While Wall Street analysts focus on how a company will fare in the next quarter, I’m always thinking about what a business will look like in five, 10 or even 20 years down the road.

Some companies simply hope that business will be good in future years, while others can speak with a high degree of confidence about their long-term goals.

That’s because these firms share one key trait: they have a “sticky” customer base.

#-ad_banner-#Let’s take Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADP) as an example. The company provides outsourced payroll management and other services typically handled by human resources departments. Although ADP provides clear value to its clients, the company boasts of a 91% annual retention rate for another reason: switching costs.

You see, once a client has agreed to turn over its business processes to ADP, it becomes awfully hard to take that business back. That means a new customer that ADP signs up today is likely to stick around through the next bear market and the next bull market.

We can see proof of this by looking at how ADP fared during the previous downturn, where sales actually grew in 2008, 2009 and 2010, even as so many other companies were reporting revenue declines.

The Power Of Brands Compels You
Companies can also cultivate “stickiness” by developing great products that carry an impressive cultural cachet. Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is perhaps the best example. Every new iteration of an Apple device leads to hungry buyers waiting in long lines.

You can draw a straight connection between the rising popularity of Apple’s products and the rising popularity of its stock. Brand loyalty has translated into investor loyalty.

Investors know that companies with a strong track record of brand loyalty often retain that lead for an extended period. Management’s skills become so finely-honed that a move into new markets or new products will be done with a lot of intelligence and care. Take Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) as an example. The fast-casual dining chain has cultivated a reputation for healthy and tasty food at fair prices in a clean and modern dining environment.

Chipotle’s management is now slowly rolling out an entirely new dining concept: a fast-casual chain known as “ShopHouse” that focuses on Asian food. You can bet that these restaurants will stick with the simple formula: healthy and tasty food at fair prices in a clean and modern dining environment. And you can bet that customer loyalty will be quite impressive.

Yet companies need to be careful. Brand loyalty can prove to be fleeting if a company fails to innovate.

The golden arches of McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) are recognized and revered in 119 countries worldwide. Yet people don’t have the same appetite for a Big Mac and fries these days. Same-store sales recently registered the steepest decline in a decade.

Even the king of beers, Budweiser, isn’t immune to changing consumer palates. Over the past five years, annual shipments have slumped to 16 million barrels from 22 million as discerning drinkers trade up for premium craft beers.

I don’t mean to imply that these popular brands are fading away, but neither are they untouchable. And if they aren’t safe, then nobody is. Fortunately, there are other ways to keep customers from straying.

One clever way to retain customers is to lock them into your eco-system.

Take AmeriGas Partners (NYSE: APU), which is in my High-Yield Investing portfolio. The propane gas retailer installs large stationary storage tanks of up to 1,200 gallons right in its wholesale customers’ backyards. These tanks are leased, usually for years at a time. So switching vendors would involve ripping out and replacing this equipment.

That’s just one reason why APU has sidestepped economic downturns and raised its dividend distributions for 11 straight years. APU currently yields 7.8%.

But this isn’t the only company like this. In my June issue of High-Yield Investing, I added another “sticky” firm to my portfolio.

It is a real estate investment trust that focuses on entertainment and recreation properties. The company’s 15 sites offer shopping, dining, live music and a wide range of sporting activities suitable for the whole family. Shares carry a rock-solid 6% dividend yield.

Part of the appeal of this stock is its stellar rain-or-shine performance. In the winter, the company lures customers to its ski resorts. And in summer, those customers head to the company’s water parks. Equally impressive, all of the properties are conveniently located just outside a host of major metro areas. That first-mover advantage creates a sort of moat against copycat competition.

Unfortunately, I can’t reveal the name and ticker symbol of this stock today. But the key takeaway is that customer and investor “stickiness” is one of the most important — yet critically overlooked — traits of a successful investment. They often sport the loftiest and most predictable dividend yields, and reward shareholders year in and year out.