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Customer Lifecycle Management refers to the process of monitoring, analyzing, and refining each stage of the customer lifecycle. Metrics are assigned for each step of the life cycle to measure its performance and success.
This enables companies to understand what they’re doing right, and which aspects of the customer experience require further refinement.
There are five stages in the customer lifecycle. These are reach, acquisition, conversion, retention, and loyalty. We’ll go through each in more detail below:
At the beginning of the lifecycle, customers will research products/services after identifying an issue they’d like a solution for. The “Reach”, stage is referred to as such because it’s an opportunity to reach a potential customer while they’re in consideration. During this stage, customers will often compare products and brands, search up customer reviews, and conduct further research. Achieving success in this stage would entail the customer gaining brand awareness in their research and reaching out directly for pricing or further discussion
The acquisition stage is characterized by customer behaviours such as a phone call or visiting a website with intent to purchase. The appropriate process for this stage will differ slightly depending on the customer's preferred communication channel. For example, if they visit a website there should be a wealth of helpful information to enable the customer to make an informed purchasing decision. To achieve best practice, it’s often better to ensure a live chat feature is also available for urgent enquries.
This stage occurs once the customer has been provided all relevant information on the product/service they’re interested in and decide to make a purchase. It’s important to communicate the value being provided to the customer during this stage and throughout the lifecycle. Speak in relationship terms and have predetermined steps to nurture that relationship during each stage of the cycle.
Once a customer has been acquired and converted, it’s vital to ensure they’re happy with the relationship going forward to increase retention levels. This can be measured through direct feedback techniques such as customer surveys. These can be used to measure Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT), providing insight into both overall and individual customer satisfaction. Incentivize retention by acting on customer feedback and offer high-value exclusive features such as exclusive discounts, 24/7 support, and loyalty reward schemes.
When practiced effectively, the prior four stages will foster greater levels of customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is the culmination of numerous positive customer interactions with a brand and will often lead to word-of-mouth referral (WoM), positive online reviews, and collaboration in the form of customer testimonials.
When optimized, Customer Lifecycle Management has a plethora of derivable value for companies resulting in several key benefits. For example:
Customer Lifecycle Management is a highly effective practice which offers a wealth of benefits. By focusing on the entirety of the customer journey and consistently providing exceptional experiences, companies can increase retention levels, optimize customer lifetime value, and gain a significant advantage over their competitors.
