Ask most owners to name their biggest customer and they'll have it instantly. Ask for their most profitable one, and you'll get a pause. Those two lists are rarely the same — and sometimes the customer at the top of one sits near the bottom of the other. Here's how cost-to-serve quietly hides your unprofitable accounts, why they're the ones you fight hardest to keep, and what to do about it (it isn't "fire them").

AI won't transform your business or replace your team. Here's what it actually does for your finances — five plain-English capabilities, minus the hype.