The age of AI moves fast. Your customer growth engine should too.

Growth Lab partners with you to evolve your customer engagement system for growth.

Your customers get a better experience. You get better conversion and higher customer lifetime value.

We fine tune your data, processes, journeys and customer experience across your martech, with AI throughout.

Win more customers.

Keep them
longer.

Grow revenue
more efficiently.

AI throughout Data Processes Journeys Experience
  • Sanlam
  • KFC
  • Santam
  • Momentum
  • Budget Insurance
  • First for Women

How we work with you

Start where the return is largest, or start with your score and let it tell you.

  1. 1Martech ScoreKnow where your stack stands against the best in your industry, and what to fix first.
  2. 2FixGet more from the platforms you already pay for.
  3. 3GrowKeep customers longer and earn more from each one.
  4. 4AutomateProduce campaigns in days, not weeks, with AI your team controls.
  5. 5DecideKnow what to buy, renew or replace before you sign.

1   Martech Score

What’s your martech score?

Your credit has a score out of 100. Now your marketing technology does too.

We score your stack against the best in your industry, and show you what to fix first.

You get your score, the three fixes that matter most and a plan with quick wins in the first 90 days. Built on independent research into 1,634 real stacks.

Get your score

Where you are, where the best are, and the gap

70 Apex band 53 Your score, an example
  • 53 where you are
  • 65 the best amongst your peers
  • 70 the Apex band. Nobody in your industry is there yet
MartechTribe

Led by Frans Riemersma, co-author of the State of Martech report and the Martech Landscape with Scott Brinker of chiefmartec.

CMO Council

More than 16,000 marketing leaders, controlling over $1 trillion in annual marketing spend.

Which one are you?

Every stack sits on two dimensions, the technology you have and how well your team uses it. The score tells you which to work on.

More technology Used better

You’re at 53. Here’s how to get to 65.

Example starting score53/100
The best amongst your peers65/100

Fix these first+12 points

  • Marketing automation+5
  • Email+4
  • CRM+3

Doing well

  • Programmatic ads+0
  • Governance and privacy+0
  • Analytics+0

Nearly 1 in 5 martech categories in financial services is a quick win. The capability is already there, waiting to be switched on.

This is what you get.

  • Your score out of 100.Where you stand against the best in your industry.
  • Your team on the bleeding edge.Marketing, tech and operations aligned on what the leaders do differently.
  • A decision on every tool.Invest, switch on, fix or stop paying.
  • A plan with quick wins first.Your priorities ranked, starting with the first 90 days.
  • A path to agentic AI.Get the foundation right, so AI amplifies your strengths.

2   Fix

Are you getting what you pay for?

Your customer data, your CRM and your campaign tools should work as one system. In most businesses they do not.

We find what is disconnected or underused, then fix it with your team.

You get the fixes ranked by likely value, implemented in the order that pays back first.

Talk through your stack

Your platforms as one system.

Store, website, app and call centre feed one customer data foundation. Decisions are made on that data and run as campaigns and journeys, delivered across email, SMS, push, WhatsApp, web and ads. Measurement feeds back into the data. Three gaps are marked, a call centre not connected to the customer data, a decisions tool paid for but switched off, and results not fed back. Content and creative Pages, templates, offers Store Website App Call centre Customer data One clean record per customer Ingest Unify and clean Consent Decisions Segments and offers Campaigns and journeys Your CRM and engagement platform Channels Email SMS Push WhatsApp Web Ads Measurement and learning Not connected Paid for, switched off Not fed back

The boxes are jobs, not products. One platform often does several of them.

3   Grow

Are your customers staying longer and spending more?

Growth comes from the customers you already have: how long they stay and how much of their spend you earn. A few moments decide it.

We map those moments for your business and run the journeys that change them, measured against a control group.

You get your lifetime value map, the journeys ranked by value, and our team running them with yours.

Map your customer lifetime

Where lifetime value is won or lost.

Value earned from one customer over time. With journeys at each moment the line keeps rising. Left to chance it flattens, and the gap between the two is the growth.
JoinDay oneFirst purchase or sign up. Expectations are set here.
Where value leaks

A welcome that is one email, then silence.

The journey we run

A welcome journey timed to first real use, with your people introduced.

SettleThe first 90 daysSecond purchase, first bill, first problem.
Where value leaks

Customers who leave early are the biggest leak.

The journey we run

Second purchase and failed payment journeys, measured from day one.

GrowYear one onwardsLife events, upgrades, a second product.
Where value leaks

Single product customers never hear what else fits them.

The journey we run

Next best product, triggered by what they do, not by the calendar.

StayThe quiet yearsRenewals, loyalty, the long middle.
Where value leaks

Drift goes unnoticed until it is churn.

The journey we run

Drift alerts, and renewal and loyalty journeys that reward staying.

LeaveAny timeA lapse, a cancellation, a better offer elsewhere.
Where value leaks

Leavers are rarely asked to stay, or offered a real alternative.

The journey we run

A journey that asks them to stay, with real alternatives and a person when it matters.

ReturnAfter they leaveWin back, referral, the next generation.
Where value leaks

Former customers are treated as strangers.

The journey we run

Win back inside the window, and referral journeys for those who stayed.

Illustrative. Your map is drawn from your own customers and category, with the numbers behind each moment.

4   Automate

How long does a campaign take you?

From the brief to the send, most campaigns take weeks. Most of that time is waiting on the next person.

We set up AI agents that draft, check and build within your rules. Your team approves every send.

You get campaigns out in days, with the checks built in, and a team with time to think.

Speed up your campaigns

One campaign, from brief to send.

BriefGoal and audience
DraftCopy and creative
CheckBrand and legal
ApproveYour call
BuildIn your platform
Send and learnTested and measured
Today weeks
With agents days

Your team decides what goes out. Agents do the rest.

5   Decide

Which of your platforms earn their keep?

Every renewal is a decision. Most get signed on habit.

We give you an independent view of every platform you pay for, against what the best in your industry use, before you sign.

You get a clear call on every tool and the investment case behind it.

Decide before you sign

A decision on every platform.

An example board for a mid sized retailer, ahead of its renewals.

Invest
  • Customer data platformThe foundation for everything else
  • Customer engagement platformYour biggest gap to the best in your industry
Switch on
  • MessagingWhatsApp licensed, never used
  • CRMSet up for sales, never for marketing
Fix
  • AnalyticsThree sources, three answers
  • Consent and preferencesNot connected to campaigns
Stop paying
  • Customer feedback toolThe engagement platform does this
  • SMS gatewayAlready inside the engagement platform

Illustrative. Yours comes from your score, your contracts and what your team actually uses.

Experience that moves you forward.

Neil and Frans combine customer experience strategy, martech research and hands-on implementation to help you turn insights into results.

  • Neil Botha

    Founder and Strategy Director, Growth Lab

    More than 20 years turning customer experience strategy, data and martech into measurable growth for South African organisations.

  • Frans Riemersma

    Founder, MartechTribe

    One of the leading international thinkers in martech. Produces the MartechMap and co-authors the annual State of Martech report with Scott Brinker, drawing on more than 30 years of consulting experience.

Let’s Talk

We work across the leading solutions

  • Salesforce
  • Adobe
  • Microsoft
  • Google
  • MoEngage
  • Databricks
  • Snowflake