New Job, New Strategies, Promising Area of Focus
Welcome to the next episode of The CMA Soulmate Newsletter where 1130 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:
Postal is a global offline engagement platform that centralizes and automates strategic gifting campaigns, swag creation and management, and inventory and shipping logistics. It helps sales, marketing, customer success, and HR teams engage with their audiences and build relationships that drive revenue.
Hello! This is my first newsletter since I started at Tipalti. Everything is going great. Not only did they hire me 8 months pregnant 🤯 but the job came with an additional headcount. We are pretty far down the process and I have had the extreme luck with too many qualified people that I trust to handle things while I’m out on leave and beyond. 🤩
A couple pretty cool things about this company is that the #1 Core Value is “Dedication to Customer Success”. My first All hands the CEO spent like 15 minutes on a slide talking in depth about how this is imperative to the our success. It was pretty awesome to hear.
Next, they have a 99% Retention Rate 😮 Like… WHAT?! So this got me pretty excited to build out my themes for the rest of the year. Here they are…
Now after this slide comes like 15 others digging real deep BUT I wanted to call your attention to the last one. It’s something that I have always wanted to focus on but never felt like the company was even remotely close to being capable of being a truly Customer Centric organization. I’m hoping Tipalti turns out to be “The One”. 😍
I recently did a Linkedin Live on the topic. Here are my insights…
Could you share with our audience what exactly "Customer Centricity" means and its importance in a Go-to-market motion?
First I think it’s important to mention the difference in customer centricity, customer voice, customer evidence. I’m sure you have heard all these buzzwords. 🙄
Customer Voice refers to the collection of insights, opinions, needs, preferences, and feedback directly from customers. These are often gathered through surveys, interviews, NPS scores, social media, and reviews. They can be both anecdotal and data-driven, used to:
Understand customer needs and pain points.
Inform product development and CS, support, or service improvements.
Tailor marketing messages to better resonate with the target audience.
Customer Evidence refers to tangible proof that your product or service delivers value to customers. This includes customer testimonials with metrics showcasing the impact of your solution. Such as ROI, increased productivity, or cost savings.
These are strong concrete examples of your product or service solving real problems. These serve as proof points during the buyer’s journey to drive conversions.
Both totally needed but different stages of the funnel.
Customer Centricity is an overarching approach or framework that ensures the customer is at the heart of every business decision and strategy. Naturally, the two approaches above will be easier to obtain if you have a customer centric mindset.
Each element is crucial in its own right but together they form a comprehensive strategy to achieve better customer engagement, loyalty, and business growth.
So why are these Importance in Go-to-Market (GTM):
Trust Building: Prospective customers are more likely to trust peer reviews and real-world use cases.
Decision Making: Effective in guiding prospects through the buyer's journey by showcasing real benefits.
Sales Enablement: Provides sales teams with powerful tools to close deals faster.
Competitive Advantage: In competitive markets, being customer-centric can be a key differentiator. Companies that consistently deliver exceptional customer experiences stand out from competitors. They are often more agile, quickly adapting to changing customer needs and market conditions. This responsiveness can give them a competitive edge.
Financial Performance/ Revenue Growth: Happy customers tend to spend more over time, increasing their lifetime value. This can lead to sustainable revenue growth.
What kind of customer evidence hits the mark, and what are some ways to ask your customer for evidence in a mutually beneficial manner?
Detailed and Specific: Specific metrics and outcomes rather than generic praise.
No fluff→ I love the platform and would be lost without it.
Relevant: Aligned with the pain points and challenges of your target audience.
If you can get the above from relatable companies or individuals within your target industry then great!
Asking Customers for Evidence is a whole other ballgame:
Positioning the ask is an art. This is also a mind set, if you, the customer marketer, is always thinking you are bothering the customer then you have to work on your mind set. This is an opportunity for you customer to get in the spotlight or share their knowledge and show that they are a subject matter expert. It’s our job to believe that and highlight the exposure and credibility they’ll gain from being featured.
Also, make the process or position the offer simple and easy for them to say yes to. Provide templates or interview questions to make it easy for them to share their experiences. Make sure to streamline. Don’t make them jump on 5 different calls to capture the story. Make it quick.
Incentives: Offer discounts, exclusive features, or co-marketing opportunities as a thank-you.
Personalization: Tailor your request based on their use of your product, showing genuine interest in their success. Use your CSMs in this process. 🤝 “I’m incredibly proud of what you have accomplished with our platform and as your CSM I want to see you get recognition for this.”
Okay this is getting long… I’ll stop there. I’m so into the topic that surprise surprise I’ll be writing an eBook on it. Here is my ask from you guys…
I’d love to here REAL world examples of Customer Centric Strategies or approaches at your company. Please reply to this email if you would like to be featured in my next asset. We can keep your company anonymous.
Love your CMA Soulmate,
Leslie
P.S.- Here are some A players looking for their next opportunity. Please forward this email to a hiring manager. Thank you so much!
Jason Klein
Bianca Wood
Karen Thomas
Jill Ross
Kathleen Hackney
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.
A free resource to help you while you are interviewing or going through performance reviews and gunning for a promotion- CMA Career Framework.
My latest free book on Account Based Customer Marketing (ABCM) with 50+ pages of plays for Retention, Upsell, Executive Outreach, & Scrappy ABM. Unlock Growth with ABCM is available for download.
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