Managing customers as investments

By Sunil Gupta

Subjects: Management, Nonfiction, Marketing, Business, Relationship marketing, Customer relations, Professional

Description: It's more important than ever for companies to objectively assess the value of their customers. But conventional measures of "customer lifetime value" haven't been linked to overall business value and haven't been useful to senior managers. Managing Customers as Investments overcomes both shortcomings. Through practical examples and case studies, you'll learn a rigorous yet simple approach to estimating the lifetime value of your customers—and how you can use that information to make better tactical and strategic decisions. You'll learn how customer value calculations impact customer acquisition, service, retention, and segmentation—as well as strategic M&A and alliance decisions. Whether you're a CxO, line-of-business manager, marketer, analyst, or investor, Managing Customers as Investments will help you focus your resources where they'll deliver maximum value. Key takeaways include Customers are assets How to calculate the value of customers in a simple way How the value of customers provides the basis for marketing strategy and planning The importance of balancing the value of the customer to the firm with the value the firm provides to the customer How to use the value of the customer as a basis for firm valuation and M&A decisions The implications for organization and incentive structure and the limitations of product and brand management How to link customer value to business value Practical techniques for CxOs, line-of-business managers, marketers, financial analysts, and investors How to make better decisions about marketing, partnerships, and organizational structure Easy-to-use metrics and real-world case studies What your customers are really worth: crucial knowledge for better strategic and tactical decision-making How can you find out, without endlessly complex modeling? And after you know, what should you do with that knowledge? Managing Customers as Investments has the answers—and they may surprise you. You'll learn surprisingly simple ways to get reliable customer value information...and get it in a form you can use. You'll learn how to use it to measure your marketing effectiveness more accurately than ever before—and drive improvements throughout your entire customer relationship lifecycle. You'll learn how customer value can bring new clarity to decisions about M&A and firm valuation. Everyone tells you to manage your business around customers. This book gives you the tools to do it.