The Customer Experience / Customer Advocacy Connection

Bob PetersonResearch Director@bobpetersonmn

The Customer Experience/Customer Advocacy Connection

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What You Will Learn During this Session

•How the changing buyer’s journey makes customer advocacy more critical than ever

•Proof that customer experience and advocacy are essential to business growth

•Secrets from successful advocacy teams

Customer Experience is the New Demand CreationWhy Creating Customer Advocates is a Growth Strategy

© 2013 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

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Customer Experience Is the New Demand Creation

1

2

3

4

5

Time

Level of

Inte

ract

ion

1. Awareness2. Consideration3. Purchase4. Ownership5. Repurchase

If post-sale experience is negative…

This mountain becomes steeper.

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SiriusPerspective:

© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 6

What We Heard: Customer Experience Is Key to Growth

Our study shows a clear link between higher growth and thepresence of a customer experience function with the proper focus and investment.

The customer experience – growth connection:

Share of b-to-b companies with a customer experience function that plan to grow more than 10 percent this year

54%

82%

…that have a chief customer officer 49

%

…that invest more than 15 percent of marketing budget on existing customers

74%

…that make the CCO accountable for revenue growth from existing customers

SiriusPerspective:


What We Heard: Experience Investment Delivers Results

Compared to their average-growth peers, high-growth companies

see improvement in critical areas more often.

Higher retention rates 57% 47%

Higher response rates from customers 66% 47%

Revenue growth 55%43%

Higher loyalty/Net Promoter scores 48% 32%

Higher customer profitability 43% 32%

Hig

h G

row

th

Avera

ge G

row

th

Where b-to-b sees experience investment impact

SiriusPerspective:


64% of b-to-b companies DO have a customer experience

function BUT

What We Heard: Still Work to Do On Customer Experience

Even when companies have a customer experience function, they

don’t always optimize its role and impact.

36% of b-to-b

companies DO NOT have a

customer experience

function

are not seeing greater advocacy or references75%

do not conduct experience mapping57%

do not measure by retention and profitability38%

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Customer Marketing Is a Priority for CMOs

“Social media is a skill every marketer should have.”

“The customer experience begins before they are a customer and kicks into high gear once they become one.”

“The investment in marketing technology is requiring a new skill set in marketing.”

Digital Marketing

Content Marketing

Marketing Technology

Customer Marketing

Social Media#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Comments

Advocacy must play a leading role in marketing’s transformation to strategic partner

SiriusPerspective:


Conventional Wisdom: The Linear View of ExperienceThe sphere of experience expands as buyers become customers, but

it only improves with a cohesive approach.

1. Reputation2. Inbound

content3. Influencers 4. Peers

1. Web Properties2. Outbound

touches/content

3. Events

1. Sales/marketing process

2. Selling team3. Trials/demos

1. Solutions2. Service/support3. Finance4. Community

Strong Alignment• Segmentation• Demographics• Personas

Strong Alignment• Lead level• Scoring• Messaging

Strong Alignment• SLAs• Enablement• Pipeline accel.

Weak Alignment• No Process• No Agreement• No

Coordination

Experi

ence

Target Prospect Opportunity Customer

Alig

nm

ent

SiriusPerspective:


Reality Check: Customer Experience Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

Multiple customer roles and lifecycle stages mean the post-sale experience is not a simple add-on to the buyer’s journey.

1. Solutions2. Service/support3. Finance4. Community

Customer

Deliver Develop Retain Grow

COMPANY RESPONSIBILITY

Initiate Participate Actualize Advocate

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

SiriusPerspective:


Experience Today: Execution Without CoordinationAlignment works during the buyer’s journey, but when buyers

become customers, the complexity increases significantly, as do the stakes.

Initiate AdvocateParticipate Actualize

Deliver Develop Retain Grow

Sales

Service

Marketing

Product

No

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?

SiriusPerspective:


The Venn Approach to Customer ExperienceEach function must excel in its own area and be coordinated to

create an optimized customer experience.

Sales

Service

Product

Marketing

Customer Experience


The Business Case for Customer Experience Investment

• Look at your own numbers: What’s it worth to…• Retain 1 percent more of your base? How about 5 percent?

What is the impact on revenue growth and profit?

• Reduce customer support demand by 5 percent? Ten percent?

• Improve product/service engagement by 10 percent? More?

• Increase customer lifetime value by length (e.g. stay one more year) and/or revenue/profit (usually related)?

• Reduce cost of sale by .5 percent by making renewal easier and leveraging advocates?

• Increase selling time by 5 percent for growth activities?


When you understand and improve the levers of loyalty, it’s easier and less expensive to grow. Advocacy is key.

Customer Advocacy’s Future:The Customer Experience-Advocacy Connection

The Future of Advocacy


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Customer advocacyis your

UNFAIR competitive advantage

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Customer Experience Is Key to Closing Deals

Source: SiriusDecisions 2013 persona study of C-level buyers

80 percent of a CXO’s final decision is based on their own or others’experience with your company

Brand (Sum of Customer Experience) Helps Sales Productivity

CEO

CFO

CIO

CISO

CMO

COO

CSO

LOB

HR

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

52.1%

33.3%

42.5%

46.2%

39.2%

47.4%

34.8%

43.0%

28.2%

36.2%

51.6%

42.5%

46.2%

50.0%

46.1%

50.0%

48.4%

55.3%

Significant

Moderate

Low

None

89 percent of CXOs say their perception of a vendor’s brand moderately to significantly influences their short-list creation.

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More Advocates Mean More Growth

Companies with a higher NetPromoter Score (i.e., more advocates)significantly outperform peers in revenue growth

Secrets ofSuccessful Customer Advocacy Teams


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One: Customer Advocacy is a Strategic, Planned Contribution

Sales references Influencer/analyst relationsVideos Public relations/press releasesCase studies Customer awardsSuccess stories Customer visits, Executive briefingsCommunities Customer eventsAdvisory boards Partner supportVoice-of-the-Customer research Customer data/insightsSocial media RFP supportSearch marketing Customer webcasts

BUYING CYCLE

RetainPhase

Develop Phase

Deliver Phase

Grow Phase

ActualiseParticipateInitiate Advocate

CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE

Whole >

Parts

Two: Customer Advocacy is About Making the Customer a Hero

Three: Advocacy Is Linked to Financial Impact

Be specific about the role of advocacy on the path to revenue and gain credibility for its impact

Four: Advocacy Sourcing is an Art and a Science

Five: Technology Helps Advocacy Scale

How Can You Make a Case for Strategic Advocacy Investment?

1.Track results in a clear and credible way: Who, what, when and why, all linked to growth

2.Know your audience for reporting: Communicate consistently and appropriately

3.Remember it’s not about you: Focus on sharing customer success in ways they find valuable

4.Make advocacy a resource: Focus on meeting needs of sales and partners in ways that matter

5.Join the team: Connect with other functions to coordinate advocacy activities and show value

6.Do more: Let technology help the team scale and focus on high-value activities

Thank You!

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