The Holistic Approach to Customer Retention with Sunil Thomas, CleverTap | Ep. #372

Acquiring new customers is one thing, but keeping them is entirely another. Today we have Sunil Thomas on the show to speak about his company, CleverTap, a leading customer engagement and retention platform that helps brands maximize user time value. CleverTap tracks groups, segments, and data, and helps brands use it to market to their customers. For Sunil, what makes CleverTap unique is that they take a holistic view of customer retention by serving four categories: behavior analytics, segmentation, marketing automation, and individualization, using a mixture of manual and automated approaches to service delivery in each. Sunil shares details about some of CleverTap’s main clients and the verticals they occupy, before weighing in on why their customers who offer subscription models get the best out of their offering. We talk pricing structures and growth metrics for CleverTap and hear more on what their journey from idea to evangelization and product-market fit looked like. Our exchange covers the user experience of CleverTap too, and Sunil shares insights into the growth customers have experienced after adopting their platform as well as how open and compatible it is. We wrap up this great chat hearing bout Sunil’s favorite books and tools, so for all this and more, be sure to tune in!

 

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

 

• [00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [00:45] Where Sunil got his surname from considering he was born in India.
• [01:21] CleverTap’s main service helping brands with retention and conversion rates. 
• [02:14] Metrics for clients, client success, and verticals CleverTap serves.
• [04:15] Four user retention categories and how CleverTap catapulted their growth.
• [05:18] Using manual and AI-assisted automation to help retain users in four categories.
• [06:32] Whether CleverTap best serves clients with mobile or web-based businesses.
• [08:14] CleverTap’s pricing structures based on user volume and add-on features.
• [10:30] Challenges educating buyers that solving user retention is important. 
• [12:28] The two and a half year journey to first payment and product-market fit.
• [14:13] Growth metrics for CleverTap and how they have more than doubled revenue each year. 
• [15:21] The difference between CleverTap and HubSpot: B2B versus B2C.
• [15:53] Favorite books of Sunil’s and why he loves Patrick Lencioni’s fable style.
• [16:32] Getting things done and why Sunil’s favorite business tool is Microsoft OneNote.
• [18:00] How to get in touch with Sunil and learn more about CleverTap.

 

Resources From The Interview:

 

• Sunil Thomas on LinkedIn
• Sunil Thomas on Twitter
• CleverTap
• Domino’s
• Fandango 
• The Discovery Group
• BookMyShow
• Nathan Latka with Sunil Thomas
• HubSpot
• NetSuite
• Yelp
• Patrick Lencioni

 

• The Five Dysfunctions

• The Ideal Team Player

 

• Microsoft OneNote
• Notion
• Roam
• David Allen

 

• Getting Things Done

 

• Leveling Up with David Allen
• TechCrunch
• Tom Tunguz
• Growth Everywhere Episode 96: Tom Tunguz

 

• Must read book: Death By Meeting, The Advantage

 

 

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Connect with Eric Siu: 

 

 

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Eric Siu on Twitter