Case Study
CRM and Customer Lifecycle Programmes
B2B company with high product values but low/medium sales values were looking for help with customer engagement, specifically combating an increasingly promotion driven customer base. This led to the design of a customer lifecycle communications programme after it became clear through studying customer trading behaviour that they were highly sensitive to price led promotions which subsequently led to a high rate of churn
Staff in the stores held the responsibility for generating sales, with the Marketing team tasked with driving footfall. The programme was designed with this in mind and a consistent call to action was employed, using personalisation techniques in direct mail, email and SMS to direct the customer to their relationship holder. Digital channels were used as a support mechanism as the business had a non transactional website.
The basis of the journey was:
A thorough introduction process for new customers
A sequence for reactivation
An approach to manage the regular communications to avoid over/under communication from the brand
The new customer process was developed through analysing the early trading behaviour of the customer base and identifying the significant points in time where behaviour became less favourable. Communicating at these behaviour trigger points enable the business to be smarter with their budget, using direct communications to influence customer behaviour and depending on the stage in the lifecycle, encourage the customer to either make their first purchase or push them towards a 5th purchase.
Not all new sign ups actually purchased within their first 3 months so part of the programme was designed to secure that first purchase. Campaigns were sent in line with timings defined by the analysis of time vs purchase. The drive to a 5th purchase came from behavioural analysis that highlighted that when a customer made that 5th purchase they became significantly more likely to become a more regular and higher value customer.
Communication to active customers fell into the management of the customer lifecycle in order to reduce duplication in contact, confusing messaging and even periods of no contact. Previously a promotional approach was taken to customer communications, only talking to customers where they fit the promotion. The lifecycle managed regular contact and generated relevant content for the customers based on segmentations.
Customer churn was an issue that was tackled through a 3 stage reactivation process. This looked for the natural reactivation points and set the send schedules in order to reduce wastage on those that are likely to return and spend naturally. Through a programme of testing the send intervals were set, along with effective incentives that balanced the response rate with the investment in the incentive. A further stage was added to deal with the issue of returning customers that did not meet similar trading patterns to those that they exhibited before churning.
Testing took place throughout the whole design and early days of the lifecycle. It was used to identify the right timings for communications to be sent out and working out which incentive, if any, had the best impact. By taking this approach the individual communications were optimised for send times and incentives, improving the use of the budget and the ROI of the lifecycle as a whole.
By taking a highly analytical approach to identifying the trigger points it was possible to learn more about the customers and their behaviours in each of the lifecycle stages.
This insight was used to drive the creative brief, ensuring that the right information and messaging was included in the communications. Relevancy was high in the communications through recognising the stage in the lifecycle that the customer was at and through a high level of personalisation based on customer information and segmentations.
The effect of the programme as a whole was:
A reduction in customer churn
Increased average lifetime of the customer base
An increase in sales for the business of 6-8% per year
Existing promotional activity costs were reduced slightly through the removal of duplicate messaging but they were still well supported through the content for the existing customer base.
Ongoing analysis of the lifecycle takes place so that any changes in customer behaviour and any underperformance of the stages can be identified and addressed at the earliest opportunity.
WeFix
A rapidly growing national mobile smartphone and tablet repair service, WeFix were looking to gain a better understanding of their customer base. Specifically, identifying their typical customers and how to include them in marketing campaigns. They also required guidance on potential geographical locations for expansion and growth.