{"id":2042,"date":"2012-11-14T09:02:11","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T14:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/?p=2042"},"modified":"2015-07-21T21:16:11","modified_gmt":"2015-07-21T21:16:11","slug":"loyal-customers-create-lifetime-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/loyal-customers-create-lifetime-value\/","title":{"rendered":"Loyal Customers Create Lifetime Value"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am Lane furniture\u2019s biggest fan. We bought a Lane recliner several years back. It was a very comfy chair. Then, one day, I was pulling on the mechanism to recline the chair and SpROinG. It broke. The handle didn\u2019t break, but there was an odd \u201csproingy\u201d sound from underneath the chair and it kind of bucked a little, and that was the end of reclining in the recliner. So I did what any good consumer would do, I Googled \u201cLane Furniture\u201d and contacted their customer service department. I told them what happened and they shipped me a new reclining mechanism for free. They didn\u2019t ask how old the chair was. They didn\u2019t ask if I was using it correctly. They didn\u2019t want a copy of the receipt or to know if I\u2019d sent in any warranty paperwork. They just replaced the broken part. Because my husband is crazy-handy, when the part arrived he flipped the chair over and replaced the mechanism with no problem. That chair went back to reclining like a vacationing 22-year old on a Jamaican beach. Sweet!<\/p>\n

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Lane Furniture Recliner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I bet I\u2019ve told dozens of people about that experience (and now hundreds or thousands more, depending on how popular this blog article is), and we have since purchased a new Lane couch and love seat. It\u2019s getting close to time to retiring them to the basement, and what will I buy to replace them? New Lane furniture, of course.<\/p>\n

So how much do you think that replacement reclining mechanism cost Lane Furniture? Maybe $30 in materials and postage. And how much money have they made off me since then? More than $1,000, and I\u2019ve got years and years of good sitting and reclining left in me. Plus, who knows if people I told also purchased Lane recliners based on my great experience with the company. I think maybe they got a good return on that investment, how about you?<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the subject of this blog: Customer Lifetime Value. According to Wikipedia.org, customer lifetime value\u00a0(CLV),\u00a0lifetime customer value\u00a0(LCV), or\u00a0user lifetime value\u00a0(LTV) is a marketing phrase that has to do with predicting the net profit attributed to a company\u2019s entire future relationship with a customer.\u00a0Have you ever thought about this? What is the value of each of your customers? Is it more expensive to bring in new business or to sell something to a returning customer? Of course selling to a repeat buyer is less expensive.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t pretend to be a mathematician, or even that I understand everything that goes into calculating the CLV. Instead, check out the Customer Lifetime Value Calculator<\/a>that the folks at the Harvard Business School put together.<\/p>\n

Now that you know the CLV of your customers, here are five ways to nurture them:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Offer a loyalty discount<\/strong>. Acknowledging repeat purchases with a loyalty card<\/a> is right up the relationship buyer\u2019s alley. Or, if loyalty cards don\u2019t fit your business model, consider offering long-term buyers a perk like faster or free delivery or a reduced price.<\/p>\n

2) Make them insiders<\/strong>. If you will be launching a new product or service, show your customers the roadmap in advance or send them an early-bird announcement so they\u2019re the first to know. If you aren\u2019t introducing anything new, alert them to sales before you announce it to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

3) Give them a shout out<\/strong>. If you\u2019re on social media, give good customers a shout out online via Facebook, Twitter, Google + or wherever you\u2019re active. Tag them in a post and give them a digital stage where you tell the rest of the world how much you like them as a customer.<\/p>\n

4) Celebrate with them<\/strong>. Sending holiday cards<\/a> is nice, but might be expected. In addition, you can impress them by remembering their birthday \u2014 or maybe their customer anniversary date \u2014 with a custom greeting card<\/a> and a personal note.<\/p>\n

5) Thank them<\/strong>. It may sound obvious, but many businesses don\u2019t do it! If a loyal customer gives you a referral, do a great job for that new customer and send a handwritten note<\/a> of thanks for the recommendation. If they pay their bill on time, shoot them an email and let them know you appreciate it. If they\u2019re easy to work with, thank them the next time you\u2019re talking to them.<\/p>\n

How do you nurture and retain your customers? Share your experience and ideas by leaving a comment below.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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