What You Should Know About Customer Lifecycle Management?

Every business that is successful at the present time is because of its loyal customer who believes the product is best for them and satisfied with the service provided. Loyal customers are the big assets of the business for the long run. 

So, how can you make a customer loyal to your product and provide a great experience throughout their journey? This is where Customer Lifecycle Management steps in and ensures that the customer is guided on the right path during the time spent in your business and satisfied after post-purchase. 

In this article, we will discuss what is  Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM), the stages of customer Lifecycle management, how to manage your customer lifecycle, and some customer lifecycle software. 

What is customer lifecycle management?

The customer lifecycle refers to the stage where your customer decides to purchase or interact with your business and products. It is a part of business and customer life where customers become aware of a product,  make purchases from a brand and ideally become a company’s loyal customers.

Customer lifecycle management or CLM is the process of tracking and analyzing each stage of the customer lifecycle, assigning metrics to each stage, and measuring the success rate of your business based on those metrics. The ultimate motto of Customer Lifecycle management is to analyze the business performance over time.

The Customer Lifecycle management process takes place from the customer’s initial engagement to post-purchase interactions. An effective CLM empowers businesses to create a meaningful and long-term connection with customers, and enhance business communication, driving sustainable growth and advantages in today’s dynamic market. 

There are 5 stages of customer lifecycle management, and the data you collect at each phase of CLM can provide ideas and opportunities for the betterment of customer experience and satisfaction. 

Why is customer lifecycle management important?

To stay in the market, you have to provide the best products and solutions to the consumers than your competitors. It is critical to understand why people should choose you and what you can do to make them choose you.  Customer Lifecycle management enables firms to understand and analyze their customers’ lifecycles in order to improve customer satisfaction. 

Customer lifecycle management assists in identifying areas of improvement in the product through customer service. Clients that are satisfied with your brand tend to remain longer and contribute more to your overall revenue in the long term which helps you retain customers and encourage them to invest in your product.

Customer Lifecycle management enables organizations to develop healthy, long-term connections with their customers. CLM focuses on client satisfaction. The more clients are delighted and satisfied with the service provided, the more loyalty can be gained from them.

Customer lifecycle management grants access to customer insight data and information to the business group, allowing them to determine the client’s interest in the product and intention to buy. Also, CLM ensures that your customer has a consistent and enjoyable experience throughout their journey in your business.  

Furthermore, it provides businesses with extensive insights into customer usage patterns, behavior and touchpoints, and web browsing time. This capability of business can maximize the information that can be gained from customers in order to collect the information required to satisfy the consumer at each level.

Stages of customer lifecycle management

The customer lifecycle describes a consumer’s journey from their first engagement with your organization to long after they’ve become a loyal customer. Customer Lifecycle Management is divided into 5 stages, where each of them can be analyzed to retain more and make your business profitable in every possible way. 

Let’s take a look at 5 stages of Customer Lifecycle Management and learn about them. 

1. Reach

This is the first stage of the customer journey, where your product reaches potential buyers through different blogs, social media posts, referrals, networking events, or media channels. Also, a potential customer can know about your product by conducting their own research to solve their issues. In this stage, they become aware of your product and get introduced to it. 

You should capture customer attention and know their interest in your product. You can apply a variety of tactics like advertisements and displaying your product as a product solver. Even if the person has no intention of buying your product, your marketing strategy should satisfy them as this is the foundation stage for your future endeavors. 

2. Acquisition

This is the second phase of Customer Lifecycle Management. During this stage, the consumer contacts your firm via phone, message, email, internet, or in person. You should be more focused during this stage, communicate with clients, and pique their interest in your product while keeping them engaged.

Consumers may be in this stage with your competitor at the same time. They may perform research, solicit comments, and evaluate and compare product quality and price. As a result, you should include all relevant information about your service, such as pricing, features, post-purchase customer care, and other critical characteristics. 

Your product should be responsive to their requirements and concerns. Businesses use a variety of strategies, including promotion and personalized service, to urge customers to take the next step. 

3. Conversion 

This is the stage where your potential customer turns into a buyer. During this stage, consumers officially purchase your product. In this stage, you can give information to consumers that you’ve provided valuable products and delight with your brand customer experience. 

You can provide customers with a reasonable and affordable price, warranty and guarantee, information on refunds and returns, and great customer support. Also, helping the customer to make their purchase and making their journey smooth is the topmost priority. 

This is the stage at which you must earn the confidence and loyalty of your customers by developing positive relationships with them.  

4. Retention

The stage of retention focuses on developing and maintaining good relations with existing customers and ensuring their great experience. Consumers who are satisfied with the provided service are more likely to do a deal with you. Businesses can provide post-purchase customer service during this stage like reviews of goods, warranties, and guarantees on products and taking feedback from them. 

5. Loyalty

The ultimate and most crucial step of client lifetime management is loyalty. A consumer becomes a loyal customer, and they will continue to buy all of your products for the rest of their lives. During this phase, the customer becomes an asset to your company.

There are prospects, your customers may share experiences with their friends and family and suggest your product to them, they may give feedback and reviews to others which can introduce your product to new people. Lastly, this is the hardest stage to gain from customers yet the most pleasing achievement. 

How to manage the customer lifecycle?

