The key to customer advocacy

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog and podcast are the views of Bev Barnett and not those of Workday.

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Episode summary

Most B2B organizations have nailed the lead generation and conversion pieces of the sales cycle. Majority of products and services revolve around your customers but once the sale is closed, how do you keep the customer as the focus of the business?

Enter Customer Advocacy.

Stopping by the Behind the Post podcast is Bev Barnett, Senior Customer Advocacy Manager at Workday. She breaks down step by step the importance of the voice of your customers, the role of community, and best practices for social media managers.

Bev shares that the Nirvana of customer advocacy is finding the intersections between what’s important to your customers, the stories they want to tell about their successes, and what the organization is looking to tell about its own path.

Throughout the episode, Bev stresses the importance of meeting your customers and community where they are and letting them facilitate the conversation. She leaves the show with one very important yet overlooked piece of advice–take a step back. Customer advocacy is not about you, it’s about the customer. Customers are people and we have to respect their time, and space and respect their “no.”

Hot topics:

How Customer Advocacy differs from Customer-Based Marketing
Taking control of the processes, workflows, and documentation around customer advocacy and leveling the importance alike any other marketing activity
Creating customer facilitated community focused on best practices and relationships

Meet Bev

Bev Barnett is the ultimate customer advocacy expert! She is the Senior Customer Advocacy Manager at Workday, developing a new customer advocacy engagement program and exploring the intersections of customer advocacy with key customer lifecycle touchpoints.

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Behind the Post is a podcast by Social Media Managers, for Social Media Managers. Host Olivia Messina and her guests talk about the real challenges SMMs face while talking through the creative processes they need to create engaging content every day.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is B2B customer advocacy and why is it essential post-sale?

B2B customer advocacy shifts the business focus to the customer *after* the sale, emphasizing their voice and success stories. It's about finding the intersection between what matters to customers, the narratives they want to share, and the organization's strategic goals to foster authentic, post-conversion growth.

How does B2B customer advocacy distinguish itself from customer-based marketing?

While both involve customers, B2B customer advocacy primarily focuses on empowering customers to *tell their own stories* and facilitate community conversations. In contrast, customer-based marketing often involves the organization directly marketing *to* existing customers. Advocacy is about authentic, customer-led validation.

What role do communities play in a successful B2B customer advocacy program?

Communities are vital for B2B customer advocacy by providing platforms for customers to connect, share best practices, and build peer relationships. The goal is to meet customers where they are and let them facilitate conversations, fostering a genuine, customer-centric environment.

What are key best practices for social media managers engaging in B2B customer advocacy?

Social media managers should focus on facilitating customer-led conversations, actively listening, and respecting customer time and autonomy. A crucial best practice is to 'take a step back,' ensuring advocacy is about amplifying the customer's authentic success stories, not the company's direct agenda.

Why is it important to formalize workflows and processes for B2B customer advocacy?

Formalizing workflows, processes, and documentation for B2B customer advocacy is essential to elevate its strategic importance to the level of other core marketing activities. This ensures consistency, efficiency, and scalability, allowing organizations to effectively manage and maximize the impact of their advocacy efforts across all customer lifecycle touchpoints.