Welcome to the next episode of The CMA Soulmate Newsletter where 842 marketers get better at building Customer Marketing programs and strengthening relationships with customers in less than 5 minutes.
The CMA Soulmate newsletter in sponsored by:
Influitive helps world-class brands like ADP, Cisco, and IBM engage with their customers to drive business value across multiple dimensions. Customer referrals, references, and reviews are now recognized as the most effective way to drive business growth, and Influitive enables this at scale. Visit influitive.com to learn more.
Hello friends,
This weeks episode may come off a little braggy because I will be sharing the results of my programs that you have been reading about for the past 9 months :) and also…
Always be Advocating for your Advocacy Program 🤣
So I obviously did this Performance Review with my trusty Career Framework e-book!
Performance reviews are so awkward. This career path framework helps you set clear expectations on what success looks like and how to get to the next level. Plus, it brings confidence to the review process.
Also, CMA professions needs a single source of truth, something that makes you believe you are working towards something even when times get tough with a shitty co-worker. We need something to carry with us and continue to look at to motivate us to do great work and then showcase it.
Another way to say it is - When you increase your responsibilities and enhance knowledge, skills and abilities, you need to document it and it needs to live somewhere. So when your boss does leave, and they will leave, you have everything mapped out to show that you are trending in the promotion direction.
Tip:
Write your wins down! Do a post mortem on every program, note down impact, compliments you received, etc. Ask coworkers for feedback and always share your results with executives.
Example: My last newsletter was about National Sending Day. That campaign ended last Friday so I asked the team to give me feedback and quotes. Here is one:
“National Sending Day was the best yet! So much energy in-house and on social media. Thank you for being such an asset to our team and for your excellent work on this campaign. You truly knocked it out of the park!”
Now ideally you have already had the conversation with your boss and mapped up what success looks like for you. My e-book also helps fuel that conversation. 👍
I just finished submitting my review. I’m trying to go for Sr. Director. I have been a Director for 1 year. I’m pretty sure I won’t qualify but I’m gonna go for it.
Tip:
Numerous studies and statistics have shown that the gender pay gap exists, and that women on average earn less than men in many industries and professions. Now I’m sure there are a lot of factors why this is but I believe that men just ASK for the promotion even if they don’t have the skills, they will learn them. Soooo I’M ASKING!
Doing a review without notes is rough. Let me walk you through things to think about:
Depth of Knowledge - You should be constantly learning to strengthen your Customer Marketing skills. Supplemental learning will be a critical part of your entire career. While evaluating yourself think of things like:
How well do you understand the tools and fundamentals of B2B SaaS and Customer Marketing? To what extent do you have the skills, knowledge and experience in CMA? Do you perform exceedingly well in situations that are familiar to you?
Comprehension - In Customer Marketing, you can gain breadth while in your role, in the form of a stretch assignment or an opportunity to contribute to a cross-functional effort. While evaluating, think of things like:
How well do you understand and innovate your job? Do you know how to share that knowledge across adjacent departments? Are you the go-to-person for coordinating across multiple departments? Are you knowledgeable about how customer marketing delivers value and plugs into other departments?
Initiative and Impact- Don’t wait for your manager to assign a new task or project. Instead, take the initiative to identify opportunities where you can demonstrate your skills and expertise. Show your proactiveness (is that a word?🤣) in your review.
Okay this is getting crazy long but download the ebook and it will walk you through it!
Here is a re-cap with the recording from the Influitive event Ari Hoffman and I did walking you through the framework.
I’m not sure I’ve EVER seen anybody else’s review so have fun, feel free to copy it if applies to what you have done 👍 I had to cut some things but this is the majority of it.
My 2022 Performance Review
My notes = 💠
My 4+ years at Sendoso has been an incredibly rewarding experience. As a team, we have achieved some significant milestones and contributed to the growth and success of the company. I have consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of our customers' needs and behaviors, as well as the ability to develop effective marketing campaigns to engage them. My work on several major customer campaigns has not only inspired more spend in the platform, but also aided in significant renewals and upsell dollars. 💠 (I know this is a quarterly review but I like to remind them how long I’ve been with the company)
Since hiring an advocacy associate, I can forecast for future quarters and manage programs with ease. 💠 (Execs looove forecasting) I solely drive the execution strategy and project management not just at the department level, but at the organizational level. 💠 (Show your project management skills with adjacent teams)
Timeliness is a strength, QOQ I deliver projects and assets on time without issue.
