customer-retention
(85)
Marketing & Consulting: Fix the work behind the marketing
The Denver consultancy connects marketing, business intelligence, and system design. Its most useful idea is simple: look at what happens after the customer clicks.
Bespeak and the art of the second visit
A tablet on the counter. A text at the right moment. Bespeak built a business around the small decisions that turn a passing customer into a regular.
Yellow Stone and the art of the second visit
Getting a player to click is one job. Yellow Stone brings payments, marketing, analytics and customer care into the much longer business of getting them to return.
A little card. A big business decision.
Hallmark Business Connections puts a familiar greeting card inside an unfamiliar machine: corporate customer care. The interesting part is what happens before anyone opens the envelope.
KERN and the art of the next conversation
A welcome email. A first bill. A reason to stay. KERN built a business around the moments that turn a sale into a customer relationship.
Level Agency asks a better question: which leads matter?
A busy sales funnel can hide an expensive mistake. Level Agency builds its marketing around the people most likely to become customers - then teaches the ad platforms to find more of them.
TFC saw the future in a shrinking print run
When marketing collateral volumes started falling, TFC put $2 million into software and retraining. Its reinvention, later named VeraCentra, connected customer data to the surprisingly physical business of getting a message out.
Leafbuyer figured out the second visit.
A cannabis deals directory grew into a toolkit for getting shoppers to come back. Leafbuyer’s story runs through loyalty points, the humble text message, and a business that outgrew its original public-company identity.
Amplitude found the business inside the experiment
A voice app struggled to find paying customers. The tool built to understand its users became Amplitude - and a business built around knowing what to change next.
Curinos and the price of standing still
A bank can win a new deposit and still lose money on the deal. Curinos helps it see the difference - then decide what to do next.
Your car dealer has amnesia. Team Velocity has a fix.
The dealership already knows your car, your payments, and your service history. Team Velocity’s Apollo platform asks a useful question: why should its website make you start over?
The power of “skip this month.”
Privé became Recurly Commerce by helping Shopify brands make subscriptions more flexible. Its useful insight: a customer with too much product may need a different schedule, not another discount.
SenText and the art of the second visit
A text message can fill a quiet afternoon. SenText’s more interesting business is teaching Main Street how to earn the next visit - and giving someone a reason to help.
Vehlo wants the minutes between repairs.
A car can be ready before the business around it is. Vehlo is buying and connecting the software that moves a repair from first appointment to final payment.
Recharge sells the second order.
The first sale gets the applause. Recharge built a business around the quieter question: what makes a customer come back?
Route sells peace of mind after you click Buy
A missing parcel can cost a retailer more than the merchandise inside it. Route built a business around that awkward interval between taking the money and keeping the promise.
parcelLab and the business of keeping customers waiting well
The sale is finished. The customer’s questions are just beginning. parcelLab helps retailers turn the uneasy interval between checkout and delivery into a reason to come back.
Superfans.io wants your best customers to skip the queue
The company formerly known as Vajro turns Shopify stores into mobile apps for repeat buyers. Its wager: early access, live shopping, and a little recognition can give customers a reason to return.
Voyantis asks the $60 million question: which customers will stay?
A cheap signup can be an expensive mistake. Voyantis turns early customer behavior into signals that help advertising platforms bid for the people likely to come back.
Endear turns the follow-up into a sales floor
The retail CRM gives store associates a longer memory and a way to sell after shoppers leave. Its most useful lesson may be knowing when to send the next text.
Omniconvert wants your customers to come back
A Romanian software company built its name on the first sale. Its more interesting wager is on the second: measure who returns, understand who leaves, and stop confusing a busy checkout with a healthy business.
Helpshift and the art of keeping players in the game
A missing reward. A locked account. A player reaching for the exit. Helpshift puts support inside the game, then asks whether that small intervention can protect a much larger relationship.
Bluecore gives shoppers a reason to come back
A laptop is an awkward thing to sell twice. Bluecore turns that retail problem into a data problem, matching shoppers with products and moments that make another purchase worth considering.
Kobie knows why a good customer comes back
A rewards program can buy another transaction. Kobie builds the software, strategy and operating habits intended to make the relationship last - and knows that a pleasant surprise can be the wrong reward.
automotiveMastermind: The sale before the showroom
Two Mercedes-Benz salesmen turned a familiar question - who should I call next? - into a dealership software business. Now automotiveMastermind is trying to make the answer useful enough to act on.
PAR Punchh found the money at the register
A loyalty app stumbled over the simplest restaurant ritual: paying the bill. Connecting to the register helped turn Punchh into a $500 million acquisition - and explains its next move beyond loyalty members.
OutboundEngine sells the marketing you keep putting off
For the small business owner with a full calendar and an empty newsletter, OutboundEngine supplies the words, the schedule, and the software. The interesting part is what it leaves for the owner to do.
Act-On and the art of never losing the next conversation
A sale can take months. A relationship can last years. Act-On sells marketers a way to keep both moving, without asking them to replace their entire software stack.
Omnisend and the profitable art of showing up on time
In Omnisend’s 2025 data, automated messages produced 30% of email revenue from just 2% of sends. The company has built its business around a small merchant’s large problem: knowing when to speak.
Yodle sold the promise of a ringing phone. Keeping customers was harder.
A dentist’s $1,200 monthly bill helped reveal Yodle’s market. A $342 million acquisition revealed its value. Between the two lies a useful lesson about what local businesses actually buy.