# Find Your Best Buyer by Spend

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/find-best-buyer-by-spend · Last updated 1 November 2026

You have a customer list and a quiet night to fill, and you cannot say who spent the most with you over the last six months. Ivanka Menken uses the Fortnight Loop inside 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to read the spend history first and turn it into one best-buyer decision. You leave with a written best-buyer profile, one invitation test and a review date 14 days out.

## A full list and a hunch

- You cannot say which customers spent the most over six months.
- You are about to discount to the whole list.
- Your best invitation is based on a hunch.

**THE MOMENT:** Tuesday and Wednesday nights are quiet again, and the plan is the same as last time: a discount to everyone on the list. You know some regulars spend far more than others, but you could not name them if asked. The till has the answer. Nobody has looked, because the discount feels faster than the reading.

### THE LIST, AS IT STANDS

- Customers on the list: everyone who ever booked
- Spend by customer: in the till, never read
- Last invitation: a discount to the whole list
- Who came: mostly low-spend bookings
- Best-buyer profile: none written

## A discount to the whole list

In this case, the owner of a restaurant wanted to fill quiet nights and sent a discount to the whole list. It brought in bookings, but most were low spend, and the regulars who usually paid full price started waiting for the next offer. The nights looked busier and earned less. The next quiet patch came with the same plan and the same result.

## The spend was already visible

Ivanka noticed the transaction history already showed who mattered. A small group of diners had spent up to $10,000 each over the past six months, and none of them had been treated any differently from a one-off booking. The owner had been choosing who to invite by gut feel while the evidence sat in the till, a few clicks away.

## A best-buyer decision, not a discount decision

The real issue was not the quiet nights. It was that the owner had never decided who the invitation was for. A discount to everyone treats the diner who spent up to $10,000 the same as the one who came once with a voucher.
The reframe: your best buyer is often already in your transaction history, not in a new market. Read six months of spend first, write down who those people are and what they bought, then make one invitation specific to them and see who responds.

> Your best buyer is often already in your transaction history.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Staying stuck means your best invitation goes to people who were never going to buy at that level, and teaches your regulars to wait for a discount.

## The tool: Fortnight Loop

The Fortnight Loop is how 1:1 Mentoring moves one decision from intention to a written commitment every two weeks. For best buyers, the loop starts with the spend data: who spent the most over six months, what they bought, and what invitation would feel made for them.

It is one page: the spend evidence, the best-buyer profile, one invitation, who receives it and the review date. Fourteen days later you read who responded and decide the next step from that, not from a hunch.

It replaces a discount to the whole list, a guess about who the regulars are and a busy night that earns less than a quiet one.

### What goes on the page

1. The evidence: six months of spend, sorted by customer
2. The group: the small number who spent the most, up to $10,000
3. The profile: what they bought, when and how often
4. The invitation: one offer made for them, with no discount
5. The review: day 14, who responded and what they spent
6. The next decision: keep, change or stop, written down

It sits inside 1:1 Mentoring, next to the Money-and-Clarity Scorecard. Each fortnight one decision is written down and checked at the next session. It is coaching with written commitments, not a done-for-you marketing service.

## Spend first, invitation second

In the session, Ivanka asked the owner to bring six months of spend by customer. Together they sorted it and found the small group who had spent the most. Ivanka asked what those diners bought and when they came, then what invitation would feel specific to them. The owner wrote a best-buyer profile and one invitation test, with the date it would go out and the review date 14 days later.

### The questions

- Who spent the most over six months?
- What did they buy, and when?
- What invitation would feel specific to them?
- Who will not receive it?
- What will you review in 14 days?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: Who the next invitation is for.
2. The numbers: Six months of spend, sorted by customer.
3. The story: Why a discount to everyone felt safer.
4. The commitment: One invitation, reviewed on day 14.

Before the next session, the owner sent the invitation to the best-buyer group only and noted every reply and every booking, with what each guest spent.

## Invitations based on evidence

By month 6, the owner has a written best-buyer profile drawn from actual spend, has tested one invitation through the Fortnight Loop, and reads the scorecard monthly before deciding who to invite next.

**BEFORE**

- Discounts went to the whole list.
- Regulars learned to wait for an offer.
- Busy nights earned less.
- Nobody knew who spent the most.

**BY MONTH 6**

- A written best-buyer profile from real spend.
- One invitation tested and reviewed.
- Next decisions based on who responded.
- The scorecard read every month.

The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## Read the spend before you send the offer

Ivanka Menken built 1:1 Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who keep carrying the same decisions. Every fortnight she helps you name one decision, write the commitment and check it two weeks later.
This fits if you have customer spend history and a habit of reaching for a discount when things go quiet. It does not fit if you want someone to run your marketing for you. The decision in front of you is who your next invitation is for. Read six months of spend before you decide.

> During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.
>
> Business owner

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You have at least six months of spend by customer.
- You reach for a discount when it goes quiet.
- You suspect a few customers matter far more than the rest.
- You will write the test down and review it on day 14.

### It does not fit

- You want a done-for-you marketing service.
- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You have no customer history yet.
- You want open-ended coaching with no written commitments.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** The Fortnight Loop is part of 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Fortnight Loop for every invitation test

Three founding places in total, shared across 1:1 Mentoring and its three focus programmes, are available at A$1,000 a month, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join 1:1 Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](/mentoring)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=find-best-buyer-by-spend#/15606000001356030)
- [See the 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)

## Questions about Fortnight Loop

### Do I need a restaurant?

No. The tool works for any business with customer spend history: a shop, a studio, a service firm or an online store. The question is the same: who already spends the most with you? Ivanka Menken works through it with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, a programme of 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, using the Fortnight Loop.

### What data do I need?

Six months of spend by customer is enough to start the best-buyer decision. A till export or a sales report is fine; it does not need to be tidy. You sort it, find the small group who spent the most and note what they bought. Ivanka Menken reads it with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### Is this a done-for-you fix?

No. It is coaching inside 1:1 Mentoring, not a done-for-you marketing service. You read the spend, write the profile and send the invitation yourself. Ivanka Menken asks the questions, keeps the test to one page and reviews it with you 14 days later. 1:1 Mentoring runs for 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### How long is 1:1 Mentoring?

1:1 Mentoring runs for 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions with Ivanka Menken, a monthly scorecard and reviews at month 3 and month 6. The best-buyer test is one use of the Fortnight Loop inside it; the same loop carries the next decision each fortnight. The Fortnight Loop is not sold separately.


## Invite the people who already spend

If you are about to discount to the whole list, start with 1:1 Mentoring. The Fortnight Loop is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.

- [Join 1:1 Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](/mentoring)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=find-best-buyer-by-spend#/15606000001356030)
- [See the 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)
- [Test demand before you approach retailers](https://ivankamenken.com/market-booth-demand-test)
- [Turn word of mouth into a small list](https://ivankamenken.com/small-list-newsletter-loop)
- [Read what your first-year sales tell you](https://ivankamenken.com/seven-sales-first-year)
- [The 1:1 Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka