Sunil Gupta

Carl F. Mela

Los clientes que pagan poco o nada y son subvencionados por otro grupo de clientes son esenciales para una amplia gama de empresas, como los centros comerciales, las agencias inmobiliarias, los proveedores de tecnología de la información, las casas de subastas, los medios de comunicación impresos y en línea, y los servicios de empleo y de citas. Según una estimación, este modelo de negocio representa la mayor parte de los ingresos de 60 de las 100 empresas más grandes del mundo.1 Con la explosión del número de servicios gratuitos ofrecidos en Internet, es probable que aumente la prevalencia de los llamados mercados de dos caras.

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Reprint: R0811G
Free customers who are subsidized by paying customers are essential to a vast array of businesses, such as media companies, employment services, and even IT providers. But because they generate revenue only indirectly, figuring out the true value of those customers&#8212;and how much attention to devote to them&#8212;has always been a challenge.
Traditional customer-valuation models don&#8217;t help; they focus exclusively on paying customers and largely ignore network effects, or how customers help draw other customers to a business. Now a new model, devised by professors Gupta, of Harvard Business School, and Mela, of Fuqua School of Business, takes into account not only direct network effects (where buyers attract more buyers or sellers more sellers) but also indirect network effects (where buyers attract more sellers or vice versa). The model calculates the precise long-term impact of each additional free customer on a company&#8217;s profits, factoring in the degree to which he or she brings in other customers&#8212;whether free or paying&#8212;and the ripple effect of those customers.
The model helped an online auction house make several critical decisions. The business made its money on fees charged to sellers but recognized that its free customers&#8212;its buyers&#8212;were valuable, too. As competition heated up, the company worried that it wasn&#8217;t wooing enough buyers. Using the model, the business discovered that the network effects of buyers were indeed large and that those customers were worth over $1,000 each&#8212;much more than had been assumed. Armed with that information, the firm increased its research on buyers, invested more in targeting them with ads, and improved their experience. The model also helped the company identify the effects of various pricing strategies on sellers, showing that they became less price-sensitive over time. As a result, the company raised the fees it charged them as well.

What Is a Free Customer Worth?

Reimpresión: R0811G
Los clientes gratuitos subvencionados por clientes de pago son esenciales para una gran variedad de empresas, como las compañías de medios de comunicación, los servicios de empleo e incluso los proveedores de IT. Pero como sólo generan ingresos indirectamente, averiguar el verdadero valor de esos clientes -y cuánta atención dedicarles- siempre ha sido un reto.
Los modelos tradicionales de valoración de clientes no ayudan; se centran exclusivamente en los clientes que pagan e ignoran en gran medida los efectos de red, o cómo los clientes ayudan a atraer a otros clientes a una empresa. Ahora, un nuevo modelo, ideado por los profesores Gupta, de la Harvard Business School, y Mela, de la Fuqua School of Business, tiene en cuenta no sólo los efectos directos de la red (cuando los compradores atraen a más compradores o los vendedores a más vendedores) sino también los efectos indirectos de la red (cuando los compradores atraen a más vendedores o viceversa). El modelo calcula el impacto preciso a largo plazo de cada cliente gratuito adicional en los beneficios de una empresa, teniendo en cuenta el grado en que atrae a otros clientes -ya sean gratuitos o de pago- y el efecto dominó de esos clientes.
El modelo ayudó a una casa de subastas en línea a tomar varias decisiones críticas. La empresa ganaba dinero con las comisiones que cobraba a los vendedores, pero reconocía que sus clientes gratuitos -sus compradores- también eran valiosos. A medida que aumentaba la competencia, a la empresa le preocupaba no atraer a suficientes compradores. Utilizando el modelo, la empresa descubrió que los efectos de red de los compradores eran realmente grandes y que esos clientes valían más de 1.000 dólares cada uno, mucho más de lo que se había supuesto. Armada con esa información, la empresa aumentó su investigación sobre los compradores, invirtió más en dirigirse a ellos con anuncios y mejoró su experiencia. El modelo también ayudó a la empresa a identificar los efectos de las distintas estrategias de precios en los vendedores, mostrando que con el tiempo se volvían menos sensibles a los precios. Como resultado, la empresa aumentó también las tarifas que les cobraba.

&iquest;Cu&aacute;nto vale un cliente gratuito?

Reprint: R0811G Free customers who are subsidized by paying customers are essential to a vast array of businesses, such as media companies, employment services, and even IT providers. But because they generate revenue only indirectly, figuring out the true value of those customers—and how much attention to devote to them—has always been a challenge. Traditional customer-valuation models don’t help; they focus exclusively on paying customers and largely ignore network effects, or how customers help draw other customers to a business. Now a new model, devised by professors Gupta, of Harvard Business School, and Mela, of Fuqua School of Business, takes into account not only direct network effects (where buyers attract more buyers or sellers more sellers) but also indirect network effects (where buyers attract more sellers or vice versa). The model calculates the precise long-term impact of each additional free customer on a company’s profits, factoring in the degree to which he or she brings in other customers—whether free or paying—and the ripple effect of those customers. The model helped an online auction house make several critical decisions. The business made its money on fees charged to sellers but recognized that its free customers—its buyers—were valuable, too. As competition heated up, the company worried that it wasn’t wooing enough buyers. Using the model, the business discovered that the network effects of buyers were indeed large and that those customers were worth over $1,000 each—much more than had been assumed. Armed with that information, the firm increased its research on buyers, invested more in targeting them with ads, and improved their experience. The model also helped the company identify the effects of various pricing strategies on sellers, showing that they became less price-sensitive over time. As a result, the company raised the fees it charged them as well.

¿Cuánto vale un cliente gratuito?

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