{"id":4058,"date":"2021-03-31T08:18:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T08:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1344923"},"modified":"2021-03-31T08:18:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T08:18:19","slug":"successful-subscription-models-are-like-a-well-choreographed-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=4058","title":{"rendered":"Successful subscription models are like a well-choreographed dance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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If you are in the thick of rolling out a subscription business model, it\u2019s not news to you that you\u2019ve just fundamentally changed your relationship with your customer. Where once you focused on lots of one-and-done transactions to drive quarterly revenue growth, now you need to optimize <\/span>long-term relationships<\/span><\/i> and boost average customer lifetime value (CLTV) across the entire subscription business lifecycle.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that\u2019s a tall order, but the path to success is straightforward. <\/span><\/p>\n

For me, the key is to leverage the massive volumes of data produced throughout your subscribers\u2019 lifecycles \u2014 from acquisition to renewal \u2014 and transform all the data into actionable insights for every employee engaging with your subscribers. <\/span><\/p>\n

To do the latter, you have to marry the varied subscription data set with AI and machine learning (ML) methodologies. Tightly choreographed streams of data and insights derived from multiple interactions over time give your team the information to help your subscriber feel their needs are understood and they are connected to your brand promise. <\/span><\/p>\n

Essentially, a subscription relationship is a continuous dance with your customer and the data is your instructor.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are several important steps to this dance \u2014 from attracting new customers, to retaining them, to renewing them \u2014 and perfecting those steps is no small feat. <\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll see that subscription business models touch every key business function from marketing, product development, sales, supply chain, service, customer success, and finance. With this model, no employee can be left out of the relationship and no business process or system can be left untouched.<\/span><\/p>\n

So let\u2019s break down the five steps of this all-important dance:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Acquisition<\/b><\/h2>\n

I find it helpful to view acquisition as asking someone to dance, the courtship of a new relationship. That\u2019s why it\u2019s incredibly important you make sure that whoever connects with the customer first on your behalf puts their best foot forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re being judged from the first click, call, or advertisement by potential subscribers who are assessing your product, comparing your pricing and packaging, and reading peer reviews to see if they are interested. Consumers today have a lot of options, so you need to be crystal clear about your intentions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Information about what you\u2019re offering needs to be current and represented correctly throughout whatever experience touches your customer first. You need to empower marketing, sales, and service associates with accurate real-time data on subscription pricing, packaging, and promotions to seal the deal. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, also keep in mind subscribers sometimes want a little space from brand representatives. That\u2019s why I encourage you to ensure that website content is reflective of the latest and greatest pricing models and deals that your employees are armed with, as it will allow those customers to make their own choices. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, marketing, sales, service, and commerce all need access to accurate subscription pricing, packaging, and bundling from across your systems \u2014 <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> they need to be in sync with each other, so they aren\u2019t stepping on each other\u2019s toes (see how the choreography analogy comes in?).
<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Billing<\/b><\/h2>\n

Flexible billing \u2014 the keyword here being: <\/span>flexible<\/span><\/i> \u2014 is your strategic weapon for subscriber acquisition and <\/span>also<\/span><\/i> ongoing income and retention. To be flexible in a relationship means you\u2019re open to new ideas, different ways of doing things, novel adventures, and different life experiences. <\/span><\/p>\n

All joking aside though, flexible billing <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> innovative marketing when it comes to subscriptions. It allows you to offer multiple pricing strategies to attract subscribers with different preferences like usage-based billing, recurring charges, discounts, tiered options, and virtual currencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the heart of a flexible billing strategy is \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 data! Automated invoice creation, tax calculations, fraud detection, payment options, global currencies, variable payments, chargebacks, collections, revenue recognition, reporting, and customer portals all need to be securely stored and connected to customer data.<\/span><\/p>\n

This includes subscriber payment, usage, contract, and billing information so that it can choreograph massive amounts of pricing, usage, and product data into a single unified process.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Retention<\/b><\/h2>\n

Okay, so you got \u2018em at first sight with your magnificent acquisition experience and flexible billing strategy. Now the relationship is really high stakes, it\u2019s time to hit the dance floor and prove you\u2019re a worthy dancing partner. <\/span><\/p>\n

Acquiring a new customer is<\/span> five times<\/span><\/i><\/a> more costly than retaining an existing one. The business case speaks for itself \u2014 there really is no escaping the importance of lifecycle data at this juncture. <\/span><\/p>\n

Good use of subscriber lifecycle data can not only help you keep an eye on how well you\u2019re serving customers but also how invested they are in your offering for the long-term.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The time to start churn prevention activities is from the moment a customer converts. By leveraging sales intelligence that can help you use all the data at your disposal \u2014 both first and third party \u2014 you can foresee if your subscribers are planning a mad dash for the exit. <\/span><\/p>\n

AI and ML models consuming all that data can look across product usage patterns (total user, log-ins, time spent), interaction levels (average support calls per month, payment patterns), industry shifts (new competition, lower pricing), organizational changes (new C-suite), or new economic models (new round of financing, new product categories).<\/span><\/p>\n

Subscription intelligence can help you predict and prevent subscriber churn; and even more importantly, recommend corrective action for historically similar churn indicators. AI-powered analytics can help implement an early warning system for your employees on the front lines. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, if someone in the accounting department notices a customer hasn\u2019t paid on time for several billing cycles, they can pass on the information to someone in sales to explore. In turn, perhaps offering a new plan, billing options or other corrective actions to similar subscribers in the past can prevent churn.<\/span><\/p>\n

The utility of data to keep a subscription business healthy is only as good as the businesses wherewithal to actually do something with the insight it yields.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Expansion<\/b><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve nailed the retention part of the relationship and you\u2019ve now got a loyal dance partner. Everything is going great. You\u2019re in tune with the needs and moods of your subscribers because you\u2019re leveraging all the data about how they are using your products.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now is the time to think about spicing things up a little \u2014 and boosting revenue growth \u2014 with some new cross-sell and up-sell offerings that improve on what\u2019s already working, adding a few new dance numbers to your routine. Or perhaps you dare to launch new product offerings or expand to new market segments or geographies. <\/span><\/p>\n

Expansion and revenue growth on your current base is much easier if you are already using subscriber lifecycle data to listen to how customers are using your products and services \u2014 as well as what they aren\u2019t using. Data gives you the insight to intelligently expand areas of operation to new products or packages, and new lines of business.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Success<\/b><\/h2>\n

This is what it\u2019s all about at the end of the day: customer success. Success is what ultimately maximizes customer lifetime value. <\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping a subscription relationship healthy and successful is all about enabling each part of the organization to contribute to the retention and renewal of the customer. Each part of the organization cannot operate with their own slice of data as customer communications over time would fracture into different unconnected messages.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you roll out or optimize your subscription business model, imagine at every step how the entire communications process maps over the entire customer lifecycle. Think about how to build out a logical interaction model over time and at any time, across every point in your business. <\/span><\/p>\n

Actively seek to connect data and processes around the subscription lifecycle to enable every employee in the business to become a retention specialist and have every communication contribute to the customer success. And, finally, enjoy the dance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Published March 31, 2021 \u2014 08:18 UTC <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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