Smartest Way To Measure Loyalty

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In this newsletter, you’ll find:

🤓 The Retention Quality Index (RQI): A Smarter Way to Measure Loyalty

🚀 HubSpot’s Big AI Upgrade

🏆 Ad of the Day

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🤓 The Retention Quality Index (RQI): A Smarter Way to Measure Loyalty

Most brands measure retention like they’re reading tea leaves—repeat rate, reorder window, maybe CLTV if they’re fancy. But here’s the problem: these metrics are isolated, lagging, and often misleading.

Enter the Retention Quality Index (RQI)—a composite score that gives you a true picture of how healthy, profitable, and strategically useful your returning customer base actually is.

Why CLTV Alone Is Not Enough

Let’s say two customers both spend $300 over six months.

• Customer A buys 3x with increasing frequency, tries new SKUs, and self-reactivates.
• Customer B buys 2x, always during discounts, and disappears without a trigger.

They look the same in your CLTV dashboard—but they couldn’t be more different in value.

This is where RQI steps in: to quantify how that CLTV was earned.

The 5 Variables of RQI

• Purchase Acceleration Score (PAS): Measures if second and third purchases happen faster than the first. A sign of deepening trust.
• SKU Expansion Rate (SER): Tracks how many different product lines a customer explores. Higher SER = brand stickiness, not just product loyalty.
• Reactive vs. Proactive Engagement: Did the customer return after a reactivation email—or without a nudge? Self-initiated repeat behavior is gold.
• Discount Dependency Index (DDI): Captures how many purchases were tied to promotions. High DDI = fragile loyalty.
• Interpurchase Depth Score (IDS): Looks at average days between purchases and variance. Consistency signals habit; volatility signals risk.

Each of these variables is scored and weighted based on your business model, then rolled into a single, normalized RQI (0–100 scale).

The goal isn’t just retention—it’s high-quality retention.

RQI becomes your north star for strategic decision-making: Which flows build habit? Which customers are worth accelerating? Which segments are actually compounding your brand?

Instead of optimizing for more emails or bigger sales spikes, you’re now building toward a future where every dollar retained is smarter, not just bigger.

Because not all returning customers are good customers. And not all retention is created equal.

🚀 HubSpot’s Big AI Upgrade
Insights from SEJ

At Spring Spotlight 2025, HubSpot rolled out over 200 new features designed to streamline marketing, sales, and support operations. With AI at the core, the platform now offers smarter tools that help businesses scale efficiently while improving team collaboration and speed.

The Breakdown:

• AI-Powered Breeze Agents: HubSpot introduced four Breeze Agents to automate key workflows across marketing, sales, and support. Early adopters have already resolved over 50% of support tickets via automation, significantly cutting average handling time and improving customer service.
• Upgraded Marketing Hub: Enterprise users now get Lookalike Lists for targeting, Journey Automation with real-time behavioral adaptation, and Multi-Account Management tools for easier campaign reuse, asset copying, and centralized oversight.
• Focused AI Workspaces: New Sales, Success, and Help Desk Workspaces give each team a centralized hub to act on insights, manage tasks, and collaborate effectively—minimizing tool-switching and maximizing impact.

HubSpot’s broader shift integrates AI directly into day-to-day workflows. Instead of standalone AI tools, the system enhances existing processes, helping smaller teams scale without technical overhead.

🏆 Ad of the Day

What Works:

“Your growth starts with the first purchase” is a smart dual-meaning line. It ties product results (height) with shopping behavior, making the CTA emotionally and logically compelling.

Clean, warm visuals highlight a safe, family-friendly vibe. Each product is clearly shown with its benefits in view. The background supports wellness and morning routine themes.

“Enjoy 15% OFF” with a bold, clear discount code (THFIRST).  It removes friction for first-time buyers and encourages trial.

What Works Better:

There are no testimonials, reviews, or trust stats shown. Even a small “Loved by 10,000+ families” could build credibility.

Broader Insights:

This is a well-structured intro offer ad built for conversion optimization. It doesn’t just sell a product — it sells a starting point for transformation. Perfect candidate for retargeting audiences from awareness campaigns or as a landing page hero.

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