One of the main elements in a customer experience framework is the development of a Customer Life Cycle Model.
Most companies know what they have to do to make a customer successful and they would argue that they are already doing it. Perhaps, but when I ask the question:
Can you guarantee that 9 out of 10 customers have operationalized your technology into their day to day processes?
The answer is usually: not yet.
Spending the time to analyze what your customers high value outcomes should be that ensures they will continue to invest in your solution is a critical element that helps you to center your customer lifecycle management. Building your Customer Life Cycle model will provide your teams with the framework for how they should build their organizational structures, programs, processes and procedures to ensure the customer experiences quality and excellence in service that delivers value when they engage with your company. It creates clarity for the customer on how to get the most out of your technology to help revolutionize and innovate their own business operations. The tactics that are developed from your customer lifecycle management model will help you understand how to deliver the information customers need when they need it. It helps the customer understand how your products and services are the best in the market and why they should stay with you long term. When done right, you won’t have to bribe customers to tell their story, nor chase down a renewal; they will be happy to renew and refer.
The key to a successful Customer Life Cycle model is collaboration and obtaining consensus from the leadership team across all organizations in the company. Every organization has a role to play in providing customers with some level of care, information or support. The teams need to be clear about their role and contribution to the customer’s experience and success with your company’s products and services in order to ensure consistent and repeatable execution from customer to customer.
The Customer Life Cycle usually has four sections, but can have as many as needed for your products and services. They are usually associated with a sales cycle, implementation cycle, value realization cycle and expansion cycle. The fifth section would be an introduction through marketing creating quality leads. Each of these sections would then have a customer journey map developed to define the details for execution by all organizations leading and supporting that section in the customer experience. See the example below of a basic customer lifecycle model:
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If you don’t have a Customer Life Cycle model developed and published as part of your company’s strategy, you should make it a priority in your future strategic plan.
As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome. If you would like help in creating a Customer Lifecycle framework, contact LandNExpand at jackiegolden@landnexpand.com.