Amy Bills

It's customer marketing’s job to track and report on value to the business. You might not have received a lot of guidance from leadership on this, especially if your organization isn’t mature in its approach to postsale engagement. Begin by understanding what matters to the company.

Customer marketing leaders, get ready for the spotlight. We’re having a “told you so” moment in customer marketing. As companies turn more attention to keeping their existing customers, the job of strengthening engagement, building loyalty, and developing advocates is front and center. A full 60% of marketing organizations plan to increase spend on customer engagement. […]

The most successful companies put their customers at the heart of all they do. Yet customer obsession is not an all-or-nothing proposition.

Existing customers account for more than three-quarters of annual revenue for B2B organizations, Forrester data shows. Find insights to deepen customer relationships in our "B2B Customer Engagement: Planning Assumptions 2022" report.

Get an inside look at the findings from Forrester’s The State Of Customer Obsession 2021 survey, which show the importance of an empowered and appreciated workforce for B2B organizations.

Many CX leaders rely on matrixed teams, adjacent functions, and internal alignment to drive transformation. Being an informal “influence officer” might feel like a second job, but leaders who can connect with internal allies to further the cause of customer obsession have the greatest likelihood of success.

Teams supporting retention, cross-sell, and upsell are most effective when they focus on the right signals from buyers and customers. At B2B Summit North America, learn more about these signals and how to use them.

Forrester benchmark data shows that retained business accounts for the lion's share of company revenue. How well are you protecting that share?

It might be tempting to assume that all customers who meet certain criteria are willing to advocate, or to advocate in the same way. Customer marketing and customer advocacy practitioners should allow for more nuance.

Data from the SiriusDecisions 2020 Customer-Facing Roles Survey indicates that the right content makes the difference in the ability of CSMs to meet customer expectations. Just as important: The right content reduces time wasted searching for material, which means B2B organizations are more likely to keep those CSMs around.

• Offering a port in the storm provides an opportunity to strengthen the company-customer relationship
• Customer advocacy practitioners should not be afraid to provide a measure of kindness and humor
• Authentic engagement nurtures customer relationships, yielding long-term benefits across the board

• Many B2B organizations collect customer insights but do not share or activate them
  
• This is a lost opportunity to improve the customer experience
  
• Company cultures should support creativity and innovation in activating insights

• Customer advocates, by definition, expand your reach via their own networks and interactions
• Crises present an opportunity for your advocate network to share information and advice
• Ensure advocate activation is part of an ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship

• Organizations are increasingly focused on creating customer-centric experiences, but they lose sight of customer needs as they negotiate field and headquarters roles
• Headquarters and field teams may not see eye to eye on what constitutes a customer-centric experience or how to deliver it
• Alignment begins with agreement on the customer lifecycle and the appropriate interactions for customer and company

• B2B buyers and customers are digitally savvy and rely on peer insight for decision-making
  
• Successful organizations must encourage customers to share their knowledge freely
  
• The customer advocacy ecosystem that enables knowledge sharing includes a range of online and offline platforms

• Customers should be kept aware on an ongoing basis of the value they are attaining from an offering
  
• A regular value review cadence ensures an ongoing conversation with decision-makers
  
• Value reviews lay the groundwork for satisfaction, retention, growth and advocacy

• Customer marketing’s wheelhouse historically has been nurturing, loyalty and the creation and activation of references and advocates
• When organizations seek to expand existing customer accounts, customer marketing should contribute to cross-sell and upsell
• The marketing organization must align internally, as well as with partners in sales, customer success and account-based marketing to optimize account expansion

• Growing customer advocacy programs require increasing numbers of willing customers
• Organizations often avoid asking customers for references because they see it as asking for favors
• Keeping customer motivation in mind helps to frame the relationship and facilitate successful reference requests

• Organizations seek to improve growth and retention through refined customer engagement
• Knowing where to start and what to expect can be a daunting, even paralyzing, challenge
• Peer insight into what’s working and what failed can guide priorities and resourcing efforts