Streamlining Customer Advocacy in Sales: Process and Strategies

Sarah Howell · 2025-08-01 21:05:04.430527+00

curious if anyone has a process or more of a programmatic approach to getting customers to agree to advocacy (case studies, referrals, references) upon signing or at renewal? we currently do this very reactively/one-off so I'm thinking through how to make this a part of the sales process.

Streamlining Customer Advocacy in Sales: Process and Strategies | CMAweekly Customer Marketing and Advocacy Slack

6 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Hunter Thompson
·
Previously sales teams that I have worked with have used it in negotiations. I.e if a customer or soon-to-be customer is asking for a discount or changes to an agreement, as a return we will ask if they would participate in a webinar, case study, x reference call(s) etc.
➕3
Lauren Stefano
·
This is the opposite of programmatic but, I'm currently working with sales on this. One thing I'm trying to do is that have them be a partner in working with us and the customer to figure out what the story will be before the contract is signed. In the past, I've seen many customers get discounts but then the never story comes to fruition, either because of approvals challenges on their side or because their story doesn't really align with our objectives. My goal now is to have alignment on the general story topic, channels and timing. ie "We will publish a case study about X in May, and then you will host a related webinar in June etc. We will promote through on our website, email, and social media" Even if that level of detail isn't in the contract, I'm hoping that having that level of detail worked out with our champions ahead of time will help us have more throughput in the long run.
Sarah Howell
·
Lauren Stefano that was my immediate thought was the timeline - are they agreeing to do the story within their first 6 months (or timeframe that makes sense for implementation), and is it contingent upon their happiness at that time? makes me think renewal is a better time to ask. I like that idea of having them commit to a co-marketing agreement with more details about the output
Lauren Stefano
·
Sarah Howell Yes - the process I described is at renewal, not for a new customer. That way, we can look at what they've already done and identify a topic that showcases their work and is a good fit for our efforts
👍4
2
Taylor Page
·
the best success i've seen is building it into the renewal contracts in Salesforce (or whatever your CRM is) as the default -- customer gets X discount for agreeing to Y marketing opportunities. still struggling to get this implemented at my current company (a constant battle with our sales leaders who want proof points but don't understand they need to partner with me to get them created 🙃 ) but it was successful at my last gig
❤️1
Sarah Howell
·
thanks Taylor Page!!

Hunter Thompson
·
Previously sales teams that I have worked with have used it in negotiations. I.e if a customer or soon-to-be customer is asking for a discount or changes to an agreement, as a return we will ask if they would participate in a webinar, case study, x reference call(s) etc.
➕3
Lauren Stefano
·
This is the opposite of programmatic but, I'm currently working with sales on this. One thing I'm trying to do is that have them be a partner in working with us and the customer to figure out what the story will be before the contract is signed. In the past, I've seen many customers get discounts but then the never story comes to fruition, either because of approvals challenges on their side or because their story doesn't really align with our objectives. My goal now is to have alignment on the general story topic, channels and timing. ie "We will publish a case study about X in May, and then you will host a related webinar in June etc. We will promote through on our website, email, and social media" Even if that level of detail isn't in the contract, I'm hoping that having that level of detail worked out with our champions ahead of time will help us have more throughput in the long run.
Sarah Howell
·
Lauren Stefano that was my immediate thought was the timeline - are they agreeing to do the story within their first 6 months (or timeframe that makes sense for implementation), and is it contingent upon their happiness at that time? makes me think renewal is a better time to ask. I like that idea of having them commit to a co-marketing agreement with more details about the output
Lauren Stefano
·
Sarah Howell Yes - the process I described is at renewal, not for a new customer. That way, we can look at what they've already done and identify a topic that showcases their work and is a good fit for our efforts
👍4
2
Taylor Page
·
the best success i've seen is building it into the renewal contracts in Salesforce (or whatever your CRM is) as the default -- customer gets X discount for agreeing to Y marketing opportunities. still struggling to get this implemented at my current company (a constant battle with our sales leaders who want proof points but don't understand they need to partner with me to get them created 🙃 ) but it was successful at my last gig
❤️1
Sarah Howell
·
thanks Taylor Page!!