If you are reading this blog, you already understand the value of customer references. You know the power your customers hold in helping your sales team close more deals and close them faster. Maybe your program is new and just getting off the ground — or maybe you have a robust program that’s been in place for years and is a well-oiled machine. In either case, you are undoubtedly always looking for new ways to differentiate your program and to do more with less. Building an Advocate Army is one way to extract the power of influence from your customers, increase your brand awareness and accelerate the sales cycle all at the same time. And it’s free. Sound too good to be true? Read on.
What Is An Advocate Army?
An Advocate Army is a group of customers who will fan out across the online world of social media, community forums and product review sites and say good things about your company and your product. They will comment on a blog post or industry article, chime in on a Linkedin conversation or forum discussion, tweet in response to a complaint about a competitor’s product – all in the name of YOUR company and YOUR products. Sure, your social media intern or PR team can do this until the cows come home – but it is usually ignored, disregarded and not trusted. Of course your highly paid PR agency is going to say your product is great! Yes, your product manager will tout the cool feature she just released. Comments from your internal people will fall on deaf ears, most of the time. Prospects don’t want to be marketed to on this turf and it is often a breach of social media etiquette to pitch your product there.
However, if you can get an actual customer (with a credible point of view and real-world experience solving a similar problem) to endorse your product or service – that third party validation from a peer or colleague is what can turn a prospect into a customer and what can poach a competitor’s customer and make it your own. Wouldn’t your sales team love that? Isn’t that why we have customer references in the first place? Having customer advocates sing your praises in the conversations where buyers are making buying decisions is powerful promotion. Plus, it’s a free way to increase your brand awareness!
Who Should You Recruit Into Your Advocate Army?
An Advocate Army is your chosen inner circle of customers — your favorites, your “go-to” customers. When the Wall St. Journal wants to talk to a customer – you pick your strongest media-savvy customers to be interviewed. These are the ones who get it – they are active in social media, they keep up with the latest industry trends, they love your product and they will gladly evangelize for you. They are active on Twitter; they belong to industry groups, Linkedin groups, etc. They don’t need their hand held in a press interview and they return your calls and emails. They are on your CAB and beta test your product. They are confident both in talking about your products and in social media. In short – you can trust them and know they will never say the wrong thing when talking about your product or company.
How To Build Your Advocate Army
Building your Advocate Army does not take much time, effort or budget. Pick your best customers from your reference program and don’t forget to talk to your Sales team — whom would they choose to evangelize for you? Start small – depending on the size of your customer base, maybe you only have ten customers to start. You can grow it over time as you see fit. Reach out to these customers personally – either with a phone call or a personalized email explaining that you are inviting them to be among a select group of elite, trusted customers. Once you have a solid set of participants, schedule a one hour webinar (with your PR, Social Media or Product Marketing Director) setting out some guidelines, expectations and gentle messaging guidance. Be sure to leave ample time for questions.
Where is the conversation happening? What is the current chatter in your industry? Decide if you simply want them to say good things about your product/service/support or if you actually want them to comment with links to trials or demos. Be careful that you don’t micromanage them too much – in order for their online reputation to remain credible, their participation needs to be genuine. Also, be sure that you set it up so that they are simply weaving this into their current activity – it should not be thought of as additional reference “work” they are doing for you per se, but more like extra credit. Then, cut ‘em loose! Monitor their progress and measure their influence.
How Do You Thank Them?
Be careful how you thank your customers. Depending on your industry and your company policy, you should reward them the same way you would for any other customer reference work. If you have a point system, you could add the Advocate Army in as another way they can gain points (see extra credit above). A phone call, a handwritten note, a box of chocolates – something small with a personal touch says a lot. Let your customers know you appreciate the unique value they provide and nurture them along the way.
Building an Advocate Army is one way to extract the power of influence from your customers, increase your brand awareness and accelerate the sales cycle all at the same time. Good luck, have fun and let me know how it goes!
Kerri Shea Beers has worked in high tech for over 15 years (at both start-ups and large corporations) as a marketing director, technical writer, communications manager, copywriter, PR manager, freelance writer, advertising manager and customer reference guru. She is a published writer who has created award-winning collateral and managed global marketing communications and PR programs for multi-million dollar companies. Kerri is the owner of Monarch Communications – a strategic sales empowerment, marketing and communications firm that can help you clearly articulate your message and turn prospects into customers. Learn more at www.monarchcomms.com.
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Posted by Joshua Horwitz 
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