Customer Lifecycle Stages—What to Ask and Actions to Take

The customer journey doesn't end with the cha-ching of a cash register—it's much more than a single sale. It's a complex web of customer encounters, relationships, and actions across customer lifecycle stages. And if brands want to win the hearts and wallets of customers, understanding these stages is a must.

So, what is the secret power of customer lifecycle management? What does it do?

Think back to the steps your customers take when considering one of your products. Whether they opted-in to your brand newsletter or scrolled through your website to make that purchase, they're going through distinct customer lifecycle stages. If you want them to be repeat customers and brand advocates, you need to get in their heads and understand a few things.

• What questions do they ask themselves throughout their buying process?

• What motivates their decision-making process?

• How do they interact with your brand?

Digging into customer lifecycle stages helps brands gain insights into their customers' thoughts which will inform strategies to reach them at every stage of their journey. So, buckle up and get ready to learn how insights into customer lifecycle stages can help your brand win customers and keep them for the long haul.

What is the customer lifecycle?

The first moment you capture a customer's attention—the customer lifecycle begins. The customer lifecycle refers to the steps a prospect takes from learning about a product, buying a product from a brand, and, hopefully, becoming a lifelong customer. This process has five customer lifecycle stages.

1. Reach

2. Acquisition

3. Conversion

4. Retention

5. Loyalty

Simply put, customer lifecycle describes how customers interact with your brand at different points in their journey. This information gives your marketing, customer service, and sales teams better awareness of all customer touchpoints and how they can improve customer experiences.

The Five Customer Lifecycle Stages

For many brands, it can be difficult to sort out where their customers land in the customer lifecycle. Before you can build customer loyalty, you need to understand each customer lifecycle stage. As we take a closer look at each stage, let's examine how a brand in the health technology field might approach each stage, including questions to ask and actions to take to boost customer experiences.

01—Reach

Reach is the first moment a customer becomes aware of your brand. It might be through a Google search, seeing a Facebook ad, or hearing about your product from friends. The reach stage is when you collect data to learn how they found you and their initial reactions. At this stage, it's about capturing your prospect's attention and beginning a relationship with them.

For example, a healthcare app company may approach the reach stage with specific questions and actions to get more downloads and subscribers.

Questions to Ask

• What channels attract the most customers to our health app?

• What words do customers use to describe our app when they first hear about it?

• How can we improve our social media strategy to reach more health tech users?

Actions to Take

• Add quick feedback listening tools to your customer checkout form to ask how people heard about your app.

• Partner with health tech influencers to expand brand awareness.

• Optimize the app store experience for users.
  
  
  
  
  

02—Acquisition

When customers sign up for your newsletter or enroll in your online program, they enter the acquisition stage. At this stage of the customer lifecycle, you want to better understand why customers choose your product over others. You want to know—what makes your product special to customers.

Here, brands evaluate how easy it is for users to sign up or make a purchase—and whether any barriers exist that could prevent them from buying. In this stage, you work out the kinks in how customers interact with your product.

Healthcare app creators use the acquisition stage to understand consumer sentiments and motivations. Maybe the app isn't supported by popular health trackers, or customer service is lagging, leaving customers dissatisfied. This is where you get in the weeds to find out what's converting customers and what's not.

Questions to Ask

• What features do our users like about our health app?

• Would case studies reassure potential customers of the convenience of our tech?

• Is our price point competitive with similar online health subscriptions?

Actions to Take

• Minimizing steps required to sign-up for the subscription or purchase the app.

• Offer discounts or free trials.

• Use tools to deliver prompt answers to consumer questions.

03—Conversion

You’ve delivered valuable information and an amazing customer experience. Your prospect takes the big leap, and they make a purchase. Congratulations—they've now officially converted and become one of your customers.

Now what?

Well, the conversion stage is all about showcasing the value you offer beyond the first transaction.

Your customers have opened the door to forming a relationship with you. Now it's your job to foster customer loyalty and encourage repeat purchases.

This is where you want to identify what's working and what's not converting prospects. Review your funnel and make sure it's easy for customers to click "buy."

For healthcare tech companies, the reach stage may involve reviewing sign-up pages or the customer onboarding process. Anything that holds up the customer journey has got to go or be simplified.

Questions to Ask

• How can we personalize our health app purchasing experience?

• Is the purchase process easy and straightforward on the website?

• Should we respond to abandoned carts with an email sequence?

• What is preventing customers from moving from a free to a paid subscription?

Actions to Take

• Offer on-page chat support for consumer inquiries.

• Analyze data from past customers to see where drop-offs happen in the purchase process.

04—Retention

With a new customer on board, your main goal should be figuring out how to keep them. This stage is an opportunity to better know your customer and keep them engaged.

Customer retention starts by learning how the customer feels about your product. Reach out to them and ask deep questions like how they've enjoyed their new product or what improvements they'd like to see. Send out customer service surveys and measure your customer satisfaction metrics to see how you're performing.

The more you know about your customers and how to respond to them, the more they'll keep coming back to you.

Health tech companies might offer exclusive perks for loyal customers, such as product discounts or access to new features. If it's a health app, retention strategies could start by collecting basic data like active daily users, churn rate, and feature adoption. Companies can use that data to understand customer trends and habits.

Questions to Ask

• How can we personalize each customer's experience?

• What features do customers like best?

• What features do customers complain about most?

Actions to Take

• Ask customers for feedback through personalized emails.

• Develop valuable content that speaks to customer health needs.

• Encourage customers to share their own health journeys and success stories.
  
  
  
  
  
  

05—Loyalty

If you've gained loyal customers, you've hit the jackpot. In the loyalty stage, the customer becomes a valuable asset—they're making new purchases, sharing reviews of your products, and singing your praises. Reaching this level takes time and effort, so cherish your most devoted customers.

But, once they're loyal, how do you keep them sticking around? Consider ways to recognize customer milestones and reward customer loyalty.

In the health-tech field, reward strategies have been a popular way to acknowledge brand loyalty. Wellness platforms reward customers with points they can use to purchase items or exchange for gift cards or charity donations.

Questions to Ask

• What type of customer rewards program would work best?

• How can we make it easy for customers to share our content with others?

• How can we nurture our most loyal customers?

Actions to Take

• Develop a customer referral program.

• Ensure responses to customer questions are personalized.

• Include social media buttons on the website and emails to make it easy for customers to recommend your health tool.

Bottom Line

Understanding customer lifecycle stages gives you the upper hand in converting prospects and nurturing customer relationships. Instead of being slammed by customer churn or leaving it to chance that a customer chooses your brand, you can better understand and guide the customer journey. Since most customers follow a predictable path, when you understand the customer lifecycle stages, you are better set to build deeper, more meaningful customer experiences at each stage of their journey.

If you're wondering how to differentiate and get ahead of market forces, it may be time for a customer experience strategy. At Rebel, we analyze consumer journeys to find insights in places you wouldn’t expect—to take you to places you never thought possible. Let's work together.