Power Up Your Sales Force
It’s often been said that customers are a company’s most powerful sales force. So it’s not surprising, then, that marketers are increasingly obsessed with inspiring word of mouth, creating communities, and measure Net Promoter Scores.
Some companies take a unique approach to encouraging customer advocacy. In "Creating a Community of Advocates" I wrote about the Jet Blue stories page. Jet Blue encourages customers to share their positive experiences there, and they do. Other companies are now prompting customers to do the same.
Companies like Petco are posting thorough consumer reviews on their sites. These go further than just citing X number of stars to signify satisfaction levels. In the case of Petco customers rate products (one to five paws) in four areas: overall satisfaction, pet satisfaction, appearance, and quality. Additionally, the site lists how many customers would recommend each specific product, and gives customers the opportunity to post detail product reviews.
In another approach, companies like Yamaha and tech vendor Parature involved customers closely in product design. Parature takes in all of its customers’ suggested upgrades, aggregates them into a manageable list, then sends them back out to customer to vote on. The most popular responses get priority. Users feel more connected with the company because they know that Parature is listening to them and that they’re truly involved with product development. This involvement often encourages pricesless word of mouth.
What approaches have you seen that encourage customer advocacy? Better yet, in what unique ways are customers an integral part of your sales or marketing strategy?
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