ritical In assembling the initial list of customer value variables, it is important to include all the business units involved in the calculation or use of value information. This means that the finance, costing, product development, sales, marketing, customer service, credit, and channels organizations all need to be involved. Each of these groups will need to understand what the CVF will be used for and eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook will need to provide the developer with input regarding important customer value criteria. Finding the Variables Even though you have convinced each of the business units to tell you what they think is important to include in the CVF, there is no guarantee that you can use them. Depending on the sophistication of your billing system, the extent of its history and detail, and the nature of your market research, you will probably find that the CVF will include a lot less than you would prefer. The good news is that, over time, you can continue to improve the function by enhancing it with new values and historical information that your CRM system collects for you. Step 2 - Assignment of Relative Weights To Each Variable After each of the variables for your CVF calculation have been identified, the next, and more interesting, part of the process can begin. You now have to figure out what relative importance and relationship these variables have to each other and toward determining overall organizational customer value. The process of assigning relative weights and relationships to the variables is a method that again includes input from each of the business units and the application of sophisticated mathematical approximation and valuation. Ultimately, the CVF calculation equation will be relatively large, complex, and sophisticated. The single number that it creates must be a number that everyone in the organization understands and accepts as the standard for customer value approximation. Step 3 - Execution of Function Calculations After the CVF equation has