Lifetime Relationships with Customers: Dream or Reality?

How long should you plan to have a relationship with your customers? Scott MacStravic examines relationships which last a lifetime.

Now that almost every business has recognised the value and importance of achieving and managing relationships with customers, rather than merely attracting and selling to them, perhaps it is time to look at relationships that last a lifetime? After all, if relationships that last are good, wouldn't relationships that last a lifetime be that much better? While 'Customer Lifetime Value' is in common use as a CRM term, it addresses only the 'lifetime' during which consumers remain customers, not their entire lifetimes. By Scott MacStravic, Ph.D.