6 Tips for Turning Your Customers into Valuable Marketing Assets
Free Advertising While Building Trust: Why Customer-Driven Brand Advocacy is Vital to Sales
The role of the sales representative has greatly evolved from a cold-calling brand and product pitching position to a lead nurturing and purchase-enabling position. Often, the best marketing and sales teams work together to seamlessly move a lead through the sales cycle. Customer-driven brand advocacy enhances the sales team’s ability to close deals effortlessly.
The Difference between Customer Advocacy and Brand Influencers
Online you will find some difference of opinion about customer advocacy. Customer advocates are not customers. They are employees who focus on the customer experience and help businesses make strategic decisions around customer needs.
Brand influencers, on the other hand, are consumers and customers who write reviews and discuss brand experiences online. Companies of all sizes can and do leverage brand influencers to improve business processes, products, and the customer experience. Here are some insights into how customer advocates and companies commonly encourage customers to become valuable brand resources:
- Launching loyalty programs and providing referral incentives – Loyalty programs give something back to the consumer, but they also represent an opportunity for brand conversations. Every time a customer uses a loyalty card or receives a great deal, he or she has an opportunity to highlight the benefits of the brand to others.
- Developing brand influencer relationships – Many companies today are building brand influencer partnerships. Well known vloggers and bloggers review or mention certain products or services to improve brand visibility. They act independently and are not hired marketers. Brand influencer relationships and customer-created content increase market exposure in a way that helps both consumers and companies.
- Engaging with consumers online – Social media interactions humanize a brand. Whether a company is responding to an inquiry or engaging in trending conversations, these small interactions strengthen brand visibility. Use carefully crafted content to encourage social media users and customers to talk about your products. Online communications are more important than ever for strengthening customer awareness and loyalty.
- Bringing groups of consumers together – Encourage your target market to interact with brand influencers and references through roundtable discussions, teleconferences, and other events. Doing so demonstrates a brand’s commitment to customer outcomes, not just sales data.
- Optimizing the brand experience – Every touch point a company has with consumers is an opportunity to earn a brand influencer or a new acquisition. Instead of focusing on the short-term sales goals, encourage sales teams to focus on building a great experience along the way.
- Recognize customers – A customer who has a great experience is a natural sales representative for your company. You can either onboard loyal customers or invite them to events that are mutually beneficial, such as product launches or networking engagements. Recognizing natural influencers helps them, other consumers, and your brand. It’s organic and it works.
Sales representatives who leverage natural brand advocates can focus on providing real value for the customers. Customer-centric sales activities allow consumers to take the lead while a brand facilitates the natural sales cycle progression. If your sales game is not producing the results your business needs, then it may be time to try a different approach. Enable your customers to sell your products and services with the right tools and support.
Need more sales advice? Check out my Sales/Business Development Coaching program.
Additional Resources:
How to Create True Customer Advocates
How To Create A Customer Advocacy Program
The Essential Role of a Customer Advocacy Office
If you’re not happy with your current career, then it might be time for a career change. Making the change takes understanding, planning, and commitment. In fact, searching for a new career can feel like a job itself! This is what you need to know before you get in over your head, or talk yourself out of making the change.
Join Chef Benito Hissen in the Wine Room at his gloriously old school restaurant, da Benito, who The Star Ledger recently awarded 3 ½ stars. Born in Northern Italy, Benito came to the United States when he was 16. He is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, but before he earned that degree, he established his culinary foundation in a few imposing kitchens: one was the legendary (and now shuttered) Giambelli 50th Restaurant, long considered a sanctuary of elegance in New York City. Among his many guests have been Yogi Berra, Bill Clinton and Frank Sinatra.
Culinary Connections is a meetup for professionals from all walks of business who are passionate about making the right connections over great wine and food.