I scaled my programs with innovative ideas to drive more revenue to see YOY growth. 👈 💠(Showing initiative) My team created content and events based on discussions in the community. With each product launch, I create a different way to get the information to our customers in a unique way that enhances the customer experience and education to inspire sending. 💠 (Might not make sense to you but a big metric of ours is executed send and spend) My direct interactions with customers are always focused on providing a great experience.
I have the ability to identify areas of opportunity and risk across customer facing areas and distribute information that is relevant and timely to internal teams to mitigate churn or provide insight in areas for upsell. I partnered with Customer Success and the Account Management team to define where in the customer journey CMA fits in and created several success programs that were the primary campaign source for cross-sell opps.
I am diligent in the documentation of programs and processes with clear expectations for team members. 💠 (important for Director level)
As the sole owner of all customer requests, took initiative this year to develop a customer request process so internal stakeholders are informed regarding their requests to speak with customers or need a speaker for an advocacy act.
Finally, I have successfully built a community of active and knowledgeable members who provide valuable feedback on our product and services which have contributed to the success of our platform.
I am the go-to person to curate and often create content that is relevant, informative, and engaging, which has resulted in a higher level of engagement and increased member retention.
I developed strategic plans for the SuperSender Community to build a strong pipeline of customer advocates and stories to meet business needs to accelerate sales opportunities. My team averages 4 case studies and 15 reference request a quarter, as well as maintained #1 in G2 leadership category for 3 years.
💠 (Talk about how you contribute to company culture or values) I often take the initiative to create a way to infuse customer sentiment and voice of the customer into the organization to increase moral. I am very creative when it comes to bringing employee together. I created National Sending Day so the company can celebrate Sendoso with its very own song. 🤣
I am proud of the progress I've made this year. I am eager to continue building strong relationships with our customers and helping them achieve their goals. As we move forward, I am committed to continuing to learn and grow, to further my skills and abilities, and to contribute to the ongoing success of Sendoso. Thank you for the feedback, support, and guidance over the past year, and I look forward to another productive and successful year ahead.
Then, I hit em with NUMBERS 👇
Impact in 2022:
Secured the #5 spot on G2’s Best Software Companies
Within the Q4'21 customer cohort (recently up for renewal in Q4'22), SuperSenders had an average logo retention of X%, compared to X% of non-SS customers" 💠 (can’t share but it was a 16% increase)
SS have a 14% higher utilization rate than non SS
SS have a 157% higher ARR than non-SS
$1.5M in influenced Rev - Reference Program 💠 (slower year than normal)
Reference Program SLA of one day
$X.XM Customer Marketing Touched revenue 💠 (can’t share but its 7 figures)
$X.XM in Direct Revenue which is 13% higher than last year. 💠 (not influence, DIRECT revenue attributed to CMA department)
16 Case Studies- Average of 4/quarter that touched $1.2M in new biz rev.
Remained the leader on the G2 grid for 11 consecutive quarters. 💠 (since I started at Sendoso)
Saw a 567% return on my review program touching $681,144 in new biz rev
Executed Sendie Awards and 17 other events influencing $1M in Closed won Upsells 💠 (Remember my episode on Events) (avg upsell is small so $1M is CRAZY)
Overall a 389% ROI in the Customer Marketing department (Including all operating costs and salaries) 🎉🎉🎉
Sendoso Community
125% attained to member quota
90% Response rate
55% Active member rate (11% decrease) Lost my community manager
Co-ran Sendoso’s first customer conference and secured 200 attendees and 60% of the speakers.
Conducted 94 SuperSender interviews and 25 unique product sprints in 2022, moving us closer to being a user-first org.
Insights helped build Marketplace and product catalog, Send Tracker (upcoming), and the Campaigns Alpha. They also shaped the entire product roadmap & identified new business opportunities like gifting and fulfillment for physical events).
The SS ‘22 feedback is a cornerstone of ongoing/committed work to help users resolve send issues in-App, explore scaled analytics solutions, and upgrade the recipient email experience.
Personal Brand - Increased audience by 144% with 1.5M impressions on social.
Alrighty, hope that was helpful and not weird that I just exposed a years worth of work to you all 😳
See you in 2 weeks!
Love your CMA Soulmate,
Leslie
P.S. - I shared my thoughts and results on my review programs with Joe Kevans last week. Here is the episode!
More Digital Resources
Catch up on previous newsletters here.
Check out my video course Measuring the ROI of Customer Marketing & Advocacy if you want to showcase the ROI of your programs. Enjoy your 40% off during this hard time.
I took my metrics sheet out of the course as an extra offering. Customer Marketing & Advocacy Metrics Spreadsheet is available now if you aren’t ready to purchase my course.
My latest resource to help you while you are interviewing or going through performance reviews and gunning for a promotion- CMA Career Framework.