Episode 56 - CRM Marketing at Moments of Truth
Tom Burrell
July 04, 2025
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Welcome to episode 56 of the Retention Blueprint!
To everyone celebrating state-side, happy 4th of July.
In this series, we are diving into what makes great CRM Marketing. In episode 55 we covered CRM Marketing heuristics; outlining how smart CRM marketing leverage psychological short-cuts, like clarity, storytelling, and behavioural science, to drive action and retention. You can catch up here.
In future episodes of this series, we will cover segmentation, personalisation, performance monitoring, optimisation and martech. In todays episode we focus on how to leverage CRM Marketing at key customer retention moments of truth.
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📰 Top Story CRM Marketing and Moments of Truth
In multiple episodes of this newsletter, we have covered moments of truth (see episode 1, 11, 13, 19, 20, 23, 25, 27, 32, 33 and 37 - all available here in the archive).
In episode 37 of The Retention Blueprint, we went deep on moments of truth examining what they are and why they matter.
Unlike broad life stages, moments of truth are brief, emotionally charged customer interactions that heavily influence loyalty, such as a first app open, a service installation, or navigating a cancel flow.
Optimising these micro-moments can dramatically impact retention rates.
In episode 37 we explored how to identify moments of truth through analytics and value-realisation research.
The key takeaway: understand where customers experience value and design for those fleeting, but defining moments.
Many customer retention moments of truth will sit outside of CRM marketing, like interactions with your app, website, service channel or during product usage.
However CRM Marketing can support customers at moments of truth.
Either through communications that reduce the impact of past negative experiences or by positively enhancing future moments of truth.
Here are 8 examples:
Enhancing Future Moments of Truth
1. Fitness App - Pre-empting First Workout Anxiety
Moment of Truth: The user's first solo gym visit.
CRM Enhancement: A personalised “First Workout Confidence Kit” email is sent the night before, including a custom beginner workout plan, a map of the gym layout, and tips on what to expect. This removes uncertainty and boosts confidence, increasing the likelihood they return.
2. SaaS Tool - Activating First Login Success
Moment of Truth: First time a user logs into the dashboard.
CRM Enhancement: A short onboarding email with a 60-second video walkthrough and a dynamic checklist tailored to their use case, sent 15 minutes after account creation. Reinforces early success and reduces the risk of abandonment.
3. Meal Kit Service - Supporting Peak Use Time
Moment of Truth: Cooking the first meal from a new subscription.
CRM Enhancement: An SMS with a link to step-by-step videos, sent just before the most common dinner prep time (based on cohort data). Reduces friction and enhances value perception.
4. Streaming - Eradicting doom scrolling
Moment of Truth: Turning on the streaming app to find something to watch.
CRM Enhancement: A curated digest of the latest content tailored to the customers preferences sent very close to when the customer typically watch e.g. 6pm on a Saturday ahead of regular Saturday evening viewing.
Mitigating Past Negative Moments of Truth
5. Broadband Provider - Post-Installation Issue Recovery
Moment of Truth: A customer reports installation problems via support. CRM Mitigation: Within 24 hours, an apology email is sent with a dedicated support link, a discount offer on the next bill, and a brief survey to understand what went wrong. This shows accountability and aims to rebuild trust.
6. Banking App - Resolving Card Loss Frustration
Moment of Truth: Customer recently lost their debit card and faced a frustrating queue when calling the contact centre. CRM Mitigation: A follow-up email confirms the replacement is on its way, includes a virtual card setup guide, and reassures them with fraud protection tips. This humanises the experience and restores confidence.
7. eLearning Platform – Missed Webinar Apology
Moment of Truth: Customer signed up for a live training but couldn’t attend due to a tech issue. CRM Mitigation: A heartfelt email acknowledging the glitch, offering an on-demand version of the webinar, and extending a bonus Q&A session invite. Shows responsiveness and preserves learning momentum.
8. Subscription Box – Missed Delivery or Damaged Product
Moment of Truth: A customer received their monthly box late or with damaged items, leading to disappointment. CRM Mitigation: A proactive email is sent within 24 hours of the incident being logged, expressing sincere apology, confirming a replacement is on the way (if applicable), and offering early access to next month’s box or a small loyalty reward (e.g. points or discount). The message also includes behind-the-scenes content to build empathy (e.g. "how we pack your box") and reinforce transparency.
Final thoughts
Moments of truth shape retention more than any generic campaign or automation ever could. While many of these moments happen outside CRM, great CRM marketing earns its place by showing up at exactly the right time - with empathy, clarity, and relevance. Whether you’re reinforcing a win or repairing a slip-up, CRM can either light the path forward or smooth out the bumps.
In the next episode of this series we dive into segmentation and personalisation in CRM Marketing.
Until next week,
Tom
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