Find audience, FAQ, meaning, and usage of quote-The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.
It flips the entire script from transactions to relationships, and honestly, it’s the only strategy that builds something lasting.
Table of Contents
Meaning
This means that profit isn’t the primary goal, it’s the result. The real, fundamental job of any business is to do two things: attract a customer, and then do whatever it takes to make them stay.
Explanation
Let me break this down because it’s deceptively simple. Create a customer is all your marketing, your sales, your value proposition, it’s the initial handshake. But the magic, the real profit engine, is in keep a customer. That’s where you build loyalty, get repeat sales, and turn clients into raving fans who refer others. It’s a shift from a one-time sale mindset to a lifetime value mindset.
Summary
| Category | Business (34) |
|---|---|
| Topics | service (6), value (7) |
| Style | succinct (7) |
| Mood | rational (8), strategic (4) |
Origin & Factcheck
| Author | Brian Tracy (13) |
|---|---|
| Book | The Psychology of Selling (4) |
About the Author
Brian Tracy is a motivational speaker, author, and business coach, written over 70 books and delivered thousands of seminars on success, leadership, sales, and personal achievement.
Official Website |Facebook | X | Instagram | YouTube |
Quotation Source:
| The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer |
| Publication Year/Date: 1988; ISBN: 978-0785288060; Last Edition: HarperCollins, Revised Edition 2006; Number of Pages: 240 |
| Chapter 18: Customer Retention, Page 231 / 240 |
Context
In the book, Tracy is drilling into the psychology of what makes a top performer in sales. He’s arguing that the best salespeople don’t just close a deal; they open a relationship. They understand that their success isn’t measured by a single commission check but by a growing list of satisfied, repeat customers.
Usage Examples
- For a Marketing Team: Instead of just asking Will this campaign generate leads?, ask Will this attract the right kind of customer we can actually keep? It changes the entire targeting strategy.
- For a Product Team: Every feature update should be viewed through the lens of Does this deepen our existing customer’s loyalty? Not just Will this attract new users?
- For Leadership: When reviewing metrics, shift the focus from just monthly sales figures to customer lifetime value (LTV) and churn rate. That’s where you see if you’re truly keeping them.
To whom it appeals?
| Audience | entrepreneurs (117), leaders (178), marketers (18), sales people (30) |
|---|---|
This quote can be used in following contexts: sales training,business lectures,marketing workshops,corporate keynotes
Common Questions
Question: Isn’t the purpose of a business to make a profit?
Answer: Yes, but profit is the outcome, the scoreboard. Creating and keeping a customer is the activity that generates that profit sustainably. You can have short-term profit by burning through customers, but you can’t have long-term profit without keeping them.
Question: How is this different from customer service?
Answer: Customer service is a part of keeping a customer, but this philosophy is bigger. It’s about the entire customer experience, from the first ad they see, to the quality of the product, to the support they receive. It’s a company-wide ethos, not just a department.
Question: What’s the first step to applying this?
Answer: The simplest place to start is to map your customer’s journey. Identify every single touchpoint they have with your company and ask one question at each stage: Is this designed to create a customer, or to keep one? You’ll find your answers, and your gaps, really, really quickly.