The One Thing You Should Be Doing to Improve Customer Lifetime Value But Aren’t

If you go to Google and search ‘how to improve customer lifetime value (CLV)’, you will find countless articles echoing the same handful of familiar concepts. While each article may present its own version of recommended tactics, they all seem to boil down to the following ideas:

• Listen to your customers’ feedback and take action to improve overall consumer satisfaction
• Provide exceptional customer service, which includes being available on a regular schedule
• Cross-sell and upsell existing customers
• Engage your customers through loyalty programs, community building, and personalization
• Provide “free” value in the form of upgrades, perks, incentives, and rewards
• Adjust your pricing and offer various recurring payment options, such as annual subscriptions
• Solve common problems that customers struggle with
• Provide insights into your product plans and address product differentiation

How to Improve Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)? 

While we agree these are all valuable insights, our perspective is distinct. We believe the best answer to the question, ‘how to improve customer lifetime value?’ is to take your most dedicated customers and turn them into evangelists. Word of mouth remains the most powerful marketing tool a business can leverage, but it is also the hardest to foster organically.

Before we go any further, let’s address one of the bullet points from above:

• Provide “free” value in the form of upgrades, perks, incentives, and rewards

The goal of turning your best customers into evangelists isn’t to deliver “free” value, but to enhance value for your business. While some of the tactics might feel similar, the end goals are miles apart.

Regular customers won’t turn away just because you inform them about new products or give them insight into your product development plans. In fact, knowing what’s on the horizon is more likely to prompt them to spend and encourage others to do the same.

Driving Organic Customer Engagement

We believe including engaged, happy customers in the process – showing them what’s next and asking them for their opinions – will not only get them excited about what’s to come, but also motivate them to share their experience with the brand Plus, inviting them to share feedback with their friends will only help cement their place as someone special to the brand.

While releasing new “sneak peeks” might seem like ‘letting the cat out of the bag,’ positioning your customers as brand representatives or ambassadors more than compensates for any potential drawbacks tied to the “early” access.

Your best customers can become highly impactful marketing assets – it’s time to seize the opportunity. Engage your top customers in the following ways:

• Let your best customers be the ones to break interesting product news to the public – especially when it is part of a larger customer feedback loop.
• Giving your best customers the opportunity to do unboxings, video product reviews, and post new items to social media will result in content worth its weight in gold for the brand, regardless of industry.
• Let your best customers invite a select few friends to also experience these perks and even engage in pre-selling, exclusive selling, or early selling of new products.
• Surprise your best customers with unexpected buying opportunities, granting premier access that keeps them happy, engaged, and vocal. Everything we want, while not giving anything away for free.
• Leverage your best customers as voices in the marketplace, even if their expressions aren’t always in exact alignment with your brand’s messaging.

Crafting Your Marketing Strategy for Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Branding is hard to measure, but the value of enthusiastic voices in the market is always underestimated. A handful of vocal critics can have a far-reaching influence, so why not shift this dynamic to your advantage?

Connect with Perform^[cb]‘s customer acquisition team today and turn the tables in your favor.

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