Who values who

Most people get the whole customer value thing wrong. I heard a famous keynote speaker and guru the other day talking about customer life time value and how we can identify customer value. She recommended we estimate the sum of what our customers are worth (purchase volume, frequency, etc.). I read another article (click on title to see the article) from the folks at Maritz and they made the same mistake. This approach is wrong. Dead wrong.

Customer advocacy only occurs when customers value you. It's about their perceptions of you. The customer doesn't care how rich they or their friends are when they decide if they like YOU. Could you imagine a wealthy person saying, "I value Joe because he likes me for my money?" It's absurd. Yet, these experts are asking you to do the same thing. Don't.

If you want higher customer advocacy, get customers to value you more than ever. Then, you'll achieve the results you want.