The concept of regarding customers as assets that should be managed and whose value should be measured is now accepted and recognized by academics and practitioners. This focus on customer relationship management makes it extremely important to understand customer lifetime value (CLV) because CLV models are an efficient and effective way to evaluate a firm’s relationship with its customers. Assessment of CLV is especially important for firms in implementing customer-oriented services. In this paper we provide a critical review of the literature on the development process and applications of CLV.