More so than ever before, today’s CEOs are faced with increased competition and customers who are very savvy and can be highly demanding, which allows them to be more selective in their purchases of products and services.

The result is that it’s getting harder and harder to acquire and retain profitable customers.

Now, more than ever, it is critical to develop and adhere to a consistent customer strategy that carefully and consistently orchestrates the entire customer lifecycle from targeting and acquisition (I’ve always been bothered by this type of “search and destroy” militaristic feel), to customer service, retention, winback, and termination/loss. Only by carefully managing customers in this type of comprehensive manner can CEOs hope to acquire and retain their most profitable customers. Anything less is merely chance and circumstance.