Planning

We design clear, joined-up CRM programmes and journeys, grounded in audience insight and built on data to deliver against performance goals. 

From audience insight to joined-up CRM programmes

Get the planning right and everything downstream – implementation, delivery, optimisation – has something solid to build on.

What is CRM planning?

CRM planning is the process of defining how a CRM programme should work – from CRM strategy framework and lifecycle structure through to communication planning, channel strategy and performance measurement.

A customer relationship management plan covers more than what gets sent and when. It defines who you’re talking to, what role each channel plays, how journeys connect across the lifecycle, and how you know if it’s all working.

Common challenges you might be facing

CRM activity driven by campaign calendar rather than customer strategy
Journeys designed around channel capability rather than customer behaviour
No clear segmentation strategy or audience framework
Messaging that’s inconsistent across channels and touchpoints
KPI analysis that measures activity but not commercial contribution
Planning happening in silos across marketing, CRM and data teams
No roadmap for developing CRM strategy over time

Programme development

A CRM strategy framework gives the programme structure – lifecycle stages, commercial priorities, initiative roadmap, and a clear logic for how activity connects and compounds over time.

Without it, CRM planning and implementation tends to be reactive: filling the calendar, responding to business requests, never quite getting ahead. We work with businesses to develop CRM strategies in marketing that align to commercial objectives and give teams a clear basis for prioritisation.

In practice, this means:

Developing CRM strategy frameworks and lifecycle programmes
Aligning CRM marketing strategy to commercial objectives
Prioritising initiatives based on impact and audience value
Creating roadmaps for continuous CRM improvement
Supporting CRM planning and implementation across teams and channels

The result:

A CRM programme with a clear strategic logic – and a roadmap for implementing CRM strategy over time.

Comms journeys

Customer journey mapping is where CRM strategy becomes something tangible. It’s where you define what a customer should experience at each stage of the lifecycle – what triggers communication, what gets said, what happens next.

Good communication planning accounts for customer behaviour and intent, aligns channel selection to where customers are, and creates consistency across touchpoints that reinforces the relationship.

In practice, this means:

Customer journey mapping and channel selection
Defining communication planning and messaging structure
Aligning journey stages to customer behaviour and intent
Designing connected lifecycle communications
Improving journey consistency across channels

The result:

Customer journeys that move people through the lifecycle.

Channel integration

Channel strategy isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about understanding what role each channel plays and making sure they work together.

We define the logic that sits underneath – how channels hand off to each other, where orchestration is needed, and how messaging stays consistent across every customer touchpoint.

In practice, this means:

Defining channel strategy and channel roles
Developing omnichannel plans and orchestration logic
Aligning messaging across customer touchpoints
Improving channel integration and consistency
Optimising journeys across integrated CRM platforms

The result:

A channel plan where every channel has a clear job, all working together toward the same customer outcome.

Audience and segmentation

Effective audience segmentation is the difference between CRM that feels relevant and CRM that feels like broadcast. Target customer segments need to be grounded in real behaviour and lifecycle data – not just demographics or gut feel.

We develop segmentation strategies that support personalisation, targeting and journey design across the CRM programme, giving teams a consistent audience framework to plan and execute against.

In practice, this means:

Audience segmentation and customer profiling
Defining target audience segmentation and personas
Behavioural and lifecycle segmentation
Segmentation strategy for personalisation and targeting
Aligning target market segmentation to customer strategy and CRM journeys

The result:

A segmentation framework that makes CRM activity more relevant, more targeted and easier to plan around.

Performance analysis

KPI analysis only adds value if the right things are being measured. CRM programmes often track activity metrics – open rates, click rates, send volumes – without connecting performance to commercial outcomes or lifetime value.

We define CRM KPIs and reporting frameworks that give teams visibility of what’s working, support performance attribution reporting across channels, and surface the optimisation opportunities that matter.

In practice, this means:

Analysing customer journey and lifecycle performance
Defining CRM KPIs and reporting frameworks
Performance attribution reporting across channels
Identifying optimisation opportunities and trends
Measuring CRM contribution to business objectives and lifetime value

The result:

Performance reporting that explains what’s driving results, and where to focus next.

Research and insight

Understanding what customers really do, what motivates them and where they drop out of the lifecycle is what defines a consumer-centric strategy.

We combine customer research, synthetic profiles and behavioural insight analysis to give you a clearer picture of your audience – and a stronger foundation for CRM strategy and journey design.

In practice, this means:

Customer research and synthetic profile development
Customer and behavioural insight analysis
Identifying lifecycle and journey opportunities
Understanding audience motivations and barriers
Supporting consumer centric strategy development

The result:

CRM planning grounded in how customers behave in the real world.

Who is this for?

This is for businesses that need more structure and strategic logic behind their CRM activity, teams developing or refreshing a customer relationship management strategy, and organisations where CRM planning and implementation has grown organically and needs bringing into a coherent framework. It’s also relevant for businesses preparing for a new platform implementation who want the strategy defined before the build begins.

Our work.

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