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Discipline

CRM and loyalty

Managing the relationship after the first sale: lifecycle messages and loyalty programmes.

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CRM and loyalty manage the relationship after the first sale: the customer record, lifecycle messages and loyalty programmes. They decide who receives which email, mail pack or message and when, and give customers a reason to identify themselves at every purchase. They matter most where people buy repeatedly, and only if the business can know its customers lawfully and use what it knows.

Start with the 101CRM and loyalty 101: the whole pictureHistory, how it works, where it is used, what it costs, the rules, its limits and when to choose it, with every claim sourced.Read the 101

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What matters when choosing

  • A lawful, consented customer record that teams can actually use.
  • Lifecycle programmes timed to each customer's stage, from welcome to win-back.
  • Rewards that change behaviour rather than pay people for what they already do.
  • Holdout groups that show what each programme adds.
  • Systems and teams that share one record across every owned channel.

Questions to ask vendors and agencies

  1. What would these customers have done without the programme, and how will we test it?
  2. How are objections to profiling and changes of consent honoured in every system?
  3. What will the programme cost in rewards and systems over several years, not only at launch?

Common mistakes

  • Member discounts that become the price members expect.
  • Collecting data and doing nothing with it.
  • Treating one satisfaction score as the strategy, or reading it from a survey only the happiest customers answer.

What it is good at

  • Knowing each customer's history and consent.
  • Growing the value of existing customers, which can lift profit sharply.
  • Showing what each campaign changed, through customer data and holdouts.

What to watch for

  • Rewards and systems are long-term costs.
  • Too many messages drive churn and objections.
  • Results depend on the quality of the record and on teams working together.

How it is bought and priced

Systems such as a CRM, a customer data platform and marketing automation are usually priced per contact or per seat; on top come the people and content that run lifecycle programmes and, for loyalty, the rewards themselves. A paid membership turns part of the cost around, and coalition programmes add fees between partners.

Typical disciplines CRM and loyalty Email marketing Direct marketing Messaging marketing

Platforms that fit (6)

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  • AntavoCovers CRM and loyalty
    Strong match100
  • Zoho CRMCovers CRM and loyalty
    Strong match100
  • HubSpot Marketing HubCovers CRM and loyalty
    Strong match100
  • Talon.OneCovers CRM and loyalty
    Strong match100
  • PipedriveCovers CRM and loyalty
    Strong match100
  • ActiveCampaignCovers CRM and loyalty
    Strong match100