We talked about the important things that must be done to ensure great value of a company in an earlier post this month. Maintaining marquee customers also creates value. Marquee customers, according to an article on Bloomberg Businessweek, by Promise Phelon in 2006, “spend more, stick around longer, provide feedback, and get the word out.” This makes it obvious as to why these special types of customers help create real value for a company. Think about a group of parents who support their children’s sports teams. These parents are at every game; they purchase tickets for themselves, their other children, and many times friends and other family members. They voice their concerns to the coaches about how the team is playing and what they think could be changed or corrected. They also stick around as long as their children are on the team, which could be at least four years. Some even stick around longer because they grow loyal to the coaching staff and the program. Lastly, these parents are willing to get the word out because they proudly support their children’s teams. This brings in even more spectators and money for the program. Sure, the parents get upset after a loss, but the coaches and athletic directors do whatever they can to ensure that the program thrives because of the value their marquee customers provide. As a business leader, it is important to make decisions that not only affect your shareholders but affect your marquee customers as well.
These are customers that you always want on board with you. The value that they bring to a company is promising and can be very beneficial in the long run when companies are not attracting new customers. The marquee customers will remain faithful and true.
Real value is something that business owners must understand. Yes, profits are a nice example of a company’s value; however, the long-term, real value that companies need in order to compete in a market comes from the strong foundation that the business owners lay as well as the marquee customers that support the company from day one.
