Master the 5 stages of the customer lifecycle so you don't lose your prospects along the way!
Do you know what the customer lifecycle is? By breaking down the customer relationship into its various phases, the customer lifecycle is an indispensable tool for any company wishing to transform prospects into customers, and customers into loyal clients.
Properly mastered, the customer lifecycle is a powerful strategic tool for generating greater value by optimizing resources.
Find out what lies behind the definition of the customer lifecycle, its role and the different stages that make it up.
Definition of the customer lifecycle
The customer lifecycle refers to the various stages and events that punctuate a customer's relationship with a company.
Like a conversion tunnel, it shows the stage a customer has reached in his or her relationship with a company:
- How long have they been a customer?
- Do they buy regularly?
- Are they loyal?
- Completely inactive? etc.
Depending on the stage your customers are at, you'll be able to adapt your strategy accordingly, optimizing their experience and promoting their progress.
☝️ Please note that the customer lifecycle should not be confused with the product lifecycle and the customer journey, which are two different concepts.
The 5 stages of the customer lifecycle
The customer lifecycle consists of 4 phases:
- acquisition ;
- development ;
- loyalty ;
- attrition ;
- reactivation.
Stage 1: Acquisition
During this phase, the company seeks to attract and convince visitors or prospects who are not yet customers to become so.
This requires you to first get to know and then target your potential customers, and then implement major marketing and sales efforts throughout this stage.
💡So me tips for acquiring new customers:
- provide added value to your prospects to help them and earn their trust (e.g., creating educational content in B2C or a free call to receive advice in B2B) ;
- be available and contactable by phone, chat or email to answer any questions and remove any remaining obstacles;
- carry out sales prospecting;
- implement digital marketing actions (natural and paid referencing, social networks, marketing automation, etc.).
Your objective? Get your prospect to take action with a first purchase!
💡 Tip: why not make these tasks easier by using a CRM?
A few examples:
- CRM software Efficy enables you to collect, centralize and analyze data on your prospects and customers (characteristics, history, preferences, etc.) in order to launch targeted, relevant marketing actions.
- Intuitive and feature-rich, monday.com CRM makes it easy to manage and optimize every stage of the sales cycle, from prospect acquisition to customer retention. With this solution, you can expand your customer portfolio while strengthening customer loyalty.
- Pipedrive offers a pipeline view to track all your business and prospect-related activities. With its automation, reminder and lead generation functionalities, the tool helps you avoid missing out on sales opportunities and keep your prospects engaged.
- Designed for small and medium-sized businesses, Sellsy CRM centralizes all information and interactions with your prospects, so you can address their needs as effectively as possible. Thanks to its pipeline view and tracking and scoring functions, you can optimize your prospecting efforts and accelerate your sales cycle.
Stage 2: Development
In this phase, the customer has just made his first purchase. This may seem like the end of the line, but it's actually where it all begins.
If a customer crosses the first-purchase barrier, it means they have confidence in your company and are interested in what you have to offer.
This is a period when you can multiply the value of your customer by triggering further purchases. In fact, you can calculate the customer lifetime value, an indicator that shows how much profit your customer generates for your company. The sooner your customer makes further purchases, the sooner he'll reach the loyalty stage.
What's more, the better you know your customers, the better you'll be able to make them an offer that meets their needs at the right time.
💡 Tip: in addition to the CRMs mentioned above, we recommend that you also equip yourself with marketing automation software to trigger emailing-type marketing actions based on your customers' behavior.
Stage 3: Loyalty
Your customer has begun to develop an attachment to your brand, products or services: he or she has become a loyal customer. To ensure that this phase lasts as long as possible, take care to maintain customer satisfaction.
Because, yes, the longer a customer stays with you, the more likely he is to bring you value. This is all the more important when you consider that acquiring a customer costs up to 5 times more than selling to one you've already won over. You've invested a lot of time and money to win them over, so it's well worth ensuring quality customer follow-up to retain them and make additional, even regular, sales. Focus on the long term.
The idea is to get into a virtuous circle of customer satisfaction, so that the customer remains active and continues to buy your products and services regularly, and to delay the attrition phase as long as possible.
💡Some tips for building customer loyalty:
- make sure you offer a seamless customer journey;
- personalize the customer experience as much as possible;
- offer substantial benefits, notably via a loyalty or referral program.
👉 Having a satisfied customer is all very well. But having a customer ambassador attached to your brand is even better! The more you offer an exceptional customer experience, the more your loyal customers will want to tell their friends and family about you, transforming themselves into true ambassadors and easily bringing you new customers.
Stage 4: Attrition
The attrition phase is a period of customer attrition: customers become less and less active and buy less and less, if at all.
The attrition rate is an indicator for monitoring this trend, and should serve as an alarm bell 🚨.
During this period, you can still take action before the customer leaves for the competition for good! You need to work hard to understand why your customer is losing interest in your company, so that you can remove the blockages and revive the buying dynamic with concrete action.
Step 5: Reactivation
The aim of the reactivation phase is to rekindle the interest of customers who have disengaged or not made a purchase for some time. It therefore comes into play after a prolonged period of inactivity, or when the customer seems to have left the active lifecycle.
💡 A few tips:
- listen for blockages, problems, difficulties ;
- analyze the reasons for inactivity to adjust the approach;
- use a specific occasion to relaunch (birthday, new product launch, etc.);
- offer personalized, special attention (a promotional code, a free call, etc.).
If, despite your best efforts, a customer wants to leave, let them. Don't fall into the trap of exhausting yourself trying to retain them, and save your resources for prospects or customers in previous phases.
Mastering the customer lifecycle: a major asset
As you can see, you have everything to gain by knowing your customer lifecycle and taking it into account in your strategy and the implementation of your actions. It's a tool that gives you control and optimization, two key ingredients for success.