The Value of Lifetime Customers

There's an old truth that one customer, well satisfied, is worth a fortune. Over and over again, I work with companies who are determined to improve their advertising to attract new customers. They spend fortunes looking for better copy, the write spokesperson or the right "media mix." All the while, current customers are evaporating or (worse) doing business with their competitors.

There's a wonderful old story about a couple looking for a hotel on a rainy, dreary night. At last they pull up to a small hotel in a rural Pennsylvania town, go inside, but are told the hotel is full. Seeing their fatigue and despair, the young man behind the counter offers to let them use his own quarters, a small room in the back of the building.

In the morning, the couple is so grateful and impressed, the husband promises that someday he will open a hotel and hire the young man to manage it. Time passes, and one day the young man gets a call from that weary traveler. It seems he has opened the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York and would like the young man to manage it.

I have no idea if that story is true, although I've heard variations of it for many years. The point, however, is clear: Every customer is potentially worth a fortune!

It is always easier and more profitable to keep a customer than to attract a new one. Advertising is expensive! Negotiating the first sale, learning the needs of the customer and serving them well is difficult. To grow your business, focus on repeat sales.

Your customers are your best source of new ideas and innovations to put you ahead of the crowd. Listen to them, honor them, go the extra mile and work with your customers to achieve what you both want: a satisfying and profitable long-term relationship.

See you at the top!

Dustin Craig Mitchell