The Sales Department needs a reference to speak with a prospect. Demand Generation needs a customer success story for a specific campaign. Product Marketing needs a customer to speak with an analyst for a product review. These are just a few examples of the diverse requests you may have in your organization where you
What do customer success, customer advocacy, and account-based marketing have in common? The answer is the Customer. And together they form the foundation of the Customer Experience. Research from SiriusDecisions shows that 80% of buying decisions are based on customer experience. To better cater to customer demands, B2B companies are beginning to focus on
The moment of truth has arrived. You are ready to evaluate the ROI of your customer advocacy program. What metrics have you identified as your barometer for success? If you use any one of the many reference management software tools available, you may benefit from the efficiency of creating many of your reporting metrics
Your customer advocacy program can benefit from technology to provide you a single view of communication with a customer and equally important, provide you a single view of communication between your sales and marketing teams internally. Many of today’s reference management software solutions can be integrated with CRM solutions and automate the processes you
Most customer advocacy programs have grown out of a need to supply a reference to a prospect for a sales opportunity. If you wait until the prospect asks for a reference, then you are working in what’s called an ‘on-demand’ and reactive state of doing business. Many customer advocacy programs were once called (and
Your customer advocacy program is a powerful tool in strengthening your brand and shortening the sales cycle. Here is how your program can impact the various sales milestones: Pre-Qualification by B2B Buyer According to Forrester, “today’s business buyers are increasingly self-directed: 60% prefer not to interact with a sales rep as the primary source
Advocate Marketing is a powerful strategy available to B2B marketers. It is a form of marketing that emphasizes engaging existing customers in your business and theirs. These customers talk about, tweet about, and may even blog about your company and its products and services. Their third-party endorsement helps lend credibility to your brand and
The customer reference and the customer advocate walk into a cafe. They begin speaking while ordering a coffee and find a commonality – they both use your product(s). They continue their conversation, talking about the benefits and perhaps drawbacks of the solution, but most certainly, they are speaking about your company’s engagement with them.
How often have you heard someone in your marketing or sales organization say, ‘the competition has lots of impressive logos on their company site, why don’t we?’ My answer to that question is you can! The most effective way to have more impressive logos is through building a solid network of advocates. Let your
In 2016, only 10% of B2B IT vendors had established customer advocacy programs, despite it being named one of the top 5 most essential competencies for marketing success, according to IDC. IDC’s 2017 Loyalty Marketing & Advocacy Marketing Barometer study found that 67% of companies now have customer advocacy programs in place – a