Unlocking the Power of Data-Driven Insights in Subscription Management Through Digital CXM

We are pleased to share these insights from Everest Group guest bloggers David Rickard, partner, and Divya Baweja, practice director. 

The Transformative Impact of Technology on Subscription Management and Digital CXM

Cutting-edge digital technology is revolutionizing subscription management by providing organizations with real-time data-driven insights to enhance personalization, increase sales opportunities, optimize revenue, expand offerings, and retain customers. Explore the transformative impact of the latest advancements on customer experience management (CXM) for subscription services and gain valuable insights into the future outlook in this blog.

Subscription-based services have experienced exponential growth in recent years across various industry sectors, including streaming, gaming, media and entertainment, as well as retail and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG). The rise of subscription box services has further fueled this trend by offering customers a convenient and personalized way to access products/services on a recurring basis. 

Organizations offering subscription-based services have access to vast customer data, encompassing demographic information, purchase history, browsing behavior, engagement metrics, and feedback. In the digital customer experience (CX) era, organizations can better grasp their customers’ preferences, behaviors, and pain points by thoroughly analyzing this extensive consumer repository data. The use of AI to support this analysis has accelerated the pace at which organizations can respond to trends and changes in customer behavior or CX needs. This understanding can help these enterprises deliver superior CX, foster long-term loyalty, and achieve sustainable growth in today’s competitive marketplace. 

Let’s delve into how technological advancements have transformed the approach to subscription management and the advantages it brings to organizations.

Traditional Approach to Subscription Management

Historically, subscription management has been characterized by a reactive, post-facto approach to data analysis with data stored across multiple disparate systems and departments. In this traditional model, organizations or their outsourcing partners would collect customer data throughout the subscription lifecycle in an isolated approach. Analysis and decision-making would occur afterward to form future strategies, product development, and customer engagement initiatives. While this approach has its benefits, it is constrained by the following issues: 

• Lack of a unified customer view: In many organizations, different departments handle various aspects of subscription management, such as sales, marketing, customer support, customer retention, and finance, with each department storing data independently. Without a unified view of customer data, organizations may struggle to analyze the entire customer journey to identify patterns or trends that could inform strategic decisions or improve customer engagement efforts. 
• Delayed decision-making and inability to implement real-time interventions: The reactive nature of post-facto data analysis often leads to delays in decision-making, as insights are generated after the fact. Without real-time data analysis capabilities, organizations may miss opportunities to intervene proactively during the subscription lifecycle, resulting in a less agile response to customer needs and market dynamics. Additionally, while certain analytics tools can identify customer concerns, the process still entails hours of listening and data collection, further delaying responses and increasing agent workload. 
• High dependency on the IT group: In the traditional subscription management approach, organizations were heavily dependent on their internal (or outsourced) IT group to respond to requests for change, build requirements, prioritize the work and finally implement. 

Advancement in technology redefining CXM for subscription-based offerings

The rapid progression of digital CX tools, including advanced analytics, automation solutions, Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), conversational AI, and the emergence of generative AI (gen AI), have significantly transformed CXM for subscription-based models. This has eliminated data silos and provided real-time data-driven insights. As a result, these technological advances have ushered in a new era of data driven CXM management, revolutionizing the following aspects:

• Personalized subscription offerings and recommendations: Advanced digital CX tools can analyze customer data to deliver highly personalized subscription plans and recommendations tailored to individual needs. Leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities, gen AI can engage in conversational interactions, guiding customers through subscription options and providing tailored advice.
• Identification of upsell/cross-sell opportunities: Real-time analytics enable organizations to identify product or service enhancement opportunities based on customer needs. This includes determining the optimal time to introduce premium products or services and suggesting relevant upgrades or add-ons. Furthermore, organizations can create personalized product bundles, discounts, or rewards tailored to individual preferences. 
• Dynamic pricing and revenue optimization: Gen AI models can analyze market trends, competitor data, and customer behavior to recommend dynamic pricing strategies and optimize revenue streams from subscriptions. By dynamically adjusting prices based on demand, seasonality, and customer preferences, organizations can maximize revenue potential while remaining competitive by facilitating discount strategies for new customer acquisition, as well as for customers who are at churn risk. 
• Augmentation of product/service offerings: Organizations can use advanced analytics tools, such as speech analytics, sentiment analytics, or tone analytics, to identify the areas of concern for end-customers and address them by augmenting their offerings. Digital-first service providers have leveraged gen AI’s analysis and conversational capabilities to develop solutions that can identify the root cause of consumer concern without requiring extensive call listening or data collection time. 
• Increased customer retention: Organizations can identify patterns indicating potential customer churn risks for subscriptions. By leveraging advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms, they can proactively intervene to mitigate these risks, offering personalized incentives, targeted communication, or proactive customer support. Additionally, organizations can continuously monitor customer engagement metrics and feedback to iteratively improve subscription offerings and enhance overall customer satisfaction, fostering long-term loyalty and retention. As businesses mature, effective churn management emerges as a paramount concern, rendering these tools indispensable for support. 

