| Course | MT202 Building Customer Sales and Loyalty |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Seminar reflection |
| Length | About 820 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT202 Unit 9
The December-Only Dogs: A Unit 9 Seminar Reflection on Whether Keeping a Customer Costs Less
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT202: Building Customer Sales and Loyalty
Unit 9 Seminar Reflection
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The grooming salon, its clients and every figure are composite and illustrative; bracketed figures are estimates; the sources cited are real.
What the Seminar Argued
Our instructor opened the seminar with a story about a hardware store that spent heavily on newspaper ads while ignoring the contractors who already shopped there every week. The point was that retention is cheaper than acquisition, and that a business focused only on new customers is pouring water into a leaking bucket. The claim is often traced to Reichheld and Sasser (1990), whose figures suggested that a service company holding on to five more customers in every hundred could lift profits by somewhere between a quarter and well over three quarters, depending on the industry. Their examples ranged from credit cards to auto service, and the logic is simple: a regular customer costs little to serve and buys more each year. I accepted the claim when I heard it. I wanted to see whether it held for a business I know.
Testing It on a Grooming Salon
My sister runs a two-groomer salon in a suburb of Kansas City, and with her permission I used her rough numbers, which I have treated as estimates. A new client costs her about [$62] to acquire: paid social ads run [$40] per booked first appointment on average, and she offers [$22] off a first groom. Keeping an existing client costs far less. Her booking software sends reminder texts for about [$1] a client a year, she gives a [$10] rebooking discount when a client books the next appointment before leaving, and she gives each dog a birthday treat worth [$4]. That totals about [$15] a year for a returning client.
A typical regular, a doodle groomed every six weeks, brings in about [$780] a year at [$90] a visit. On those figures the seminar's claim holds easily. Retaining the regular costs a quarter of what it costs to replace her, and the regular brings in far more revenue than a new client would in a first year.
Where It Failed
The surprise came when my sister sorted her clients by how often they booked. About a fifth of her client list books exactly once a year, for a holiday groom in December, often for family photos. These clients receive the same reminder texts all year, they get the rebooking discount when they book next December, and the salon gives them birthday treats. They also take the most expensive appointment slots in the busiest month, when regulars are turned away.
When I worked out the numbers for this group, the cost of retaining them was about [$15] a year, roughly the same as for regulars, but their revenue was about [$95] a year. Worse, each December booking took a slot that a regular might have used for an extra holiday groom. On her figures, retaining December-only clients through the same program cost her money once the lost regular bookings were counted.
Reinartz and Kumar (2000) found that in noncontractual businesses, long-lived customers were not always the profitable ones, and that some short-lived customers were more profitable than loyal ones. I had read that finding before the seminar without understanding it. The December dogs made it concrete: a customer who returns every year is loyal by one measure, but loyalty that costs more than it brings is not what the retention claim promises.
The December dogs were loyal; they just were not the customers the retention claim was talking about.
What I Now Believe
I still believe the seminar's main point. For a service business with regular customers, keeping them is far cheaper than finding new ones, and my sister's regulars prove it. The difference now is that I see retention as a choice made customer group by customer group, not a single program applied to everyone. Before the seminar I would have told my sister to send more reminders to everyone. Now I would tell her to look at who the reminders are reaching. Gupta et al. (2004) argued that a customer's value depends on margin, retention rate and acquisition cost together, and that companies should be valued by their customers' future profits. The useful question is not whether retention is cheaper but which customers are worth retaining at what cost.
For my sister's salon, that suggests a simple change: stop sending year-round reminders and birthday treats to December-only clients, and offer them a holiday booking window that opens after regulars have chosen their slots.
My question for the next unit is whether loyalty programs should deliberately exclude some customers. If a program rewards every returning client equally, it may be paying the least valuable ones to keep coming back.
References
Gupta, S., Lehmann, D. R., & Stuart, J. A. (2004). Valuing customers. Journal of Marketing Research, 41(1), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.41.1.7.25084
Reichheld, F. F., & Sasser, W. E., Jr. (1990). Zero defections: Quality comes to services. Harvard Business Review, 68(5), 105-111.
