Why the CVM has not yet achieved the status it deserves

How can CVM be transformed into a real lever for sustainable growth?

"The regulator does not allow us to do CVM."
This is a phrase I hear regularly in my discussions with marketing and Customer Value Management (CVM) teams in various telecom markets. It is a conclusion that is often presented as obvious... yet profoundly hasty.
This assertion is generally based on two combined factors:

• A partial review of the evolution of telecom markets and the actual role of regulatory authorities;
• Limiting beliefs about what CVM is, and especially what it is not.

Because the real issue is not whether CVM is permitted, but how it is designed, implemented, and governed.

1. The evolution of telecom markets and the real role of regulation

Telecommunications regulatory authorities have historically played a fundamental dual role:

• Ensuring access to connectivity for populations, a key driver of economic development;
• Preserve the value of markets to enable states to collect taxes on healthy and sustainable activity.

If strict frameworks have been imposed in several countries, it is not out of dogmatism.

This is the direct consequence of past practices: aggressive price wars, destruction of value, markets that have been weakened in the long term, operators forced to "tinker" after the fact by changing billing thresholds or reducing the validity of units.

Despite warnings, some actors have continued these practices in a more discreet manner.

But just as in soccer, where referees now use VAR, regulators have also equipped themselves with advanced monitoring tools capable of detecting any non-compliant commercial practices.

👉 Regulation was never intended to prevent value creation, but to prevent its destruction.

2. The big misunderstanding: when the CVM was confused with campaign tools

Over the years, CVM has gradually been assimilated into marketing campaign management tools.

These platforms have been mislabeled as "CVM solutions," effectively transferring strategic responsibility for CVM to tools that were not designed for that purpose.

The technology roadmaps of these publishers then shaped CVM practices, not according to the business challenges faced by operators, but according to what was technically feasible.

The CVM has thus been transformed into a mechanical sequence:
Offer → Segment → Send
Yes/No
Bonus/Free

With an implicit promise: no limits to reaching your customers.

3. From Customer Value Management to Campaign Volume Management

This shift has locked marketing teams into a Campaign Volume Management mindset.

Campaigns are multiplying, demands are increasing, and when performance declines, the response is often the same: more promotions, more bonuses, more freebies.
A short-term approach:

• it generates one-off revenue,
• but destroys long-term value: margins, brand image, customer relationships.

The consequences are visible on the ground:

• customers who always wait for the next promotion;
• multiplying SIM cards to optimize bonuses;
• widespread marketing fatigue, with text messages no longer being read.

👉 A downward spiral sets in.

4. When "C" no longer stands for Customer, but Campaign

During my training sessions, I always recommend starting a CVM action plan with something simple:
Write the letter C in large letters.
Because starting with the customer means moving away from MSISDN management logic and embracing a comprehensive understanding of uses and life contexts.
Here are a few concrete examples:

• An MSISDN has seen its data consumption drop sharply over three months.
  • Classic CVM reflex: launch a retention campaign with more generous data plans.
  • Actual customer analysis: the customer has subscribed to a Home 5G plan that now covers their data needs.
  • Result: a pointless battle for retention, where a comprehensive CVM approach would have made it possible to offer a relevant complementary option.
• Another case: a customer now has a second line through their job, with sufficient data volume.
  Any data campaign on their personal line becomes ineffective.

These situations are far from marginal.

They remind us of an essential truth: the customer does not belong to a team, they belong to the operator.

5. The internal schedule versus the customer

When "C" stands for Campaign, the event calendar becomes an internal calendar:

• Monday voice,
• Tuesday Mobile Money,
• Wednesday data,
• Thursday VAS.

An agenda dictated by internal organization, completely disconnected from the real needs of customers.
👉 Customers don't live in silos. Organizations do.

6. The myth of the average customer and the lack of predictive vision

Many teams invest months in complex behavioral segmentation.

Ultimately, they target an "average customer"... who does not exist.
Targeting remains largely descriptive.
In the best-case scenario, a churn score is used.
But without a comprehensive predictive vision, actions come too late, when value has already begun to erode.

"We continue to view reactivation as a priority, even though no revenue was generated during the entire period of inactivity. This essentially corrective approach requires a great deal of energy to compensate for a loss that has already been incurred. CVM teams must refocus their efforts on systems based on predictive scores in order to adopt a proactive approach that anticipates risk rather than reacting to it."

7. CVM governance: when everyone contributes, but no one takes the lead

At many operators, CVM is stuck between marketing, IT, data, and sales. Everyone contributes, but no one really drives customer value.
Successful operators have made a clear choice: CVM is no longer a marketing tool, but a cross-functional growth engine with explicit responsibility for customer value.

8. Regulation and CVM: a false antagonism

A mature CVM is naturally compliant:

• fewer blind promotions,
• fewer massive bonuses,
• more relevance,
• more transparency.

👉 The regulator's best ally is a disciplined, customer-focused CVM.

9. AI will not save a poorly designed CVM

Artificial intelligence amplifies existing strategies. If the goal is volume, it will optimize volume. Without a clear customer vision, AI becomes a smarter spam machine, but one that does not create more value.

10. From discipline to individuation

Operators who have truly transformed their CRM into a growth driver share a common denominator: discipline. Discipline in the true sense of the word: rigor, consistency, method.
But also DISCIPLINE as an operational framework, where each letter embodies a key pillar of effective CRM:

• D – Data: collect and structure the right data.
• I – Insights: transforming data into actionable knowledge.
• S – Satisfaction: focus actions on the value perceived by the customer.
• C – Customer: put the customer back at the center, not the campaign.
• I – Intelligent: leveraging AI and machine learning.
• P – Personalization: personalize on an individual scale.
• L – Learn: continuous learning.
• I – Interaction: orchestrating consistent interactions.
• N – Nurture: build the relationship over time.
• E – Engagement: transforming the relationship into lasting loyalty.

This discipline, applied on a large scale, enablesindividuation.
👉 Every customer becomes a segment.

Restoring the CVM to its rightful place

In the era of AI and profound changes in the sector, operators and regulators share a common responsibility: to create sustainable value.
This means moving away from:

• volume-based approaches,
• roadmaps dictated by limited use cases,
• practices that are easily replicable but not very distinctive.

To adopt a truly customer-centric approach to CVM, capable of offering the right interaction, at the right time, for the right person.
The day a customer says, " My operator understands what I need," CVM will finally have earned the place it deserves.