Outlook for Subscription-Based Services

The CXM landscape for subscription-based services is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advancements and the imperative for organizations to deliver superior customer experiences. Moving forward, organizations must recognize the importance of partnering with CXM providers that offer comprehensive capabilities to address the evolving needs of subscription-based models. Some leading CXM providers have already begun to leverage AI and gen AI to support analysis of high-volume clients, leading not only to deeper insights on the interaction but also allowing them to create models for churn and NPS prediction based on the interactions that their clients are using to make business decisions. 

By leveraging these capabilities, organizations can not only enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty but also drive revenue growth and market competitiveness in today’s dynamic landscape. Therefore, organizations must prioritize investments in digital CXM and strategic partnerships with digital CXM providers. This can empower them to navigate the evolving subscription economy effectively. As the subscription-based service model continues to gain traction, organizations that embrace data-driven CXM strategies will be well-positioned to thrive in this ever-changing market. Furthermore, organizations relying on outsourced CXM providers must be ready to utilize their outsourcing partners’ technology and provide necessary data to fully capitalize on the emerging benefits these companies offer. 

Moving forward, organizations must recognize the importance of partnering with CXM providers that offer comprehensive capabilities to address the evolving needs of subscription-based models.

Experience the iQor Difference

Ready to transform your subscription service CX with the power of data and expertise? 

iQor is an award-winning managed services provider of digitally enabled business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions trusted by global brands. We understand the unique opportunities available to subscription services providers and serve as a strategic partner in creating a customer-centric subscription experience. Our dedicated client teams wield a powerful toolkit that combines cutting-edge technology and human expertise to maximize outcomes for your service. 

Our advanced analytics platform, VALDI, gathers data from all interaction channels (phone, email, social media) and transforms it into actionable insights. Similarly, our social media monitoring strategy is designed and continuously refined to identify and proactively resolve customer concerns. 

iQor offers a comprehensive suite of BPO full-service and self-service scalable offerings that are purpose-built to deliver enterprise-quality CX. We provide strategic thought leadership, competitive pricing, performance excellence, attractive geos, and talented teams to meet demand and deliver differentiated customer experiences at the best value in the industry.  

Our highly trained CX specialists possess decades of accumulated process knowledge and a value-driven culture of innovation and operational excellence. We provide multilingual frontline agents in the geo of your choice who are equipped with the knowledge and skills to navigate even the most complex subscription customer concerns. 

Our award-winning CX services include: 

• A global presence with 40+ contact centers across 10 countries.   
• A CX private cloud that maximizes performance and scales rapidly across multiple geographies on short notice.   
• A partnership approach where we deploy agents and C-level executives to help maximize your ROI. 
• The perfect blend of intelligent automation for scale and performance coupled with an irresistible culture comprising people who love to delight your customers.   
• Virtual and hybrid customer support options to connect with customers seamlessly, when and where they want.   
• The ability to launch a customer support program quickly, even when you need thousands of agents ready to support your customers.   
• A best-in-class workforce management team and supporting technology to create a centralized organization that can better serve your entire business. 

iQor helps brands deliver the world’s most sought-after customer experiences. Interested in learning more about the iQor difference? If you’re ready to start a conversation with a customer experience expert, contact us to learn how we can help you create more smiles.

David Rickard is partner at Everest Group. Connect with David on LinkedIn. 

Divya Baweja is practice director at Everest Group. Connect with Divya on LinkedIn.