Customer Development Differs Significantly

Here is a brief summary by month of first purchase. Look in particular at the Emerging Customer row and the Loyal Customer row at the bottom of the table.

This company has no problem developing customers in July, August, and September, with 4.5% / 6.7% / 5.8% of the newbies in those months becoming loyal.

Now look at new customers acquired in October / November / December ... 1.2% / 0.9% / 0.9% of those newbies become loyal within a year.

Well, we know what the homework assignment is going to be, don't we?

And in terms of future value (demand per inventory on the slide above), Jul/Aug/Sep newbies average about $26.50 whereas Oct/Nov/Dec newbies average about $15.75.

This pattern repeats across my client base, but not to the level you see here when there isn't a credible Customer Development program in place. Acquire a customer prior to the peak purchasing season, and then those newbies Develop much faster than the average customer. It's simple math, and almost none of your peers bother to take advantage of basic math.

So go take advantage of basic math. Create a Customer Resume, and get busy Developing customers!!