Do you value your clients? I don’t mean do you appreciate them. I mean have you ever placed a value on your clients?

So many times as business owners we look from sale to sale, rarely looking up to see “the big picture.” The art and science of customer acquisition and retention is weakened because we have no idea what sort of impact an individual client has on our business and therefore how much time and resources are appropriate to invest in them.

Take “Cuppa Joe’s” latte stand as an example. Joe has a steady stream of clients every day who buy their $3.00 coffee on their way to work. Business is bustling, but Joe finds himself frustrated by customers who demand special treatment and giveaways, all for their measly $3.00 sale. Joe is already tense thinking how futile it is to build a living wage business on $3.00 sales. But wait a minute - — perhaps Joe can’t see the forest for the trees. What would happen if Joe looked up from his cash register and took the opportunity to see his customers in a new way?

Mary, who has been a regular and loyal customer of Joe’s for three years, is a perfect example. Joe figures out that Mary buys a $3.00 latte every weekday totaling $15 per week. Over the course of the year, that means Mary is a customer worth about $780.00. Now THAT is a serious sale! In fact, over the lifetime of this business relationship, Mary has been a $2,340 client. She just may be worthy of some special treatment once in a while.

So, what is the average customer worth to your business? It’s simple. Take an average customer and determine how much they spend with your company in a year. Multiply that by the typical length of time they remain a customer – one year, three, ten? More often that not you will find that your customers are much bigger players in your success than you imagined. Once you know your customers’ value, your perspective of them changes and retaining their business becomes a priority. With this new information, giving Mary something extra periodically will ensure her loyalty to Joe. And that turns into increased value. The rule of thumb is to invest 10% percent of a customer’s value back into the retention of that customer. In the case of Mary, Joe could invest as much as $78 in that “something extra” — whether it’s a free latte, a cookie or something else Mary would appreciate.

Use this information to plan and implement your customer retention program. In addition to ensuring that your customer service is excellent and that your product is top quality, provide that “something extra” that gives value back to your customers. It’s a guaranteed recipe for customer satisfaction and increased business success. Just ask Joe.

(Editor’s Note: Wendy Miles, Director of Customized Training and Special Programs at Olympic College, oversees the operation of the Kitsap Business Assistance Center (KBAC). For partnership opportunities, contact Ms. Milesher at 360-475-7786. Business Development Specialist at the KBAC, Sharon Zerr, contributed to this article and provides individual counseling for businesses. For business counseling needs Ms. Zerrshe can be reached at 360-307-4220).