Acquisition

The work of winning a customer for the first time. Necessary, expensive, and overrated next to keeping the ones you have.

Acquisition prices the story. Every new customer costs a sum of attention, persuasion and incentive, and that cost is a running referendum on how compelling the offer is unassisted. When acquisition gets expensive, the message and the market fit are usually what actually rose in price.

Overrated next to retention because the economics compound differently: the acquired customer starts at zero and the retained one starts at trust. The healthiest arrangement is circular, retained customers lowering acquisition's cost by doing its talking. When acquisition must work alone, it is compensating for a leak.