Glossary term
What is Customer lifetime value?
Short answer
Customer lifetime value is the total profit a business expects to earn from one customer over the whole relationship, including repeat jobs and referrals.
Customer lifetime value, explained for tree service owners
Customer lifetime value, often shortened to CLV, is the total profit one customer brings over time. For a tree service, that can include the first removal, later trims, stump grinding and referrals to neighbors or family. Knowing it tells you how much effort is worth spending to keep and reactivate a client. To estimate it, use your own records: average profit per job, times the number of jobs a typical client gives you over a few years. Keep the math simple and honest, and do not count work you have not earned. A higher number means you can afford better follow-up and a fair way to ask for reviews.
Related terms
- Estimate
Estimate is the price quote a tree service gives a customer for a job, often after looking at the trees on site, before the customer…
- Stump grinding
Stump grinding is a service that uses a machine to grind a tree stump below ground level, leaving wood chips and a flat area that can be…
- Average job value
Average job value is the typical amount a tree service earns from one completed job, found by dividing total job revenue by the number…
More terms, A to Z
All 199 glossary terms This term in the A-Z list Learn by topic Our services Pricing
Want to know how your company does on this?
Get a free 5-minute audit of your phone, website and Google profile. We check what you can see from the outside, in plain English. No call needed.
Get my free 5-minute audit