You will agree with me when I say that the customer is the company’s scarcest resource and most valuable asset. It’s the only thing that truly distinguishes it from the rest. Products are no longer the focus of Marketing Strategies because nothing makes them unique and distinct, as customers do. Products have become commodities in an environment marked by consumer saturation.

The “short-term” strategies many companies have opted for, including some of the world’s largest and most influential, have caused great prejudice towards the world of Customer Marketing. Focusing solely on quarterly results, many companies have ended up exhausting their most valuable asset: the customers. I always compare this mistaken, short-term vision with the policy of intensive cultivation used by some farmers: those who exploit. Instead of “exploiting” the customer to the point of being “burned out”, I advocate “conservation” and customer growth.

A survey carried out by Duke University, where I give classes, recently revealed that of the 4,000 high-level executives consulted, 78% admitted having given up on generating value for the company, and instead focusing solely on satisfying Wall Street’s expectations. Of course, that “price” includes the customer. The saddest thing about this is that no one is punished for it. Company directors may be reprimanded for not meeting the expectations of financial markets or stockholders, but can you imagine a group of high-level executives seeing their annual bonuses cut because they haven’t met loyalization or customer satisfaction expectations?

Can you imagine companies informing their stockholders not only on the evolution of their stock’s value, but also on the evolution of their customer’s value? Customer value is the DNA of every company. It’s time for organizations to start structuring themselves according to this premise; time for Customer Managers, capable of responding to customers’ evolution and life-cycle. It’s time for the well-worn ROI to make equal room for ROC (Return On Customer).

In this sense, the delicate subject of Loyalization Strategies must always be approached with one key focus: profitability. Every strategy linked to the customer must be based on that customer’s value, in such a way that value is immediately generated for the company.

If a company asks itself why customers chose it and why they are loyal to its products and services, the first answer that will come to mind is most likely “trust”. Why then should we apply strategies anchored in products, technology, and short-term tactical actions? This attitude only leads to the destruction of value. Taking full advantage of the term “trust” means treating each customer differently; involving the entire company in an organizational shift with the customers as its focus; recognizing customer needs at all times; optimizing the use of information we accumulate on them, and assigning the best resources to the best customers. Does every company know exactly which customers are creating or destroying value? Do all companies have well-defined strategies for each one of them? How can we know, then, which ones to retain, loyalize, and reward, and which ones to get rid of?

The moment has arrived for any company with the desire to grow to accept that the customer is its most valued asset and its scarcest resource, and it must act accordingly.