advocacy: from the backroom to the boardroom

David Feber & Helen FeberReferential Inc.

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The Advocacy Advantage: San Francisco – July 2016

Advocacy: From the Backroom to the Boardroom

Presenters:

David FeberManaging Partner

Referential, Inc.

Abby AtkinsonSenior Manager

FireEye, Inc.

#advocacyadv

Things have changed:

• The traditional sales cycle no longer exists

• Advice is actively sought from peers and it happens much earlier on mostly via social media

• Resources are readily available to assist research

• Buyers have done the majority of their research – including talking to your customers – before they even approach you

• Gen-X’ers and Millennials are rapidly becoming very influential in the business world

• Advocacy is no longer a backroom function

#advocacyadv

What “advocacy” shouldn’t just be:

• A client success program purely designed for net-new or upsell/cross-sell initiatives

• A bug-fix/self-help program or community

• A case study program

• And most importantly….It should never be an ASK!

Sales client success program

Case study program

Support self-help program

Cost Center

#advocacyadv

Why advocacy?

Engaged customers are more loyal, trust you more, buy more…and share their success with others more

Voice of the

Customer

Sales

Marketing

Executive programsSupport

Services

Value Center

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The spectrum of advocates’ engagement

• We need to appeal to multiple types of buyers with multiple buying styles

• Understand the client journey and how to seed it with customer evidence

• Programs need to be holistic – coordinated across all activities

• Webinars• CABs• Success stories• User groups• Calls with prospects• Social media• Blogs• Multi-media stories• Vlogs• Lunches/dinners• PR placements• Speaking engagements

• Awards nominations• Communities• Advocacy hubs• Conferences• User groups• Newsletters• Beta testing• Analyst discussions• Symposiums• Calls for presentations• Regional meetings

• Best practice sharing• Networking• Logo use• Sound-bite quotes• Referrals• Journalist conversations• And so on…………

#advocacyadv

How to measure impact?

Client Lifetime Value – CLTV – a true measurement of business health

CLTV = [( Revenue * Gross Margin ) / Churn] – Acquisition Costs

But there is an easier way…..

Client Lifetime Revenue

CLTR = Revenue per Month x Relationship Length (in months)

For example:

If a customer signs an annual contract for $12,000 this is equivalent to $1k per monthIf they stay a client for 2 years:

CLTR = 1,000 x 24 = $24,000

This doesn’t include variables such as margin, acquisition costs or churn……..but it is a solid proxy for gauging the health of your business….

….and is significantly easier to calculate!!

#advocacyadv

CLTR….so what?

We can now calculate the impact of being an advocate on our business:

Real life data:

Non-Program Members Advocacy Program Members

Average Revenue per Month ($s) $6,242

Average Relationship Length (months) 13.9

CLTR $86,949

#advocacyadv

CLTR….so what?

We can now calculate the impact of being an advocate on our business:

Real life data:

Non-Program Members Advocacy Program Members

Average Revenue per Month ($s) $6,242 $20,625

Average Relationship Length (months) 13.9 16.7

CLTR $86,949 $345,045

This is an illustration of using CLTR; but also it’s a stunning example of the power of advocacy and the impact of having a closer relationship with your clients!!

Over the duration of their relationship, clients actively engaged by the advocacy program generate 4x as much revenue as those that aren’t engaged!

#advocacyadv

Lighthouse Program

Kara Wilson

Chief Marketing Officer

Abby Atkinson

Senior Manager

“The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers.” – Shiv Singh, SVP Global Head of Digital & Marketing Transformation, VISA

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‘Think strategically and execute tactically’ Strategic:▪Metrics, metrics, metrics!▪Communicate▪Be strategic ▪Leverage the voice of the customer ▪Make your advocates feel special

Tactical:▪Ensure positive relationship-building throughout the customer lifecycle▪Provide regular customer communication, education and check-ins▪Create a co-marketing plan versus making constant asks▪Leverage the voice of the customer by:▪Placing banners, posters, video clips of customers in the Executive Briefing Center & throughout offices▪Encouraging advocates to write and comment in blogs and social media – sharing, tweeting, liking, etc.▪Asking them to refer peers and people they’ve met that might benefit from a FireEye solution▪Inviting customers to attend birds-of-a-feather / prospect dinners▪Engaging them in industry initiatives that focus on their business success, not FireEye products!▪Nominating individuals for industry awards ▪Having customers speak at events and user-groups▪Posting multi-media testimonials online in a variety of locations and formats

Folio of welcome materials

Welcome gift item

Metrics by role for relevance

Program manager’s metrics – detailed ops report:▪Workload balance▪# days to fulfill requests▪# requests open, fulfilled, no matches found▪Month-over-month request volume fluctuations and trends

VP’s metrics – mid-level report▪$ deals assisted and won▪Request volumes▪# advocates by type, region, product▪# testimonials

C-suite metrics – executive dashboards▪$ deals assisted and won▪# testimonials available

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Call to action:

• Incite advocacy! [Over the next decade, the companies that succeed will be the ones that embrace the power of advocacy and give advocacy a seat at the C-suite table]

• Advocacy Programs - You need one!

• Create a client journey roadmap & begin to populate your own advocacy portfolio

• Define your own CLTR for engaged/non-engaged clients

• Plot your trajectory & see how you measure up

• Rome wasn’t built in a day…..but you need to start NOW!!! ☺