I had a great discussion with Peter Fader, who is a Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School and best known for his decades-long research in customer lifetime value. Peter is also a serial entrepreneur and in 2015 sold his customer analytics company, Zodiac to Nike.
We discuss how the new frontiers of customer analytics help us better understand not just the value of the customer but true enterprise value as well.

We also look into why some companies missed the opportunity in the crisis to transform their customer relationships to retain customers and gain market share. In his signature candid style and through vivid anecdotes, Peter points out how companies sometimes chase shiny digital tools and forget to analyze the vast customer data they already have. He asserts that digital technology in marketing is often ahead of where the companies are in their maturity. 

We dive into the most important dialog around value creation and how the CMOs and CFOs need a better way to agree on growth initiatives that benefit the enterprise.

He encourages us to take the long term view of the customer value and make sure we all understand which segments are truly profitable and help us grow our business and what needs those customers actually have. 

Peter's latest research on customer-based corporate valuation (CBCV) has introduced a framework and common language to fundamentally change the dialog between the shareholders, CEO, CFO, and the CMO on what it takes to build world-class, sustainable high growth businesses.