The meaning and measurement of customer retention

Abstract

Retaining good customers (or those that may become good) is one of the most important topics in customer relationship marketing (CRM).1 Its importance is not confined to CRM — customer retention has a pedigree that goes back to the era of classic direct marketing and branding. But how professionally do companies approach this topic? The research described in this paper was commissioned by the Royal Mail as part of a programme aimed at identifying the role of mail in keeping customers. This first report on the research focuses on conceptual and definitional issues.