A. Identify your target audience

Before entering customer lifecycle management, you need to know who your audience is and who is interested in your product. Rather than marketing your product to everyone, you should figure out and make relevant ads for your target audience. You can analyze metrics and know what content your customer wants and show their curiosity, which helps you to create relevant content for your customers. 

B. Share relevant content

The next stage contains the distribution of relevant content to your customer via different social media, blog posts, email, templates, and other marketing tools. By conducting thorough analysis research and marketing, your product should come into the consumer’s mind first before purchasing any product. 

Tracking various information to get insight into how much time customers view your page or website, and how many times consumers watched your ads and videos or left unplayed should help you in further assisting them. 

C. Provide self-service resources

Once the customer is introduced to your brand and familiar with it, it’s time to take further steps and provide them with self-service resources. This service includes all the detailed information about your product in every level and user’s manual. 

This information will provide the potential customer a better knowledge about your product and service, and also make their purchase decision easy. The more customers know about your brand and service, trust and loyalty can be gained from consumers. 

D. Use proactive customer service

Businesses should provide customer service when a potential customer shows little interest in your product and service. If they have uncertainties and are unclear about your product, this can lead them to walk away from a purchase. 

Even if the people haven’t bought your product, you should provide a satisfying experience during their journey with you. It helps you to get personalized with consumers and they also get familiar with your product. 

E. Make their purchase easy and support  them in their purchase decision 

Purchasing any product can be confusing to customers whether it is good for them or not, whether they want it now or not, also, they might think about considering another company’s product. Thus, it is your job to make their decision easy and explain your brand to them. 

You can make their task easy by providing customer support, live chat options, and phone, and email customer support to keep your new customers happy and ensure they feel taken care of. Furthermore, if your product needs some instruction or pre-setup, you can provide a user’s manual, help desk service, and many more which enhances customer experience. 

F. Personalize  the customer experience

Once customers have made a purchase from your brand, make sure that they are satisfied with your service and product. Businesses can also get an insight into what offer makes customers happy through metrics analysis. This is the stage where your decision makes the customer a one-time customer or a loyal customer. 

You can set up an automatic message system where customers are asked about the product’s quality and review after purchase or you can do it on a personal level and provide a certain discount on another purchase. Also, make sure that the product is delivered on time and properly. Lastly, this is the most important stage where you make your effort to retain customers using various business strategies. 

Top 3 customer lifecycle management softwares

There seems to be a lot of Customer lifecycle software in the market at the present scenario. Let’s take a look at some of the software for Customer lifecycle management. 

I. Salesforce marketing cloud

Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides a set of marketing automation, analytics, customer lifecycle, and segmentation technologies. These solutions enable you to establish personalized buyer interactions across several channels, including chat, social media, email, SMS, and advertisements.

Key features

• Automated Customer Relationship Management(CRM) and optimization 
• Analytics and Reporting
• Supports multiple deployment methods
• Supports extensive client database
• Easy to use

II. Hubspot

HubSpot is like the Salesforce Marketing Cloud which provides complete marketing automation and lifecycle marketing tools. It is a cloud-based CRM platform that includes sales, service, marketing, and content management software features. Also, The software monitors and reports on a wide variety of marketing, sales, and customer relationship parameters.

Key features

• Access to free plans
• Customizable CRM
• Dashboard and reporting 
• User-friendly interface and cost-effective

III. Engage bay 

EngageBay is a cloud-based client lifecycle marketing software that offers similar functionality to HubSpot. It is the most economical lifecycle marketing software. This program includes various kinds of product features that make email marketing, CRM, help desk, lead generation, landing page building, social media marketing, and marketing automation appear simple. 

Key features 

• Most affordable CLM software
• 360-degree customer view
• Sales automation tools
• Free plans have access to almost premium features

So, how can you choose the best software for your business? Here are some of the points you can consider while choosing the best customer lifecycle software. 

• Know your business size, nature, and needs and choose accordingly.
• Specific integration, automation, or analytics features that you need for your business. 
• Ease of using software for you and your team.
• Customer retention and reactivation tool.
• Quick and efficient service provider.
• Cost-effective and affordable for your business.

Conclusion

Customer lifecycle Management analyzes the current performance metrics, business unveils important insights into customer behavior, preferences, using a pattern, and pain points. With this knowledge, businesses can aim to their target audience, nurture them at each phase, and improve their experience. 

Furthermore, Customer Lifecycle management mainly focuses on satisfying the old customer, which leads the business to run for a long time and increases brand value. By deploying the right tools, leveraging data-driven insights, cultivating good relations with customers, and providing great experiences during their journey on your business, Customer Lifecycle management ensures the overall growth of your business. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why is customer lifecycle management important?

Customer lifecycle management is a critical tool for monitoring the customer journey and directing them to brand loyalty and advocacy. Enhanced customer experiences result in higher revenues and improved brand visibility, maximizing the potential of both new and existing customers.

What are the 5 stages of Customer lifecycle management?

Customer lifecycle management consists of 5 stages; Reach, Acquisition, Conversion, Retention, and Loyalty. 

What is customer lifecycle mapping?

Customer lifecycle maps are plans created by marketing and sales teams to demonstrate the best method for customers to interact with a brand, whereas customer journeys are based on actual actions and interactions with a specific brand.