Designing and building a foundational customer engagement framework | Conveyancing | Legal

One of the UK's leading conveyancing companies wanted to create a Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) programme to support their growth ambitions. With a performance-driven marketing programme already in place, the company needed to ensure that every marketing pound spent was used effectively, ensuring that no lead slipped through the cracks.

Their existing CLM programme was limited to a single generic transactional email, providing minimal engagement and follow-up. Without data capture, personalisation, lead scoring, or tailored communications, their prospects weren’t being nurtured effectively, and their potential remained untapped.

The company needed to evolve their basic setup into a more advanced and effective automated email programme, maximising every lead opportunity and transforming the way they managed leads across the short, medium, and long term.

The Challenge

Despite the existing performance marketing programme, the company faced several issues with their CLM strategy:

• Underperforming CLM Programme: The current CLM system consisted of a single transactional email with minimal follow-up. This lacked data capture, personalisation, and lead nurturing, resulting in missed opportunities.
• No Lead Scoring or Routing: Without a defined framework for identifying hot, warm, and cold leads, prospects were not being managed effectively across marketing and sales stages.
• Limited Email Engagement: The existing email communications were basic and failed to engage prospects in a meaningful way. There was little personalisation or tailoring to the customer’s journey, reducing the likelihood of conversion.
• Lack of Integration: The systems in place were disjointed and not fully integrated, making it difficult to manage high-quality data, automate workflows, and track engagement across the customer lifecycle.

The company recognised that to optimise lead generation and improve conversion rates, they needed a foundational CLM programme that included lead routing, segmentation, targeted workflows, and personalised communications.

The Approach and Implementation

The company turned to us for assistance, recognising our expertise in customer lifecycle management, data analysis, and email marketing automation. Our task was clear: create a sophisticated, data-driven CLM programme to maximise the value of each lead and ensure seamless communication from initial inquiry to sale.

We worked closely with the team to design an advanced CLM strategy, focusing on segmentation, lead scoring, and automated workflows, while ensuring the email software integrated seamlessly with existing systems.

Our approach to solving the client’s challenges involved the following phases:

1. Reviewing Existing Systems and Setup
   We started by reviewing the company’s existing technology stack, including the in-house CRM and MailChimp. This audit helped us understand the current data and processes, allowing us to identify areas for improvement. We provided recommendations for enhancing data management, optimising processes, and integrating platforms to enable the creation of a robust CLM programme. Key recommendations included:
   • Data Capture Enhancements: Revamping the website’s lead capture forms and marketing consent permissions to ensure that we could engage with prospects effectively.
   • Lead Scoring & Routing Framework: Designing a new framework to identify hot, warm, and cold leads, enabling personalised communication and prioritisation based on customer journey data.
2. Designing the Foundational Engagement Programme
   With a clear understanding of the current systems, we crafted a foundational engagement programme using segment-specific workflows that aligned with the customer journey. Each workflow had distinct objectives and triggered personalised communications based on the stage of the customer journey. This programme was designed to:
   • Target high-priority leads with customised approaches and content.
   • Nurture lower-priority leads with different messaging, content, and communication frequency.
   • Increase conversions by sending tailored email communications that spoke directly to the needs and behaviours of prospects.
3. Revitalising Email Communications
   To address the underperforming email programme, we revitalised email content by:
   • Refreshing email designs, including improved subject lines, engaging templates, and updated messaging.
   • Ensuring all emails were relevant, easy to use, and aligned with the customer’s journey.
   • Designing a master email template with variations that could be efficiently deployed within MailChimp, ensuring scalability and ease of use.
4. Integration and Automation Setup
   Finally, we worked on integrating the existing CRM with MailChimp and automating workflows to support the CLM programme. This involved setting up:
   • API integrations to sync data across systems.
   • Segment-based email journeys, ensuring each lead was treated based on their specific journey stage and engagement level.

To ensure the programme’s success, it was essential that the company implemented the new workflows and embraced the integration of the CRM with MailChimp. The call to action was clear: Maximise every lead’s potential by adopting the new system, leveraging automated workflows, and personalising email communication to engage prospects at every stage.

Outcomes

Although the full CLM programme was still being implemented at the time of writing, the initial results have been promising:

• High Engagement Rates: The newly implemented email workflows led to an impressive 60% engagement rate, a significant improvement (53%) over the previous programme.
• Better Lead Management: The new lead scoring and routing system ensured that leads were prioritised and engaged according to their likelihood to convert, leading to more efficient use of resources.
• Enhanced Personalisation: With tailored content and email journeys, prospects received more relevant communications, improving the overall customer experience and increasing the likelihood of conversion.
• Foundation for Future Growth: The CLM programme provided the company with a scalable framework that could be expanded as the business grew, ensuring long-term success in nurturing leads and increasing sales.