One client of yours could be worth R30,600 do you know the value of yours?

Hello,

This week’s newsletter comes to you from Chania in Crete, our last stop before we head back to Athens and then back home.  Yesterday we had the most incredible experience picture this: speedboat cutting across the water toward Balos Lagoon, regularly rated the second most beautiful beach in the world.

Getting there by land means a long drive and then a 30-minute walk from the car park in the Cretan heat, so this time we decided to charter a boat instead.

I found the company on Google search and they had whatsapp link as contact, so I sent a quick message asking about availability.

Before answering a single question of mine, the other end asked me.

“Where did you get my number from?”

I said a google search.

“Thank you,” he said, and got straight on with booking us in. A great, brand-new speedboat and clearly a person who knows exactly where his next customer is coming from.

Ten seconds. One question. And he now has that answer on record.

That exchange stuck with me, because this week I was teaching the final session of our five-week Marketing Masterclass Session 5, “The Funnel, The Money, and Your 30-Day Plan” -and the entire session comes down to one question most businesses in our industry have never actually been able to answer.

Did your marketing make money?

Not “did we post a lot this month.” Not “did the reel do well.” Did it make money.

And you genuinely cannot answer that unless you can answer a much smaller question first - the one that person on WhatsApp asked without even thinking about it.

Where did this enquiry actually come from?

Because here’s what most spas and salons are doing instead: spending money on ads, running promotions, posting content and having no real idea which of it is working, which is losing money, and which is doing nothing at all.

In the session, we worked through the handful of numbers that actually answer this - cost per lead, cost per booking, rebooking rate, campaign ROI. But the one that tends to stop the room every single time is Client Lifetime Value - because most owners have never actually sat down and worked out what one client is worth.

So let’s do it properly. Take your numbers.

A facial client at R950, once every two months - that’s 6 visits a year. R5,700 a year. Over three years of loyalty, that one client is worth R17,100 - not R950.

A nail client at R600, every three weeks - that’s roughly 17 visits a year. R10,200 a year. Over three years, that’s R30,600 from one regular.

Now ask yourself honestly: do you know what your own regulars are actually worth? Do you know what it costs you to bring in a new client, and whether that client is worth more than what you spent to get them?

If you run a hotel spa and your guests rarely come back in person, the number to track is different but the principle is identical. Your “regular” isn’t the individual guest, it’s the relationship with the concierge desk, the tour operators, and the reviews that guest leaves behind on the way out. One guest may only visit once. But one glowing review, or one strong relationship with the person on the front desk making recommendations, can quietly refer you dozens of guests over a year. The value isn’t in that single visit - it’s in what that visit generates afterwards. Track that instead.

Most business owners - hotel spa or high street salon - are guessing at all of this. And if you’re guessing, you can’t tell the difference between marketing that’s actually working and marketing that just feels busy.

So here’s my question for you this week - no bigger than the one on WhatsApp:

If I asked you right now what your average client is actually worth over three years - could you answer? Or would you be guessing?

That one number changes everything about how much you’re willing to spend to get a new client, and how hard you work to keep the ones you already have.

Have a wonderful week.

Me agapi, Marisa

P.S. That was the final session of this five-week Masterclass. If reading this made you wish you’d been in the room for the rest of it - the funnel, the scorecard, the full 30-day plan we built together - that feeling is exactly the point.