eROI Days Email Agency

Making marketing decisions around the Customer Lifecycle is definitely not a new concept, but it’s certainly one that’s getting more and more attention, and for good reason. When done well it’s a proven strategy for driving sales and increasing profitability, while simultaneously reducing marketing costs – something that in today’s economy every business, no matter how big or small, is looking to do.

Here at eROI not only have we been helping our clients understand how online marketing can be utilized to improve their Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) efforts, but in planning for 2010 we are examining our own efforts in this area and are determining how we can improve upon them. I’m excited to go through this process as I know what a win-win it will be for all of our agency/client relationships. Developing a better understanding of what stage our clients (and potential clients) are at in their lifecycle with us will go beyond informing our marketing efforts and affecting our profitability, it will help us be a better partner and continuously improve upon their satisfaction.

A few months back, while planning revisions to our sales cycle, we recognized the opportunity to look beyond the initial sales stage and take a closer look at how we were participating in the entire lifecycle of our customers.  I use the word “participating” because it’s important to remember that we don’t control our client’s movement through the cycle – the client ultimately makes the decisions about when to begin a relationship, how involved in the relationship they want to be and when to end it. All we can do is influence and be responsive to those decisions. When examining the most successful agency/client relationships, the most common denominator seems to be that they are fluid. There is valued collaboration. The agency has put in the effort know and understand the clients brand, business model, needs and goals so well that they are able to present work and ideas that not only meet expectation, but go well beyond them. There is open and continual communication. There is respect for the client’s needs, and in turn for the agency’s process. There is trust. There is ongoing mindsharing and idea flow.  There is a true partnership.

Achieving this “fluidity” doesn’t come instantly, it takes a lot to build a relationship to that level and, although the effort needs to come from both sides, there are many steps that an agency can take to help bring it to that point. This is where CLM can help.

At eROI we classify clients and potential clients in to one of these 5 general categories:

1. Prospects – those people in our target market.
2. Leads – Prospects who have shown interest in us.
3. Active Customers – those who are currently using our products or agency services.
4. Inactive Customers – those who have not worked on a project with us in over a year.
5. Former Customers – those who have canceled their product contracts or have not used our agency services in over 2 years.

Each category requires a different type of communication and tone of messaging. And not just from Marketing– it’s imperative that an integrated communication approach be adopted by all who interact with the client (or potential client) – including Sales, Account Services, Support & Training, Accounting, even the Creative teams. No matter who in the agency they are interacting with, every client should feel valued (because they are!), they should feel that you, as an agency, understand them and are listening to what’s important to them.

When planning a Customer Lifecycle Program you need look at it in stages. Each stage requires it own strategy of specific actions and communication approach. There are varying titles out there for these stages but within our strategy we refer to them as:

• Acquisition – The process turning Prospects into Leads.
• Activation- The process of turning Leads in to Clients.
• Relationship Management – The process of building, maintaining and growing our relationship with Active Customers.
• Retention – The process of trying to reengage in a relationship with Inactive Clients.
• Reactivation – The process of trying to reengage in a relationship with Former Clients.

Every business has a unique target market and customer base making the specifics of what’s involved in managing each of these stages unique to that business. No matter what your business though, the underlying strategy of Customer Lifecycle Management is the same – do all you can to understand what, when, how and why a customer wants to be communicated with, keep a good account of that information and use it strategically within the various stages of the Life Cycle to help grow your relationship with them.

There are a lot of recourses available that can help you develop a CLM strategy that’s right for your business, and my team at eROI would be happy to work with you on ways in which you can incorporate online marketing into that strategy (see our VP of Strategy, Dylan Boyd’s post on the topic).

As you begin your research and planning, it can easily get overwhelming – know that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing right away, you can take a gradual approach. Start by setting some goals that will help build the foundation of your strategy. For example, here are a few top-line goals that we have set for the upcoming year:

• GOAL 1: Profile current and potential client behavior more closely.
• GOAL 2: Regularly create new value-added resources to share.
• GOAL 3: More proactively ask for client satisfaction feedback.
• GOAL 4: Work as an agency to develop a more integrated client communication approach across all departments.

Customer Lifecycle Management can be complex and requires long-term strategic planning, but it’s certainly worth the effort. Sure you will see an improvement in your bottom line, but above that you will be building the type of long-term, fluid agency/client relationships that all agencies strive for.