[Retention & lifecycle]() / [Use cases]() / [Service-aware messaging]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Retention & lifecycle]()[Contact that fits]() # Hold marketing while a customer’s problem is open. A customer with a late order or an open return stops getting upsells and review requests, then starts again when it’s sorted. [Start with a retention review]() [How it works]() Hold record REC-241 Delivery delayed, so hold marketing for O-9214. Reason Delivery delayed at the carrier Held Review request, Trail pant upsell Still sending Tracking updates Resumes On delivery, or when REC-241 closes Why one customer isn’t getting a message, in one record. Your CX lead can read it, and so can the next person. ## Sound familiar? - A customer’s order is late, and the review request arrives first. - Someone with an open return gets the weekend sale. - Lifecycle can’t see what support is handling, and support can’t see what lifecycle is sending. Every message that ignores an open problem tells the customer nobody is looking at their order. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine What marketing sees “Has ever opened a ticket” Is anything open right now? During a problem Everything keeps sending Promotions hold, order updates continue After it’s resolved Whenever the next campaign lands The right sequence resumes on resolution Mistakes Found in a complaint Every hold has a reason on record ## How it works. 6 steps, 4 stages. - AI**1** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**2** - Approval 1. 1 Listen 1. Rules and automation ### Read order and case events Delayed deliveries, open and resolved tickets and returns, as they happen. - Gorgias - Klaviyo - Shopify 2. 2 Decide 1. AI ### Classify free-text cases Where tags are weak, reads the ticket to tell a delivery problem from a question. Uncertain ones go to CX. 2. Your team Approval ### Agree what counts as a problem Your CX lead decides which cases hold which messages, and for how long. 3. 3 Hold 1. Rules and automation ### Hold what shouldn’t send Reviews, upsells and promotions for that customer pause. Tracking and service updates carry on. - Klaviyo - Braze 4. 4 Resume 1. Rules and automation ### Resume on resolution When the case closes or the parcel lands, the right sequence restarts. A reopened case restores the hold. 2. Your team ### Review the holds Lifecycle and CX check holds that look wrong, and fix stale or mismatched cases. Wrong holds tighten the rules ## What you get. Real work, every week. Collisions caught Last 30 days Situation Would have sent Outcome Delivery delayed Review request Held, then resumed Return open Weekend sale Held until the refund Case reopened Care Kit upsell Hold restored The register of near-misses. Each one is a message that would have landed on the wrong day. During an open problem - Order and tracking updates Keep sending - Review requests Held - Upsells Held - Promotions Held The rule your CX lead owns: service messages carry on, marketing waits. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Wrong-moment messages per eligible customer A review request or a sale sent during an open problem, counted at the source. 2. Time from resolution to the right message Holds should lift when the problem does, not weeks later. 3. Complaints about contact The simplest sign that holds are landing on the right customers. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. Support - Gorgias Email & SMS - Klaviyo - Braze - Attentive Commerce - Shopify We configure first Gorgias sends ticket events to Klaviyo, and Klaviyo and Braze can both exclude customers from journeys. We set those up before building anything. We build when A hold depends on more than a ticket tag, like a carrier delay, a return and an open order together, and several tools need the same answer. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - A current-state record of open orders, returns and cases - Hold rules agreed with CX, by message type - Resume rules that restart the right sequence - A register of holds and mistakes ### We start from - Helpdesk access - Carrier and order status - A list of Klaviyo journeys and campaigns ### From your team Owner Head of lifecycle, with the CX lead Involves - Lifecycle - Customer service - Operations ## Questions teams ask. Won’t we end up holding too many messages? Only for the customer with a problem, and only for the messages that would land badly. Everything else keeps sending. We track the revenue held back, so you can see what the holds cost. What about someone who opened a ticket once, last year? That doesn’t count. A hold follows what’s open now: a delayed order, a live case, a return in progress. Stale or mismatched cases are the main risk, so every hold carries its reason and an expiry. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your head of lifecycle, with the CX lead. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with a retention review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your retention engine. One of 12 use cases, in 6 parts. [See the whole retention engine]() 1. [Second orders **3**]() 2. [Subscribers **3**]() 3. [Contact that fits **1**]() 4. [Owners & loyalty **2**]() 5. [Lifecycle production **1**]() 6. [Proof & decisions **2**]() In contact that fits - **Service-aware messaging**You’re here Works with - [**Second orders**Turn first orders into second orders]() - [**Ownership onboarding**Turn new owners into confident users]() - [**Replenishment timing**Time the reorder to when customers actually run out]() See it at work - [**In Fernway’s ninety days**Day 58: her order was late, so the upsell waited]() - [**Also in**Customer service & support]() - [**Also in**Digital commerce & conversion]() ## Know when to stay quiet. Start with a retention review. [Start with a retention review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/service-aware-messaging/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)