Customer Advocacy: Why Customer Advocacy Is Important

Customer advocacy is a business strategy or business model that prioritizes building a strong relationship with the customer and meeting their needs. A company that focuses on customer advocacy follows the interests of their customers when making decisions and will sometimes choose customer satisfaction over things like pricing to make a higher profit.

Customer advocacy can either be a general philosophy or model for the company, or a company may designate a specific customer advocate role to help build customer relationships and develop a marketing strategy for building a happy customer base.

Companies often designate a customer advocate who acts as the liaison between the company and the customer. A customer advocate is typically part of the sales team and oversees all components of a company’s customer advocacy strategy, including customer marketing, loyalty programs, customer support, and managing customer feedback. They are also responsible for resolving conflicts, and they are the main touchpoint if one of your customers feels unsatisfied.

Meeting a customer’s needs and building a customer-centric business model can have many benefits, and a strong customer advocacy strategy that creates satisfied customers can become a strong differentiator for your company. Customer advocacy also matters because it:

• Creates brand advocates: Existing customers who enjoy doing business with your company will be more likely to refer you to others. Loyal customers will essentially become your word-of-mouth marketing team as they send customer referrals your way and provide positive testimonials online. You can look at building customer loyalty as creating a brand advocacy marketing team for referral marketing that attracts potential customers and new business.
• Improves your reputation: Customers who perceive your customer service and user experience as positive will think more highly of your company. A good reputation can be a strong metric customers use when deciding if they want to purchase from your company.
• Increases customer retention: When you meet a new customer’s needs and when they have a memorable and positive experience with your company, they might become dedicated to your brand and products. This often means they choose your product over another company’s similar product when making a purchasing decision.

Creating a strong customer advocacy program requires prioritizing customer success and making the customer journey feel satisfying and thoughtful. Rather than see your business as simply a transaction, you should view every customer interaction as an experience for the customer and a relationship that you are developing with them. Use the following strategies to help your company prioritize the voice of the customer:

1. 1. Create a customer experience strategy plan. Outline a customer experience management (CEM) strategy that breaks down your plans to address customers’ needs and meet their expectations. This can serve as a north star and allow you to remain focused with your messaging and strategies, paving way for a great customer experience that can also reduce customer churn.
2. 2. Incentivize customer engagement. Reward your best customers and provide incentives for existing customers to make purchases or engage with your company. You can create a loyalty program where customers get points toward future purchases or set up a referral program in which a customer gets a reward when they suggest your company to a friend.
3. 3. Provide great customer service. Go above and beyond the standard customer experience. You can also exceed customer expectations by ensuring your sales team or support staff is fully knowledgeable on the business’ products and services. And don’t discount social media—this is another avenue where people will seek top-notch support. Avoid relying entirely on automation to gather feedback or provide service—customers often want to speak to a live person for support. They may get too frustrated listening to an endless phone menu of options.
4. 4. Take customer feedback. Get customer feedback in real-time to gain insight into your customer’s journey. You can use surveys or set up calls to further discuss their experiences. Listen to their complaints or critiques and find solutions to create a more seamless and positive experience.
5. 5. Understand your customers. You cannot know ensure customer satisfaction without knowing what they want. Use customer relationship management (CRM) services that evaluate customer engagement and provide customer experience metrics to better understand their journey from start to finish.

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