Isn’t that our reaction when the economic waters go from tranquil to turbulent? All those self-preservation, career-advancing things we should have been doing all along suddenly take on a new sense of urgency. It’s not that we’ve been slacking (not “Slacking”), just that we’ve gotten mired in the day-to-day noise, failing to allocate time to take care of the things that really count when downsizing and re-organizing start to overshadow normal business activity.
So, what can you do to ensure that you and/or your program aren’t cost reduction fodder? These 4 things, done simultaneously, are an excellent start.
There’s a lot going on. Managers are meeting, leadership is meeting. Options are being discussed. Which people are most likely to be viewed as expendable? Here’s the question that will be asked, out loud or otherwise: Can I still meet my goals without that person?
You may be doing all the right things to ensure that your company can meet its growth targets, but those who hold your fate may be oblivious. Find time to meet with your leaders; as many as you have relationships with. Share what you are working on and correlate those activities to company goals. Ask them if there are other advocate activities you should be working on that would be more valuable at this time. The more champions you have in leadership the better. Imagine a meeting of VPs and the topic is cost savings. If 3-4 VPs can justify why your role is important instead of 1 or 0, you’re safe. So secure as broad of a base of support as possible.
Many people are worried about their job security. Be a resource to them. The events team is planning a series of webcasts or in-person regional events. They need very specific customer stories to support their theme. Brainstorming with them, advising them and being an extension of the events team will be so appreciated. That level of collegiality will bubble up to your CMO. Do the same thing with digital, PR, social and others. Now, more consistent “bubbles” will reach your CMO. Further, when your CMO is in a cost-reduction meeting, knowing that four of her teams have been discussing how you have helped them reach their goals, will make your function harder to do without.
Perception is reality. We often forget that just doing a great job in corporate America is not enough. You’ve got to be your own advocate. This means sharing your program’s successes with your stakeholders, and backing it up with data that is meaningful to executives. If you haven’t already established a concise set of KPIs for your program and shared those results on a regular cadence with leadership, now is the time. And remember, the C-Suite doesn’t care that you’re really, really busy doing your job. They do care if what’s keeping you busy is the same set of goals that keeps them up at night. So, all your results need to dovetail with those growth imperatives.
We strongly believe that an advocate program should have a stakeholder advisory board. These are the people who act as a sounding board and ensure you have a pulse on your internal customers’ needs. If you don’t have a formal board, then get this critical feedback informally. Pick a sample of salespeople, fellow marketers, CSMs, etc., and ask “How am I doing?” and “What can I do better?” Shoring up gaps in your database, services provided, SLAs or anything else about your program is uber important. When a manager or exec hears anything about your program it should be positive. Each “mini-review” adds to the overall perception of your value to the organization.
Management decisions aren’t always logical. Sometimes they’re downright illogical to those in the trenches. It might not surprise you to learn that there is emotion involved. Subjectivity about who or what is essential must be expected. These four recommendations will help a lot with the vagaries of decision making, but still aren’t a guarantee. Hedge your bet further by staying involved with your peers; keep your network warm. Like the other recommendations in this post, you should be doing this as a normal part of your career. But stuff gets in the way. Use this cycle to recommit yourself to investing in you. And remember that your Point of Reference AD is there to help support you and is a great resource in general.
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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