Omniconvert’s Valentin Radu On Mastering Customer Value Optimization

Steal the customer value optimization (CVO) methodology that’s proven to unlock long-term growth for DTC brands.

With ad spend at an all-time high, chasing short-term profits only gets your retail brand so far. That is unless you master the art of customer value optimization (CVO).

CVO is a strategic approach that aims to enhance every stage of the customer journey, ultimately building strong, long-lasting customer relationships and generating maximum ROI.

Fortunately, Valentin Radu, founder and CEO of Omniconvert, after 16+ years of experience, discovered the CVO methodology that has now unlocked growth for 100+ ecommerce brands, including Samsung and Avon. And today, on The Checkout, Valentin walks you through this methodology for free.

Tune in to this episode and learn:

  • How to leverage customer behavior to build loyalty
  • Where qualitative data fits into your data analysis practices
  • Why becoming more customer-centric requires breaking down silos in your business

Plus, get a sneak peek into Valentin’s newest book, The CVO Revolution.

Tune in on: Apple | Google | Spotify

“The faster you experiment and the faster you eliminate possible hypotheses for growth, the faster you become way more profitable and achieve scalability. ”
Valentin Radu, founder & CEO of Omniconvert

Meet Valentin Radu

Valentin Radu is the founder and CEO of Omniconvert, a tool that allows online marketers to turn one-time buyers into lifetime customers. He is also the founder and instructor at CVO Academy, where he coaches ecommerce retailers on how to sustainably scale their brands.

Before Omniconvert, Valentin founded Pint.ro, one of Romania’s largest online car insurance companies with 250,000+ customers.

After learning the ins and outs of customer lifetime value and optimization strategies, Valentin sold that company and launched Omniconvert.

Connect with Valentin on: LinkedIn | CVO Academy

About Omniconvert

Omniconvert helps data-driven marketers understand, segment, convert, and retain customers. The software provides brands with insights into their customers’ buying behavior. With this information, marketing teams can turn one-time buyers into lifetime customers.

With Omniconvert, DTC brands can create meaningful customer experiences throughout the entire customer journey, from acquisition to retention.

Learn more about Omniconvert on: LinkedIn | Website

The Checkout episode 58 unpacks:

In today’s episode, Valentin delves into using your data to drive customer value optimization. Here are the highlights:

[2:31]

Shifts in ecommerce

  • As businesses recognize that long-term success depends on building strong, loyal customer relationships, they are shifting their strategies to place customers at the center of their operations
  • Brands can now leverage data in their marketing efforts to drive profitability. Meaning it (literally) pays to have data back your messaging
  • Adopting an omnichannel strategy encompassing multiple sales channels and touchpoints is crucial when building a sustainable retail brand. While operating direct-to-consumer has its advantage, exclusively selling online may not be enough
[9:02]

The CLV: CAC ratio for higher profits

  • You need to know what you’re optimizing for (no exceptions)
  • It’s not enough to raise revenue. You also need to retain those customers
  • Generally speaking, if you want to acquire market share, you need a 2:1 or 1:1 CLV: CAC ratio
  • “If the CLV to CAC ratio is going upward, that’s great. Keep it at a lower trend and reinvest the profit to acquire market share if you are after market share.”
[14:11]

The 4-data framework to product optimization

  • “Let’s say you have 4 scores, right? You have the sales figures, the demand figures, the customer experience, and the behavior figures. So, having high scores on all of them, you will find the true gems.”
  • If your sales volume is low, you need to figure out why. Is it due to the lack of proper marketing efforts? Low demand in the market? Something else?
  • You can determine why your sales volume is low by pushing products differently and tracking the right data (for instance, sales, buyer behavior data, and demand)
[16:30]

Fail faster to achieve profitability quicker

  • Increasing prices is an easy way to improve gross margins; however, it is not always the best strategy
  • Experiment with different ethical pricing strategies to find the price point that resonates with your customers without sacrificing profitability
  • Ethical pricing strategies refer to pricing methods that are fair and just to all stakeholders. This goes beyond simply following the law. Some unethical pricing strategies include price fixing, price discrimination, and collusion.
  • “The faster you can experiment, the faster you eliminate possible hypotheses for growth. Then, the faster you get to become way more profitable and achieve scalability.”
[19:60]

The ecommerce growth formula

  • What metric should you be optimizing? The answer lies in your data
  • Analyzing key metrics (such as traffic, conversion rate, average order value, gross margins, purchase frequency, and customer retention rate) should tell you if you need to put more money into ads or improve the funnel for conversion
  • “What we are seeing is that most companies are into the habit of spending money on ads, tweaking their existing product assortment without thinking of launching new categories or brands or expanding to other markets. And that’s a pity.”
  • You have to focus on initiatives that improve your key metrics instead of experimenting with others that might not yield the same results
[22:07]

The relationship between the purchase cycle to CLV

  • It is important to align experiments with the purchase cycle. For instance, fast-moving consumer goods can be tested rapidly. In these cases, CLV should focus on short time intervals. This allows validation for CVO experiments quickly.
  • Brands with longer purchase cycles should focus on acquisition and leverage existing lost customers via discounts
  • “If your [cash flow] is tight, you can’t do long-term things. If you’re too short-term oriented, you are not going to do the long-term impact initiatives.”
[26:18]

How to use qualitative data to drive growth

  • A solid omnichannel brand needs to be customer-centric and harness the power of customer feedback
  • Gathering customer feedback allows you to understand whether you have a marketing problem, a price problem, or an operational issue (for instance, product quality)
  • Fix the operational hiccups first (for example, if your product packaging is easily damaged) before improving marketing or launching new products
  • “Do your job first. It’s all about having a smooth customer journey.”
[30:09]

Become more customer-centric by breaking down silos

  • Valentin believes every company needs to break down its silos
  • Marketing, operations, and customer experience teams must collaborate to ensure an effective and unified brand message
[31:27]

Read the first chapter of Valentin’s new book for free

  • In his upcoming book, The CVO Revolution, Valentin condenses all his experience helping retail brands unlock data-driven growth into a few hundred pages
  • As a former ecommerce entrepreneur, he’s found that all valuable progress is preceded by a struggle. But success is about how you cope with that struggle and use it to make things happen

👉 Read the first chapter of Valentin’s book for free.