Rethinking Customer Lifetime Value

We all know that the cost of keeping a current customer is much lower than acquiring a new customer. And, measuring customer satisfaction with NPS scores and surveys is routine for most companies. Companies focus on customer success to maximize customer lifetime value – simply put, the value a company can derive from a customer over the entire relationship with the customer. Obviously, the longer the relationship, the more products/services that are sold to the customer; the higher the customer lifetime value. The bottom line: companies focus on keeping customers happy to maximize their own sales and profits.

But, in a time of crisis, should we be thinking about lifetime value differently? Should companies be thinking about how they can provide more value, more support to their customers now when so many consumers and businesses are experiencing cash flow concerns, reduced revenues and cloudy future outlooks? If companies support customers today, without any short term benefits, will they truly gain customer loyalty for years?

There are some great examples of high tech companies providing products/resources to their customers to support them through these times.

Free Connectivity
Small Business Support
Learning Tools

What is your company doing to support your customers to build loyalty for the long term?