The second step in the research process was to
evaluate each of the company’s current customers in
terms of their estimated lifetime value to the company.
As noted above, CLV estimates are an important part
of the CRM process; and these calculations also can be
important for making decisions about customer
acquisition and retention. Internal records from the
sales and accounting departments of the company were
used to make these CLV estimates. The procedures
used were similar to those provided by Berger and Nasr
(1998) and Mulhern (1999), but the precise estimation
methods are deemed proprietary.