BEFORE WE KNOW IT, GOLF SEASON WILL BE HERE! SAVE THE DATES FOR COURSE CONNECTIONS BEGINNING IN MAY:
Taking on a solo enterprise can be a daunting – and often lonely – prospect. It’s not wise to sequester yourself away and commit to a career without help. Networking is an important contributing factor to your initial and continued success. How do you network as a solopreneur? It’s actually easier than you think. Check out how strategic partnerships can benefit you (and your business) as you both grow.
You never know when a valuable networking opportunity is going to arise, so keep your business cards on hand at all times. What started as a causal business lunch or simple meeting could turn into a strategic partnership in time. Always be prepared to hand out your name and number. Keep a stash of other people’s cards in your desk—you never know when you’ll need to pick a brain or ask for help.
From Mark Zuckerberg to Garret Camp, young entrepreneurs are making headlines for their unprecedented success. No matter what industry they’re in, these startup visionaries have certain qualities in common. What gives these entrepreneurs their unmistakable panache? There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for business success, but there are traits that you can emulate that give you a much better shot. Check out these winning business qualities, and learn how you can hone them to achieve your own entrepreneurial goals.
With the number of startups and entrepreneurial hopefuls growing with each passing year, the pressure to be innovative is stronger than ever. What will you do to give your customers added value? What will attract them to your product or service? Maybe it’s your branding or the way that you approach delivery – either way, you need to continually think of ways that you’re going to make your product better for your customers. The best entrepreneurs never stop innovating. 
Firstly, let me thank our sponsors, who help make every Culinary Connections event truly special and successful: our Presenting Sponsor Karolina Dehnhard of Budd Larner, PC, Christal McElroy and her colleague Allie Colman of EisnerAmper, LLP, Vince Egan of Benjamin Edwards, Gene Sower of Samson Media and Linda Degenhardt of Concord Hotels.
Thanks to the internet, the ways in which we can deliver coaching have changed dramatically during the past decade. Career coaches are now capable of providing actionable advice from any location in the world, by email or phone. This certainly has its advantages, especially if you’re in an industry like traveling sales. However, there’s something to be said for face-to-face contact. Sometimes, face-to-face interaction is more beneficial than phone calls or email. Are you a good candidate for this kind of consulting? See if person-to-person coaching is the best fit for you.
Each career coaching partnership has different end goals. Some simply require guidance devising a business plan, or establishing a mission and vision for a solo enterprise. Some clients seek career coaching or consultations because they feel they’ve fallen into a rut. These people often benefit from face-to-face meetings because innovation sessions and brainstorming are best conducted in real-life rather than virtually. It helps to see how people react in real time to assess the efficacy of a new idea. You also tend to mimic one another in a face-to-face meeting, which builds rapport and makes any brainstorming session feel more productive and exciting than it would have over email or phone. For this reason, some companies ban emailing and demand person-to-person meetings for innovation sessions.
Becoming a solopreneur is a dream for many budding professionals, but some still view it as a pipe dream. You can be successful in a solo enterprise – if you take the right advice. If you’ve been longing to go into business for yourself and chase your business dreams, know that you’re not alone. Becoming a successful solopreneur is an exercise in diligence, patience, and ingenuity. Follow these rules of solopreneur success:
When you’re part of a massive undertaking such as a solo career, take the time to revel in all of your successes, great or small. An endless game of self-criticism will only lead to burnout. Another trap that entrepreneurs fall into is the senseless game of comparing themselves to others. Keeping your eye on the competition can be beneficial, but only to a certain extent.
Sales success hinges upon a winning first impression. A sales career coach can help you fine-tune your technique and churn out more business, but where do you begin? A sales coach can provide you with a significant return on investment (ROI) but only if you know what to look for. Hiring a career coach specific to sales can make a noticeable difference in your career.
The internet is a wonderful resource, but it’s also a haven for people looking to make a quick dollar. Unfortunately, almost anyone can claim to be a sales career coach, so finding a quality candidate to aid your sales force requires some scrutiny and research on your part. In general, here are some things to look for in a good sales coach: