As customer strategists, we love to hear stories about how customer insights have been used to drive meaningful results in our organizations. Unfortunately the road to achieving these results can be long and filled with hazards. A common obstacle to achieving results is not having the right team in place. Driving results happens when there is a strong network of customer advocates across the company who are responsible for stewarding customer initiatives.
Here are a few tips on building strong customer advocacy teams:
- Right People: Make certain that teams have an executive sponsor and are cross-functional in nature. Take the time to recruit the right people who will serve as customer evangelists in the organization. Consider rotating team members on a regular basis to prevent team fatigue.
- Right Purpose: Create a mission statement or charter for your customer strategy team. Too often teams are pulled together with no specific purpose and teams are left wondering what it is they are supposed to accomplish. Mission statements and goals should be measurable & specific, as this will allow the team to determine the success of customer initiatives.
- Right Process: Develop a communication plan that identifies what information your team will need and when. If team members are not kept informed they are less likely to stay engaged in the team. Also make certain that there is a process in place to recognize & reward team members for a job well done to encourage long-term engagement in the team.
