QUESTION – how do I maximise repeat business and referral rates?THOUGHT – embrace lifetime valueDonald Trump, like many commercial property developers, is often described as transactional – viewing business on a deal by deal basis rather than a ‘lifetime value’ basis. I will resist the temptation to get into this debate and suggest only that […]

QUESTION – how do I maximise repeat business and referral rates?THOUGHT – embrace lifetime valueDonald Trump, like many commercial property developers, is often described as transactional – viewing business on a deal by deal basis rather than a ‘lifetime value’ basis. I will resist the temptation to get into this debate and suggest only that being transactional is not the best way of maximising long-term performance. The lifetime value of a customer is a critical consideration if performance is to be optimised. The facts are: Returning customers have a lower acquisition costReturning customers are easier to convert againReturning customers spend more than first-time customersReferred customers are easier to sell to, given higher trustReferred customers spend more and refer again more often These benefits of looking at customers in terms of their lifetime value – leveraging repeat business and referrals will be addressed in detail in the THOUGHTS to follow. Suffice…