Customer EconomicsObservation 0022 min read
−14.6%
Growth is not the same thing as value.
A business can get bigger and weaker at the same time. The gap shows up first in the customers, not in the P&L.
Customer Economics
Understand the customers behind the growth.
Growth is only valuable when the customers generating it create sustainable economics. TCB connects acquisition, customer quality, contribution, retention and future value to show where commercial performance is strengthening, and where it is leaking.
Where it works in the value chain
Customer · Contribution · Repeat
What we help solve
The problems that bring leadership to this work.
- 01Revenue is growing and nobody can say which customers are worth acquiring.
- 02Acquisition looks efficient, but each new cohort is worth less than the last.
- 03Lifetime value carries the budget, but it rests on assumed rather than observed churn.
- 04Retention spend rises while repeat purchase stays flat.
- 05Segments are defined by demographics, not by the value customers create.
Our capabilities
Customer Economics, in 6 parts.
01.1
Customer Value
01.2
Customer Quality
01.3
Customer Lifetime Value
01.4
Retention & Repeat
01.5
Customer Segmentation
01.6
Demand Economics
How we approach the problem
Diagnose, benchmark, identify, prioritize, act.
01
Diagnose
Frame the decision and reconcile the data. Separate what is observed from what is assumed.
02
Benchmark
Compare against your own history, your cohorts and the category, where evidence exists.
03
Identify
Locate where value is created and where it leaks, and the mechanism behind each.
04
Prioritize
Size each opportunity in contribution and rank by value, confidence and effort.
05
Act
Leave with decisions, owners and measures, and the date each will be judged.
Commercial questions
The questions we answer.
- Which customers create positive contribution within 90 days, and which never do?
- How has the value of each acquisition cohort changed over the last four quarters?
- What share of lifetime value is observed, and what share is assumed?
- Which segments deserve a higher acquisition cost, and which should we stop paying for?
What changes
Potential outcomes.
- Acquisition targets set on customer value, not cost per acquisition.
- A shared view of which cohorts, channels and offers create value.
- Retention investment directed at customers whose behavior it actually changes.
- A lifetime value the finance team is prepared to sign off.
Outcomes describe what the work is designed to change. They are not guarantees.
Related capabilities
Commercial problems rarely stay in one function.
Featured intelligence
Related thinking.
Customer EconomicsObservation 0042 min read
1.2 : 1
The ratio that reads 3 to 1, and isn't.
An LTV:CAC ratio is only as good as the churn behind it. Replace assumed churn with observed churn and the green light can turn red.
GrowthObservation 0012 min read
4
Revenue is evidence, not an explanation.
A rising line proves something happened. It says nothing about why, whether it was worth it, or whether it will happen again.
A TCB engagement
10–15
Business days
Customer Economics Sprint
One commercial diagnosis and a clear 90-day path forward: the constraint identified, the economics diagnosed, the opportunity benchmarked and the intervention prioritized.
Bring the constraint.We'll give it direction.
Start with the commercial problem you're trying to solve. We'll identify the constraint, diagnose the economics, and determine whether there is a useful next step.
- 01Identify the constraint
- 02Diagnose the economics
- 03Recommend the right intervention
- 04Define the next move