26Point Checklist

The framework · Customers & Growth

13 Customer Retention & Lifetime Value

10 sub-categories. The three numbers on each are the typical opportunity in that area across businesses — not your result.

Time6.3/10Financial9.3/10Automation8.6/10

These three numbers are researched cross-business benchmarks for the area — the typical opportunity available in it. They are not your score, not a forecast, and not a promise. What is actually critical depends on your business, which is what the audit is for.

13.1

Retention

Time6/10Financial10/10Automation9/10
What this is
The proportion of customers who stay, measured over a defined period.
Why it matters
Ten out of ten financially. Retention is the cheapest growth available: no acquisition cost, higher margin, shorter cycle, and it compounds against every future year.
You have a problem here if
You celebrate new customers and never count the ones who quietly stopped.
What to automate
Define what "still a customer" means for your model, then automate cohort retention reporting. Very high automation potential, and most businesses could produce it from data they already hold.
13.2

Churn/customer loss

Time7/10Financial10/10Automation9/10
What this is
The rate at which customers stop buying, and the reasons they give when they do.
Why it matters
Churn is retention's diagnostic half. Knowing the rate tells you the size of the leak; knowing the reasons tells you where it is.
You have a problem here if
You have no exit reason recorded for any lost customer.
What to automate
Automate detection — inactivity thresholds, missed renewals, declining order frequency — with alerts before the customer is gone. Automate the exit-reason capture too; analyse the reasons personally.
13.3

Repeat purchasing

Time6/10Financial10/10Automation9/10
What this is
How often existing customers come back, and how that interval compares to what it should be.
Why it matters
Repeat purchase converts a customer into an asset. In most small businesses, the second purchase is dramatically more profitable than the first.
You have a problem here if
Most of your revenue this year came from customers you did not have last year.
What to automate
Automated repeat-purchase reporting plus triggered prompts at the natural reorder interval for each customer. Timing based on their history beats a fixed monthly campaign.
13.4

Relationship management

Time8/10Financial9/10Automation9/10
What this is
Deliberate ongoing contact with customers between purchases.
Why it matters
Relationships decay by default. The businesses with the strongest retention are usually not the ones with the best product — they are the ones that stayed in contact.
You have a problem here if
Contact with a customer only happens when one of you needs something.
What to automate
High automation fit for the cadence and the reminders; low for the content. Automate who to contact and when, and have a person decide what to say to the accounts that matter.
13.5

Upselling

Time6/10Financial9/10Automation8/10
What this is
Moving existing customers to a higher-value version of what they already buy.
Why it matters
Selling to an existing customer converts several times better than selling to a stranger, at a fraction of the cost.
You have a problem here if
Customers discover your higher tier from your website rather than from you.
What to automate
Automate identification — usage thresholds, purchase patterns, account growth — and prompt the conversation. Automated upsell messaging works for simple products; considered purchases need a person.
13.6

Cross-selling

Time6/10Financial9/10Automation8/10
What this is
Selling adjacent products or services to existing customers.
Why it matters
Most businesses find that customers do not know half of what they offer. That is a communication failure with a direct revenue cost.
You have a problem here if
Customers buy an adjacent service elsewhere and are surprised you provide it.
What to automate
Automate the gap analysis: for each customer, what have they not bought that similar customers have? Then prompt the relevant conversation. This is a straightforward, high-return rule over existing data.
13.7

Reactivation

Time8/10Financial8/10Automation10/10
What this is
Bringing back customers who have stopped buying.
Why it matters
Eight for time, ten for automation. Lapsed customers already know and trust you — they are usually the cheapest source of new revenue in the business and the least worked.
You have a problem here if
You have a list of past customers you have not contacted in over a year.
What to automate
One of the best automation returns available. Define lapsed, segment by past value, and run a periodic reactivation sequence with a genuine reason to return. Set it up once; it produces revenue every cycle.
13.8

Loyalty

Time5/10Financial9/10Automation7/10
What this is
Whether customers actively prefer you when alternatives are available.
Why it matters
Loyalty is what protects margin under competitive pressure. It is earned through reliability and relationship rather than bought with points.
You have a problem here if
Customers leave for a marginally cheaper competitor.
What to automate
Moderate. Loyalty mechanics and recognition can be automated; the underlying reliability cannot. Be wary of loyalty programmes used to paper over a service problem — they cost money and do not work.
13.9

Referrals/advocacy

Time5/10Financial9/10Automation8/10
What this is
Customers actively recommending you, and a system that encourages it.
Why it matters
Advocacy produces the highest-quality demand at the lowest cost. It is the eventual output of everything else in this category working.
You have a problem here if
You get referrals and have never asked for one.
What to automate
Automate the ask, triggered on a satisfaction signal rather than a calendar, and track referral source on every new customer so advocates can be recognised.
13.10

Customer lifetime value

Time6/10Financial10/10Automation9/10
What this is
The total profit a customer relationship generates over its life.
Why it matters
Ten out of ten financially. Lifetime value is what makes retention, pricing and acquisition decisions comparable to each other.
You have a problem here if
Marketing decisions are justified against the first sale.
What to automate
High automation potential: compute lifetime value by segment and cohort from transaction history, refresh it monthly, and put it next to acquisition cost. These two numbers together settle most growth arguments.

Category totals

Time 63/100 · Financial 93/100 · Automation 86/100. The sum is the official roll-up; the averages above exist so categories of different sizes can be compared.