Customer Equity Survey

Customer Equity™
Are you maximizing your customer assets?

All answers will remain anonymous. All fields are required to submit this form.
Answer each of the questions below by marking the letter that corresponds to the best suited answer.

What is your Industry Type?

What is your Title?

What is most important in maximizing the value of the company?

	A. New customer acquisition
	B. A mix of customer retention and add-on selling
	C. An optimal balance of customer acquisition, retention, and add-on selling

Can customer asset value be quantified?

	A. Yes, by using mathematical models and customer data
	B. Yes, by making customer expansion forecasts based on past data and informed conjecture
	C. No, customer equity is intangible; it cannot be quantified

A firm can maximize Customer Equity™ if it:

	A. Invests heavily in brand equity via marketing and advertising
	B. Focuses investment on loyal customers
	C. Optimizes acquisition, retention, and add-on selling strategies with respect to the customer life-cycle

Should a firm spend more on customers who are more responsive to promotions than on those who are less responsive?

	A. Invest in your most responsive customers; they provide the best ROI
	B. Invest in your less responsive customers, if there is a chance to convert them
	C. Balance investment between your most and least responsive customers

Assuming an optimal cost structure, what price levels should firms offer customers with high retention rates over time?

	A. Firms should offer lower prices to high retention customers
	B. Firms should offer higher prices to the most loyal customers in many cases
	C. Firms should not price differentiate between different customer segments

Does a firm need databases on customer purchase behavior to value Customer Equity™?

	A. Yes, collecting both pre-purchase interaction data and post-purchase response data in the form of comprehensive databases is important to Customer Equity™
	B. No, databases are useful, but are not required to value Customer Equity™
	C. No, customer equity cannot be determined using databases, because they offer limited and often inconclusive information

To manage customer assets most effectively, companies should organize their marketing efforts around:

	A. Product lines
	B. Customer segments OR customer acquisition, retention, and add-on selling, depending upon the most critical organizational imperative
	C. Functional areas, including: pricing, promotion, sales force, customer targeting, channel management

Should a firm strive for 100% customer retention in order to maximize profitability?

	A. Yes, maximum profits are derived from 100% customer retention
	B. A 90% customer retention target is sufficient to guarantee high profitability
	C. No, often optimizing Customer Equity™ and profitability can require lower retention targets

Benchmark Your Customer Equity™ Program - See how your company stacks up!
If you would like to receive a copy of these benchmarking results, please provide your e-mail address at the conclusion of the survey. All answers will remain confidential.

Do you currently use a software-based CRM application?

	A. Yes
	B. No, but plan to implement one in the near future
	C. No, and no plans to implement
	D. No, use other non-software based CRM tools

10.

Have you noticed financial benefits from your CRM efforts?

	A. Yes, at or above the amount expected
	B. Yes, but below the amount expected
	C. No, benefits
	D. Not applicable, no CRM efforts currently underway

11.

What is your current customer retention rate (defined as % of current year customers who were customers last year)?

	A. 0-33%
	B. 34-66%
	C. 67-100%
	D. Don't know

12.

What is your customer retention target for 2001?

	A. 0-33%
	B. 34-66%
	C. 67-100%
	D. Customer retention targets are undefined

13.

What is your company's goal for new customer acquisition?

	A. Greater than 25% growth in new customers
	B. Between 11% and 25% growth in new customers
	C. Between 0% and 10% growth in new customers
	D. No goal for new customer acquisition

14.

How are marketing responsibilities organized in your company?

	A. By product or service line
	B. By geography
	C. By customer segment or industry
	D. Other

15.

What percentage of your marketing budget do you devote to customer acquisition (advertisements, promotions etc.)?

	A. Approximately 0% - 33%
	B. Approximately 34% - 66%
	C. Approximately 67% - 100%
	D. Don't know

16.

What percentage of your marketing budget do you devote to customer retention (customer service operations etc.)?

	A. Approximately 0% - 25%
	B. Approximately 25% - 50%
	C. Approximately 50% - 75%
	D. Don't Know

17.

In your experience, which of the following techniques is most effective for creating add-on sales to existing customers?

	A. Promote products through channel distribution partners
	B. Use customer databases
	C. Rely on mass-marketing techniques
	D. Industry market research

18.

How do you reward sales force and marketing teams?

	A. By sales per period
	B. By the length of the customer relationship
	C. By selling additional types of products to existing customers
	D. A combination of the above

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