Reinartz, W. J., & Kumar, V. (2000). On the profitability of long-life customers in a noncontractual setting: An empirical investigation and implications for marketing. Journal of Marketing, 64(4), 17-35. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.64.4.17.18077
Reading the MT 202 Unit 9 instructions
For Unit 9, most MT 202 sections want a first-person piece on the seminar about an idea the session discussed. Retention and customer value are a common focus at this point in the course. Most prompts want three moves: what the seminar or the text claimed, how the idea holds up when you apply it to a real or composite business, and what you now think. Figures make a retention argument far stronger, even when they are labeled estimates. If you missed the live session, most sections offer a written alternative with questions on the same topic, and the same three moves answer it. Disagreement is allowed if it is supported. Close with a revised view and a question you would carry into the next unit. Expect about two pages, citing the source of the claim and at least one other reading in APA 7.
How this MT202 Unit 9 example is built
The reflection opens by recounting the instructor's hardware store example and tracing the retention claim to Reichheld and Sasser's work on customer defections. The test paragraph moves to the writer's sister's grooming salon, adding up what a new client costs in ads and a first-groom discount and what a returning client costs in reminder texts, a rebooking discount and a birthday treat. A margin note marks why applying the claim to numbers matters. The surprise paragraph introduces the clients who book only in December and shows they cost about the same to retain as regulars while bringing in a fraction of the revenue and displacing regular bookings. Reinartz and Kumar's finding about unprofitable long-lived customers becomes concrete, and the highlighted line says so. The final paragraphs revise the writer's view with Gupta and colleagues and suggest a holiday booking window.
Reading the MT202 Unit 9 grading rubric
A seminar reflection in this course usually earns its marks by showing thinking that moves. Summarizing the seminar accurately is the starting point, but the grade rises when the writer tests the idea against a real setting and reports what happened honestly. Figures, even estimates, show that the test was done rather than imagined. The surprise or limit the writer finds is often the part instructors value most, because it demonstrates engagement beyond agreement. First person is expected throughout, and the tone should stay analytical. A revised belief at the end, stated clearly, shows that the reflection changed something. Sources should support the reasoning: here the claim, the counterevidence and the customer value view each come from a different reading. Reichheld and Sasser, Reinartz and Kumar, and Gupta and colleagues need correct APA 7 form.
MT202 Unit 9 help: mistakes that cost points
Reflections lose points most often by retelling the seminar in order and ending with a sentence about how much was learned. Another common problem is agreeing with the claim without testing it, which leaves nothing to reflect on. Some writers test the idea but use no figures, so the result is opinion. Others find a limit and then do not change their conclusion. Watch the balance between personal and analytical: a reflection is first person, but its claims still need sources. Disagreement is welcome when it is supported and respectful. If you have no business to test the idea on, a composite with clearly labeled assumptions works, as long as the arithmetic is shown. Tell us what your seminar discussed and which business you know, and our writers can work out the numbers with you and shape the change of mind into a reflection.
Get an MT202 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Seminar attended or written alternative completed, either one works: say what the Unit 9 session argued or paste the alternative's questions, and include the rubric. Tested against a business and figures you name, or a composite, the reflection records what shifted, in the first person. Delivery takes 24-48h; the first reflection costs nothing. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT202 Unit 9 questions, answered
What if I missed the live seminar?
A written alternative is available in most sections, usually questions on the same topic. Answer those with the same three moves: what the idea claims, how it holds up when tested, and what you now think. Check the instructions for word count and sourcing rules, since alternatives are sometimes graded on a slightly different rubric than live attendance.
Where do the retention and acquisition figures come from?
Any business you know well, published industry estimates, or a composite with clearly labeled assumptions. The exact numbers matter less than the comparison. Show what it costs to win a new customer and what it costs to keep one, then compare each against what that customer spends. Label estimates openly so the grader can see your reasoning.
Is it acceptable to disagree with the seminar?
Yes, if the disagreement is supported. Reflections that test an idea and find a limit often score better than those that simply agree. Keep the tone respectful, cite what the seminar or text actually said, and show the evidence that led you to a different view. A partial disagreement, true for some customers but not others, is often the strongest position.
Where can I find a free MT202 Unit 9 sample paper?
A complete MT202 Unit 9 seminar reflection is printed on this page. It tests the retention claim against a grooming salon's estimated figures, finds the December-only clients for whom it fails drawing on three real retention studies, and margin notes explain each move.
What change does the sample suggest for the December-only clients?
Stop sending them year-round reminders and birthday treats, and open a holiday booking window for them after regular clients have chosen their December slots. That keeps the holiday business while protecting the bookings of the salon's most valuable customers.