Managing Customers as Investments The Strategic Value of Customers in the Long Run
by Sunil Gupta, Donald R. Lehmann
Chapter 2. THE VALUE OF A CUSTOMER
What is a customer worth to a firm? Consider a customer who walks into a Toyota dealership. To the salesperson, the value of this customer depends on what car and accessories he or she buys during this particular transaction. The dealer is less concerned with who gets the sale than that the sale is made. The dealer also may recognize that a customer who buys a car from his dealership is likely to return for service, which is often very profitable. Further, if satisfied, this customer may also buy other Toyotas from the dealership in the future. From a dealer's perspective, therefore, a salesperson's transaction orientation is too myopic. The dealer may want to build a relationship with the customer with the expectation ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access