Rewards have become a staple of customer advocacy programs, but we find there’s still a lot of uncertainty about how to approach designing, promoting and maintaining them. Here’s our take on what to consider, and what’s worked and not worked based on work with our clients.
Before you go too far down the rewards path, make sure you can answer the question—Why are we considering this?—inevitably asked by those who hold the requisite budget.
On a personal relationship level, rewards are a means for showing gratitude to our customers. There’s plenty of debate around whether rewards are the reason for a customer doing an act of advocacy, or the post-activity “thank you.” The former is often frowned upon, viewed as “buying a reference.” In general, we don’t believe that most customers would participate, purely for the reward, if they didn’t feel confident or comfortable persuading peers to go with a vendor. That’s a lot of reputational risk, and integrity is an important currency in business.
Back to the key business question: what are the typical business objectives that make a case for a rewards program? It’s all about creating an ongoing relationship that not only encourages customers to use the product or service more frequently and broadly, but also fosters brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. That goodwill, managed effectively, translates to:
All of which, we can agree, have major implications for company growth.
Once there is buy-in for the purpose of the program, it’s important that the right rewards—those that move customers to participate—are offered. Know your audience. The group least likely to have interest in conventional rewards are VPs and CxOs. The most active programs are comprised of directors, senior managers and managers—depending on your specific industry and buyer persona. Your program advisory board is a good source of insights; a solid starting point. If you don’t have a board, then consider an advocate survey. Some programs bucket customers with similar preferences into segments. But, we believe customers are ultimately individuals and a one size fits all—even in a segment—can be a fraught assumption, so better you get to know each customer’s preferences and store them in their profile. There are so many reward options, starting with the basics:
The only limit on unique, memorable rewards is your own imagination. Here are some outside-the-box ideas:
It’s important to think through the rules (and administration of those rules) of a rewards program because if there’s any mystery, the uptake is going to be undermined and all will be for naught. Although you might want to create a layered, gamified experience (badges, accelerators, tiers), always reduce complexity. Keep it simple and accessible to maximize participation.
Your audience needs to know about the program before they can evaluate the benefits of participating. The initial announcements generate buzz and grab attention, but it’s the ongoing updates that ensure momentum. If customers are earning points, which can be redeemed for any of the items listed above, then they should be regularly informed of their point balance as well as their redemption options. This is no different than the updates you get from your credit card providers or favorite airlines. If you’ve ever had a hard time obtaining your rewards, take note. This is a real buzz-kill and must be avoided to achieve a positive customer experience.
The tracking of rewards can be a significant part of someone’s job. If you don’t have the bandwidth, then opt for a simpler, more manageable program. Better to be successful and simple than fail at what should be a satisfaction multiplier, not a hassle for your customers.
Observe how the behavior of advocates who participate in your rewards program is affected, in business terms. While feedback at a customer sentiment level is important, don’t lose sight of those business objectives. Your control group is comprised of either customers not in the advocate program in general, or those in the program who aren’t leveraging the rewards program. Both may be interesting to compare to those advocates who are taking advantage of reward benefits. Are you seeing an impact, such as?
As you’re putting your plan together, keep these potential pitfalls in mind. A rewards program is very visible, to both customers and leadership. Damaging customer relationships is the last thing this initiative should accomplish!
If it’s not possible to gauge the success of the program, that’s a problem. Think through the reports you’ll need before you launch. You’ll want to be sure you have the necessary data, in a timely fashion, before committing to specific metrics.
If you aren’t seeing the participation you anticipated after the initial flurry (3-6 months after launch) of interest, then there are a number of areas to review:
While rewards programs are a meaningful component of customer advocacy, their success hinges on thoughtful design and management. To truly engage and retain customers, rewards must resonate with their personal and professional values. This requires not only a clear understanding of your audience’s preferences but also a strategic approach to communicating and administering the program. A well-executed rewards program not only incentivizes desired behaviors but also enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty, driving significant business outcomes such as increased sales, retention, and the holy grail: brand advocacy. As you venture into your rewards strategy, remember to keep it simple, personalized, and closely aligned with both customer needs and business objectives, ensuring the program remains a valuable asset rather than a program blunder. To learn how ReferenceEdge can help you manage your reward program, contact us today.
As this infographic illustrates, a mature advocacy program is responsible for continuously identifying advocates, maintaining accurate advocacy data, protecting customer relationships, and aligning with top company goals to accelerate growth.
The infographic contains six key components. Here's a description of each for you to translate into your own talking points.
Every advocate starts as a customer.
The journey begins when account teams, customer success managers, support teams, and services organizations create positive experiences that build trust and confidence.
As customers achieve success, some become enthusiastic supporters of the company, its products, and its people. These customers are identified as potential advocates and introduced to the advocacy team.
The advocacy team interviews these individuals, learns about their experiences, captures important details about their interests and expertise, and creates a searchable advocate profile.
The result is a discoverable advocate: someone who can be found, matched, and engaged when the business needs credible customer voices.
Without this process, valuable customer relationships remain hidden inside co-workers’ heads or team spreadsheets, unavailable to the broader organization.
Great advocates are rarely discovered by the advocacy team alone. It’s really just too much to ask of any one part of the organization. Every customer touchpoint plays a part in cultivating and retaining advocates.
Customer success managers see customer enthusiasm firsthand. Account teams hear success stories during business reviews. Support teams witness customer loyalty. Product teams interact with passionate users who influence future direction.
A successful advocacy program creates a systematic way for all customer-facing teams to identify and nominate potential advocates, as well as a means for customers to self-identify..
Think of it as building a talent pipeline.
The broader the participation across the organization, the stronger and more diverse the advocate community becomes.
This collective effort ensures the advocacy database reflects the full spectrum of customer success stories across industries, products, geographies, and use cases.
The advocacy team serves as the steward of the organization's advocacy data.
Their responsibilities fall into three primary areas.
First, they recruit continuously. Advocates change jobs, priorities shift, and customer enthusiasm naturally evolves over time. Maintaining a healthy advocacy community requires constant replenishment.
Second, they keep information current. Customer stories, product deployments, business outcomes, and willingness to participate all change. Outdated advocacy data quickly becomes unreliable.
Third, they measure and report value. Advocacy programs must demonstrate their contribution to business outcomes such as customer acquisition, retention, and expansion.
Beyond maintaining records, the advocacy team actively shapes the composition of the database to align with company growth objectives. This is essential if the program is to be seen by executives as a strategic lever vs. a low-level function an intern can run.
If the company’s strategic direction includes expanding into healthcare, launching a new product, selling through a new channel, entering Asia, or targeting a specific buyer persona, the advocacy team ensures the advocate population evolves accordingly.
In many ways, they function as portfolio managers for one of the company's most valuable assets: customer credibility.
Most organizations initially think of advocacy as a sales resource.
Sales certainly benefits from customer references, but advocacy creates value far beyond the sales organization.
The common thread is credibility.
Advocates provide something no marketing budget can purchase directly: authentic proof from real customers.
Most mature advocacy programs include additional components that extend value for both advocates and the business.
These activities are connected mechanisms that strengthen relationships, increase engagement, and create additional opportunities for customers to contribute.
Together, they help transform advocacy from a transactional activity into an ongoing customer experience.
The ultimate purpose of customer advocacy is not activity.
It is business impact.
In Summary
Advocates are valuable assets. The advocacy team's job is to make sure those assets are available when needed, protected from burnout, and aligned with the organization's most important priorities.
When done well, customer advocacy transforms customer success into measurable business value. It is an enterprise capability built on trusted relationships, reliable data, and authentic customer voices.
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