Ryan: Is it cheaper to sign a new customer? Or to keep an existing customer?
Dwight: Keep an existing…
Michael: [to Dwight] Shut, it. Can I… can I just do it please? [to Ryan] Uh, it’s equal.
Ryan: It is ten times more expensive to sign a new customer.
Michael: Okay. Yes! It was a trick question.
In this classic exchange from The Office, Michael was wrong (as usual). And the figure, according to the Harvard Business Review, is that can even be up to 25 times more expensive to sign a new customer. It’s always in your best interest to earn your customers’ loyalty rather than to focus too much on getting new customers.
