The True Value of a Client

Constantly thinking about growth and how to get new clients is necessary and sometimes tedious for a business owner. One way to keep yourself focused and motivated is by reminding yourself what the true value of a new client is.

If you advertise, then you know how much it can cost to get just one new client. And once you acquire a client you immediately begin the battle for retention. It’s time-consuming and frustrating, and sometimes you may ask yourself, is this even worth it?

Yes. It’s worth it. You won’t retain every client you get, but the ones you do keep provide value to your business far beyond their initial sign-up fee. This is known as customer lifetime value (CLV). There’s a mathematical way to analyze CLV – you can get a good breakdown here – but you don’t need exact numbers to give yourself peace of mind.

When you find yourself feeling especially frustrated, remind yourself of all the benefits your loyal clients bring your business over the course of their time with you.

Additional Revenue through Upselling

The most simplified version of the CLV calculation is amount of revenue the client brings in minus the cost to initially acquire them. The higher the number, the better. CLV will rise each year that your client renews their membership, but you can accelerate it through upselling. Offer your client an upgraded membership, suggest a new class for them to take, or sell merchandise. Loyal clients will be eager to consume what you have to offer.

Even more clients

You can run the most perfect ads to ever exist, but in the end people are still going to trust the opinions of their networks more than your messaging. Use this to your advantage by setting up a referral program. The people your clients refer are much more likely to become long-term clients themselves.

Community

Business is better when clients and staff feel a sense of shared community. There are tangible benefits to the community that contribute to your members’ CLV–happy clients are more likely to renew memberships and purchase retail. But there are also some intangible benefits that don’t contribute to the bottom line, like the peace of mind and satisfaction that comes with knowing your business is valuable to your clients. Isn’t that why you started your business in the first place?

The most frustrating thing about customer lifetime value is that it can be hard to predict. That’s why it’s so important to optimize your marketing efforts around targeting the people who are most likely to become loyal clients. They’ll bring as much value to your business as your business brings to them.