Whether big or small, the most important aspect of any business is the customer (The customer is the king). Successful companies understand this and work hard to build mutually beneficial relationships with customers that equate to a higher customer lifetime value. They ensure that their customers will stick around for a while because of the value they offer.
To accomplish this goal, understanding and applying the customer life cycle is beneficial because it helps businesses understand how to attract and keep customers using their products and services continuously.Customer lifecycle is simply the process customers experience before, during, and after they purchase a product and ideally become a company's longtime customer.
Customer Lifecycle Stages: The customer lifecycle is made up of 5 stages namely; reach, acquisition, conversion, retention, and loyalty.
Having a great product does not mean that it will sell and the business will be successful. You can have the best product in the market but if the customer’s experience is awful, the chances of losing customers will be extremely high. Understanding the customer journey popularly known as the customer lifecycle is very critical in making your business successful.
Below, I am going to talk about each stage to better understand how you can utilize them to your maximum for business success and to stand out among the competitors. Enjoy the read.
Customer Lifecycle #1: Reach
This is the first stage where the customer becomes aware of your product through targeted advertisements or through their research into an issue or problem they need to solve. Your marketing content needs to be in places where consumers will find it.
This step is only successful when prospects connect with your brand for more information.
Here are some tips to consider during the reach stage:
1. Developing a strategy for building awareness.
2. Gather relevant data about your customers so you can build marketing campaigns around their priorities and interests.
3. Find out where most traffic is currently coming from, and aim to maximize that.
4. If you are just getting started, adopt a trial-and-error approach, setting a budget aside to try out different advertising and marketing techniques such as social media advertising, PPC, friend-get-friend promotions, and online ads.
Customer Lifecycle #2: Acquisition
If your marketing strategy works, prospects will be headed to the checkout stage, ordering your products.
The customer in this stage will reach out to you via phone, email, live chat, or engage by browsing your website. The goal at this stage is to secure a communication channel with your customers by offering them information, live support, and even deals to keep them interested in your brand. Your company is the answer to their needs and your goal should be to show them this.
It all starts with the intent to try or buy a product and ends when the customer buys the product or uses the product for the first time. To avoid high cart abandonment rates, ensure the purchasing process is as easy and smooth as possible.
Customer Lifecycle #3: Conversion
This is another important stage in the customer journey with your company. This is the point at which you want to make it clear that you’re providing value. The customer enters a relationship with you, not just making a purchase.
It is equally important to identify the key aspects that led to closing the deal and using them to position your products and have a more significant competitive advantage is crucial.
Now that a customer has made a purchase, start laying the groundwork for customer retention and loyalty down the road. It is important to make the purchasing step as smooth and as easy as possible for your customers. Make sure to offer clear pricing, information about returns and refunds, and as few steps as possible from putting an item into a cart to the customer receiving the item.
Customer Lifecycle #4: Retention
The customer retention stage is where the actual relationship-building work begins. After the prospect becomes your new customer, customer satisfaction should be your top priority.
Carry out customer service surveys, measure your Customer Satisfaction Score, and establish programs that are geared towards finding out what you can do better. The information that comes directly from the customer, helps you to continuously make improvements to your products and services, as well as the customer service experience.
You can forge long-lasting relationships by creating personalized customer experiences, adapting to customer needs, showing customer appreciation, and offering perks & discounts to loyal customers. This will transform your customer from a plain purchaser to a brand promoter.
Customer Lifecycle #5: Loyalty
Customer loyalty comes after all the other 4 stages of the customer lifecycle. when a customer has a good experience with your company, product, or the services they get from you, they automatically become a strong brand ambassador. This of course will be an advantage to your business. However, it takes your efforts and willingness to offer the best customer experience to have such customers using your products or services.
In any business, brand loyalty is of utmost importance because it helps your marketing department reach out to more prospects. We all know how good it is when we see customers talking about our brands, products, or services whether by word of mouth, writing reviews, or raving about you on the internet.
While it’s critical to understand your holistic customer lifecycle, it’s equally important to look at each stage individually and learn from your customers about what you can do better next time. Gathering feedback, as well as understanding and acting upon the insights you receive from your surveys at each stage of the customer lifecycle will help you do exactly that.
