How can businesses create more business through customer advocacy?

Businesses of all kinds depend on a sound customer base. If there are no customers, the business is virtually non-existent. Companies adopt various measures to attract customers. They use the power of data to understand the needs, wants, and aspirations of their clients to formulate effective marketing strategies. Now customer advocacy is emerging as a foundational business pillar. A study by Harvard Business School Press indicates that a mere 12% rise in customer advocacy can help companies register 200% growth. This statistic suggests the significant benefits that companies can get through customer advocacy. 

This article sheds light on how to build customer advocacy and its benefits. 

1. Start by building a small community of customer advocates

As described in the opening paragraph, a mere 12% increase in customer advocacy has the potential to double your revenues. Your first step should be to provide a rich and memorable customer experience to a handful of clients who would then share it with their peers. Good word-of-mouth goes a long way in increasing business sales. Statistics suggest that people are 90% are more likely to purchase a product if recommended by a friend. Start with a small community of customer advocates and build a robust relationship with them. A few weeks/months down the line, you will see your customer base increase at a rapid pace.

Also Read: 5 Most Important Stages of a Customer Life Cycle

2. Use NPS to find customer advocates

NPS, which stands for Net Promoter Score, is a metric that helps businesses to pin-point people who are more involved with your brand. A customer with a high NPS is someone who likes and follows your social media posts and provides feedback. Capture these leads and provide them a wonderful experience so that they recommend your company’s offerings and bring in more referrals. According to research by Lumoa, two-thirds of companies from a pool of 100+ use NPS as a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) for measuring customer experience. Consider using NPS if you still don’t.

3. A feedback loop is a must

Feedback is one of the most critical metrics to understand what your customers feel about your offerings — products and services. Customers provide a 360-degree perspective about your products and also suggest corrections. You can study their feedbacks thoroughly and add new features to the initial prototype. It will allow your products to gain a distinct identity compared to your competitors, ultimately helping you register better sales. For getting useful customer feedback, it’s essential to implement customer relationship strategies so that your customers feel valued. You can achieve it by engaging with your customers regularly and responding to their queries instantly.

4. Create customer success stories

If you go through your competitors’ websites, you will find a separate section of customer stories. Here are a few things you should keep in mind. Customer success stories allow the reader to understand the practical benefits that your product brings to your customers’ lives. Real-life applications encourage customers to take immediate action. So try to keep customer stories as real as possible. You can record a video with your happy clients or conduct an interview. You can also create a community where your customers can interact with new prospects and provide them with your products’ first-hand experience. 

Also Read: 5 Reasons Why Creating Targeted Marketing Campaigns Have A Greater Impact On Your Overall Marketing Strategy?

5. You can create upsell and cross-sell opportunities

One of the most significant advantages of having advocates is that you get many upselling and cross-selling opportunities. Since customer advocates already love your products, it’s highly unlikely that they will say no to you if you try upselling or cross-selling ancillary products. According to the Temkin report, high NPS advocates are 4.2 times more likely to purchase from you again.

Also, keep in mind that finding new customers is approximately five times more expensive than retaining the existing ones. So you should see this as a viable opportunity to increase your sales. 

Conclusion

Customer advocacy has become a buzz word lately. Businesses across industries are trying to create happy customers as it helps spread good word-of-mouth and build significant business opportunities. Considering its numerous benefits, customer advocacy strategy is slowly turning into a vital business attribute that companies cannot afford to turn their back on.