Bragging Rights
How to Pull Your Customers over the Advocacy Threshold with Technology
In the Loyalty Ladder, we explained how our customers move through their journey with you from trust to loyalty and ultimately to advocacy. Once your users have crossed the loyalty threshold and have established that they will use your products or services going forward, your next job becomes to earn your way into an advocacy relationship with them.
The advocacy threshold is that point in the relationship when your customer invests their personal time, energy, social capital and goodwill into your future. When they put their personal seal of approval on your product, your service or your firm, and publicly recognize their relationship with you, it is a tipping point in the relationship. The highest form of advocacy for a business might be an outright referral. But advocacy is much more powerful than that. It may also come in the form of an offer to be a reference account, an unsolicited social media like or share, the forwarding of your email newsletter or the offer to beta-test your new offering. When your customer sends you new customers, you know that you have earned an advocacy relationship that is providing a tactical and tangible return on that investment.
Nothing beats measuring the actual behaviors that demonstrate advocacy whenever possible. Measuring customer advocacy should become a key performance indicator for your business to measure, talk about daily and help you raise the bar on your service.
So how, can we use technology to pull our loyal customers into an advocacy relationship? Here are five key strategies for your business:
Reward Them. Outright bribes work for some customers, especially those who like discounts (Think: Buy 11 cups of coffee and get your 12th free), but simple recognition of status can be even more powerful. The airlines are a great example with their Diamond and Million Miler programs. The folks who earn their status are proud to put their badges of honor on their luggage . If you find the right things to reward them with, they are bound to eventually share it with others. What is the luggage tag in your business or industry? How could you create a status symbol that would be outwardly recognizable in your industry?
Invite Them In. Create a community that only they have access to that is intended to celebrate them and garner feedback from them on your products or services. This is the one place where surveys make sense for your customers. When they choose to help you improve your products or services and are investing their time and mental energy in your business, they are already your best advocates. If you invest in them and invite them into your inner circle, they will share that experience with others. How could you invest in a community for your most passionate fans?
Make it Easy to Share. Build systems and features that help them create their story with your brand. Testimonials and stories about your customer experiences are incredibly important for your business. They can become the fuel for the trust cycle and help you with your sales and marketing. If you make it easy to share their experience, you increase the likelihood that they will share it. How can you use technology to identify good experiences and capture them with your customers?
Honor their feedback. Treat every piece of feedback that they give you like gold. Let them know that you hear them by simply acknowledging them and engaging them in a dialog. The more human that dialog is, the better. If you honor their feedback and make your customers feel heard, they will share that story with those around them. What are the sources of customer feedback in your business today? How can you empower those communication channels with technology?
Recognize Them. People are under-recognized. Simply acknowledging their names and identifying those loyal customers from the crowd will make them feel special. How do you train your staff to distinguish your brand advocates from everyone else? How can your systems help your service staff identify those loyal customers and recognize them?
Brand advocates are one of the most important assets that your brand has and we often neglect them and take them for granted. Invest in your technology in ways that scale to support your brand advocates so that doesn’t happen to your company.
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References:
Note that there are many, many influencers of these thoughts including my customers, my team and my partners. I also read a lot. This is a partial list of important influencers of this work:
The loyalty Ladder: https://www.itx.com/ITX-Blog/Article/377/Customer-Loyalty-is-Not-a-Transaction
Trust: How to use Technology To Generate Trust: https://www.itx.com/ITX-Blog/Article/416/Trust-How-to-Use-Technology-to-Generate-Trust
The Ultimate Question by Fred Reischeld: https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Question-Driving-Profits-Growth/dp/1591397839/
Nudge by Thaler & Sunstein: https://www.amazon.com/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/014311526X/
Hooked by Air Eyal: https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788/
Moments of Magic by Shep Hyken: https://www.amazon.com/Moments-Magic-Shep-Hyken/dp/0963782002/
Secret Service; Hidden Systems that Deliver Unforgettable Customer Service by John DiJulius: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Service-Systems-Unforgettable-Customer/dp/0814471714/
Predictable Irrationality by Dan Ariely: https://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-Expanded-Decisions/dp/0061353248/
Maslow on Management by Abraham Maslow: https://www.amazon.com/Maslow-Management-H/dp/0471247804/
Why We Do What We Do by Ed Deci & Richard Ryan: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-What-Understanding-Self-Motivation/dp/0140255265/
Persuasive Technology by BJ Fogg: https://www.amazon.com/Persuasive-Technology-Computers-Interactive-Technologies/dp/1558606432/
