There is no debate over the importance of customer retention. Every smart detail business person knows that one of their most important assets is their existing customer base. Why? Simple, the cost to acquire a new customer is estimated to be three to 10 times higher than the cost of retaining a current customer. Plus, when you gain a customer they become loyal to you, they visit more often, they are less price sensitive, they purchase your service more often, and they refer their family and friends to your without hesitation.

However, there is a debate over how to quantify lifetime customer value. That is, which of your customers have the highest life-time value to the business. There are a number of ways to determine this, as well as a several questions to ask yourself.

First, what is a customer really? Just one person, or their entire household or business.

You could say a customer is a single individual, and not an entire household or business. Keep in mind households and businesses change as people move in and out, the specific wants and needs of each member in the household or business vary. This usually is not true for an individual. So you should focus on the individual, rather than the household or business.

How do you determine lifetime? One year, two or ten? On this matter, there is no benefit to segmenting what is a lifetime. If your goal is to keep loyal customers, then you want to own the customer for a life-time, simple as that. A loyal customer who lives or works 10 miles away will visit you less frequently than one who lives or works close by. How about a loyal customer who lives 75 mile away how often will they visit? Once, never? They still have value.

And, the loyal customer who lives 75 miles away, no value? Wrong, they might tell their family and friends in the area to use your services and will probably re-engage with your detail business if they return to the area.

A lifetime is just that � a lifetime. Track customers forever, and continue to communicate with them, regardless of where they are.

"You are not going to sell everyone. There are too many choices, too many detail businesses and simply far too many variables for that to happen."

Finally, how do you determine value, and how do you track it? Unquestioningly, the most relevant measurement is � lifetime profit. Buying a detail from you is great � but does that customer come in armed to grind you down to little profit? Do they show up only when you have a special? Loyal customers are less price sensitive because they understand the intrinsic value of their relationship with you � convenience, outstanding customer service, and good quality. They are willing to pay for those intrinsic qualities, as compared to the customer who visits you to "save a buck."

Measuring the profit margin on individual customers for a lifetime will empower you to decide when to bend the rules, stretch your processes, and go the extra mile to take care of that very loyal and profitable customer. And doing that will keep them loyal and profitable.