customer retention

In last week’s post, I wrote about the acquisition versus retention “dilemma” from the marketer’s perspective. Obviously, there are two sides to every story, and the customer’s version is the most important side of this story.

How this dilemma affects customers

I originally wrote today’s post for Momentive.ai. It appeared on their site on January 25, 2022.

Customer expectations were already changing before COVID-19, but the pandemic has amplified them and accelerated new expectations. 

In last week’s post, I wrote about the acquisition versus retention “dilemma” from the marketer’s perspective. Obviously, there are two sides to every story, and the customer’s version is the most important side of this story.

How this dilemma affects customers

Should acquisition vs. retention really be a dilemma? Can’t there just be a balance between the two? Must one outweigh the other?

Companies have long been pouring disproportionate resources – human, time, effort, capital – into the top of the funnel, on attracting and acquiring new customers, while retention efforts have gotten little more than loyalty programs and discount offers.

It isn’t just Donald Trump that mixes tidbits of fact with much fiction to appeal to those eager to believe. This is also the case when it comes to the business world. Especially so when we get to customer-centricity, customer experience, customer loyalty….. Whilst some folks can tell that Trump is talking nonsense, in the Customer arena it is that much harder to separate fact from fiction, and useful advice from nonsense. So, today, let’s take a fresh look at customer retention and loyalty.