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Win and Retain More Customers byUnleashing Your Customers' Voice

Jeff ErnstCo-Founder & CEO, SlapFive

@jeffernst

Customer Voice Marketing

Today’s topics

• Experiences from the frontlines: building a Customer Voice Program

• Why traditional customer proof points and programs push buyers away

• The Questions, Fears & Doubts of B2B customers at each stage of their lifecycle

• 8 ways to get customers to share their stories

We now live and work in a trust economy

@jeffernst

95%

Peers & Colleagues 67%

Vendor Content & Messages

Peers & Colleagues

Who do customers trust?

People like them

Source: International Data Corporation (IDC) 2015 Buyer Behavior Survey

Companies react withRandom Acts of Customer Proof

PR:

Quote for

press release

Customer

Success:

NPS Surveys

Product

Marketing:

Product

reviewsAccount Managers:

Referrals

Sales:Customer Reference

Social Team:

Retweets & shares

Web Team:Testimonial

quotes

Content Team:

Case study

This is expensive, inefficient, not reusable, and a burden that annoys customers

Even worse, these traditional proof points don’t help buyers

Case StudiesHigh-level and genericFull of marketing-speak

No one wants to read them

Testimonial VideosOver-produced

Scripted, not genuinePerceived as ads

Reference ProgramsNever enough referencesOveruse a few customers

Saved until end of sale

First you must recognize that customers have

Questions, Fears, and Doubts

Discover Research Evaluate & Buy Adopt & Expand

2 3 41

•Why should we change the status quo?•What should our goals be?•What are our business & technical needs?•How would we measure success of this initiative?•How would we get buy-in?•Is our organization ready?•What are all the things we need to consider?

•Who’s had a similar problem or goal?•What have companies like ours done about it?•What was their outcome?•What solutions should we consider?•What criteria should we use to compare & select?•How will this impact the way we do business?

•Which vendors have a viable solution for us?•How well does each vendor meet our criteria?•What are the differences between vendors?•What have the experiences of their customers been like?•Your solution is:  too slow, too expensive, too rigid…

•What obstacles will we encounter?•How do we get people to use it?•What secrets to success have others discovered?•How do we get the most out of the solution?•Should we use that new product or feature?

Customers have questions, fears and doubts

Discover Research Evaluate & Buy Adopt & Expand

2 3 41

•Why should we change the status quo?•What should our goals be?•What are our business & technical needs?•How would we measure success of this initiative?•How would we get buy-in?•Is our organization ready?•What are all the things we need to consider?

•Who’s had a similar problem or goal?•What have companies like ours done about it?•What was their outcome?•What solutions should we consider?•What criteria should we use to compare & select?•How will this impact the way we do business?

•Which vendors have a viable solution for us?•How well does each vendor meet our criteria?•What are the differences between vendors?•What have the experiences of their customers been like?•Your solution is:  too slow, too expensive, too rigid…

•What obstacles will we encounter?•How do we get people to use it?•What secrets to success have others discovered?•How do we get the most out of the solution?•Should we use that new product or feature?

Customers have questions, fears and doubts

All of these questions, fears and doubts are best resolved by your customers, telling their stories, in their own voices.

What will my life be like as a customer?

Customers want to visualize their future

GAP

Marketing and Sales Teams can Close the TRUSTCustomer

1.Ask for experiences & feedback, not endorsements & recommendations2.Make them a hero: build  their reputation 3.Make them an insider: listen to feedback AND respond4.Have their trusted contact ask them to share5.Strike at magic moments in customer relationship6.Capture spontaneous testimony7.Offer levels of permission8.Make it drop-dead simple

8 ways to get customers to share

8 ways to get customers to share

#9 Give them something

unexpected

Perks & Appreciation

Solve biggest customer lifecycle challengesBuyers raise objections…………….Objection Crusher

Deals stall because not enough priority………...Urgency Creator

Web visitors don’t take action…………..Conversion Driver

Hard to stand out from the crowd………….Differentiation Validator

Customers are renewal risks……………Adoption Accelerator

Difficult to expand after landing………….Success Secrets

Get started quickly to deliver value right away

Extract golden nuggets from a customer webinars.

Give context to existing customer feedback quotes/testimonials

Carve out the value statements from customer research interviews

Re-purpose comments on product review sites or NPS surveys

Embed customer stories right into

your website

Or on standalone web/mobile pages

Case studies & videosSurveys & formsReview sites/social

“Objection Crushers”“Customer Journeys”

“Competitor Knockout”“Buyer’s Guide”

“Conversion Drivers”“Customer Validators”

ManageCapture

Customer section of siteSpecific spots on sitePowerPointLanding pageSocial media

Deliver

Boards & Cards

MeasureUsage, usefulness, & pipeline impact

Stories- Voice, Video, & Text- Organized  & tagged

PromptsTargeted prompting

Spontaneous Testimony:

“Love letters”Support & Sales callsCustomer events

Existing content & quotes:

Mobile Capture

SnaggerPublish

New stories:

Context

An end-to-end platform to capture & unleash the customer voice

Stories

Jeff ErnstCo-founder & CEO

SlapFive

Free 30 Minute “Ask Me Anything” Session

Sample topics:•Findings from research into customer voice•Lessons learned from running voice program•Feedback on your program and assets•How to get support in your organization•Advice on driving change

Request session: jeff@slapfive

Questions?

Jeff ErnstCo-founder & CEO, SlapFive978.460.1344jeff@slapfive.com@jeffernst