I've always struggled with CLV calculations–both figuring it out and deciding if it's even valuable to know.

We have customers in the thousands and, while a handful leave every month, many have been paying monthly for 2, 3 or more years. So, doesn't the CLV for a business that has been around for 5+ years change constantly? What good is that?

Also, we have a setup fee for some products. So, once we keep a customer for 30 days (i.e. they're no longer eligible for a refund), they are worth at least the amount of the setup fee, right?

BUT, if my CLV is $1,500 for a product with a setup fee, does that mean it's okay for me to spend $1,200 to acquire 1 new customer? I have a hard time believing that ...