problems" that solve each other.