The Future Of Customer Lifecycle Management Technology: The Customer Collaboration Layer

The Time Has Come For Tech-Driven Customer Collaboration

Customer Lifecycle Management technology is traditionally made up of 3 essential layers; the system of customer record, system of customer insight and system of customer action. The knowledge, intelligence and actions generated from these 3 layers have formed the basis of customer-centric decision making across the entire organization. But, as the management of customers in B2B enterprises continues to transform, what will the future of customer lifecycle management technology look like?

With an increased need for customer-centricity and value-centricity, the future hinges on deeper customer collaboration. This requires an evolution of the customer management technology stack and the addition of a new layer: the customer collaboration layer. This new layer will bring organizations and customers together to co-create a shared path to value realization with mutual responsibility for success. 

Valuize has co-authored a new e-book with MetaCX that dives into the The Ultimate Tech Stack for Deep Customer Collaboration. Below, we break down each of the 3 existing layers of the customer lifecycle management tech stack and introduce the customer collaboration layer that is essential to propelling your organization into the future.

System of Customer Record

The system of customer record is where the most critical data about your customers lives. This layer holds contact details and touchpoints with each customer, providing a centralized repository of information for all customer-facing teams. To add efficiency, transparency and personalization to customer support efforts, make sure you include all standard data about a customer, such as name, billing information and contract details, as well as observational and behavioral data from every interaction your teams have with the customer.  

The system of customer record forms the basis of your tech stack and determines the success of the other layers. Unfortunately, this is also a place plagued by inaccurate and incomplete data. As various customer-facing teams have access to this data source, redundancies, inaccuracies and formatting errors are inevitable. To establish a clean system of customer record, ensure that you have a data governance model in place that regulates how teams can enter, use and change customer data.

System of Customer Insight

While your system of customer record holds crucial customer data, it only provides a snapshot of your customer. With your system of customer insight, you can take this to the next level. Collate and analyze all the customer data you have gathered to form a complete panoramic/ multi-dimensional view of your customers. With a proper analysis of the information, including past interactions with your business and their user activity, you can generate deeper insights and better understand who your customers are and what they want from your business.

System of Customer Action

The system of customer action is where you take data and insights and turn them into impactful solutions and powerful actions to help your customers realize value. Empowered with deeper insights and knowledge about each customer, your customer-focused team members can make more informed data-driven decisions about how to best engage with and serve customers. We recommend a combination of manual and automated processes that are triggered by specific actions or milestones, such as Success Plan milestones, to ensure sustainable and scalable growth.

Customer Collaboration Layer

The customer collaboration layer unifies you as the supplier with the customer with a focus on collaborative outcome achievement. This layer should be built with the entire customer lifecycle in mind, from acquisition to expansion, and should include all pre- and post-sales teams to deliver a single, cohesive experience. 

We recommend partnering with each of your customers to co-create and then co-manage a measurable outcome-based success plan that enables a clear path to value achievement and success. The customer collaboration layer provides access to real time insights and triggers to optimize time-to-value and objective, quantifiable outcome verification.

Upgrade Your CS Technology To Meet The Needs Of The Future

Technology and data are two powerful CS tools that are vital in creating repeatable and scalable processes to maximize the delivery of customer value. They should serve as the bedrock of all processes within your CS organization but this is only possible when you optimize your system of customer record, system of customer insight and system of customer action and make room for the future with a customer collaboration layer. 

Are you ready to take your CS technology investment into the future? Read this powerful ebook by MetaCX + Valuize to learn how you can build a tech stack that drives deeper customer collaboration and accelerates your CS organization into the future.