Plan
Managing the customer lifecycle.
In the Planning phase, a communications and treatment strategy is developed for each customer segment, guided by pre-determined investment limits.
In the old product-centric model the focus was exclusively on brand equity, the standard questions being: How do customers perceive the utility of the product in their lives - and how emotionally connected are they to it? Whereas the relevant questions today are:
- How positive is the overall experience with the brand?
- Does the brand bring meaningful value to the customer beyond its actual use?
- How committed is the brand to the relationship past the point of sale?
- Is the brand intrinsic to the daily lives of customers?
A customer-centric planning model focuses on creating a relationship arc that covers every facet of customer interaction. The traditional brand building process plays a secondary role to escorting customers through the major lifecycle stages of trial, conversion, commitment and advocacy. As the thread of positive experiences grows longer over time, the level of customer commitment and advocacy can be expected to increase.
The main planning goals are to create brand advocates; to retain high value customers; to capture a greater share of potential spending amongst current customers; to convert first-time buyers into repeat customers; and to win back former customers.
An investment and treatment plan is developed for each segment defining the rules that govern entitlements, offer eligibility, content presentation and special privileges. That plan is supplemented by a messaging and offer strategy which specifies the contact intensity, timing and channel mix—all variable according to the explicitly stated preferences of customers and where they are in the lifecycle (i.e.: new, growing, established, declining, dormant).
