Who a customer advocate is
An advocate is always an individual. A company can be a reference account, but it is a named person who takes the call, writes the quote or stands on the stage. That person is usually a user, a buyer or an executive sponsor who knows the product well enough to describe it honestly.
Being an advocate is voluntary and specific. Someone may be happy to take a reference call but not to be quoted publicly. Someone else may agree to a written testimonial and nothing more. An advocate can also change their mind.
Why it matters
The advocate carries the risk in any reference activity. Their name and their employer's name are attached to what is said, and their time is what gets spent. A program that forgets this tends to lose its advocates. A program built around the advocate's choices tends to keep them.
An example
Riley Demo is an operations lead at Fictional Foods. Riley agrees to speak with prospects in the same industry, asks that requests be approved before anyone makes contact, and asks to be approached no more than once a month. Those three choices are what make Riley an advocate and not just a satisfied customer.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a happy customer is an advocate. Satisfaction is not consent.
- Treating consent as permanent. Roles change, employers change their policies and people get busy.
- Recording the company but not the person, so a reference disappears when the contact leaves.
- Editing an advocate's story without checking with them first.
A written agreement helps both sides. The customer reference consent form template sets out what a clear one should cover. If you have been asked to be an advocate yourself, the page for advocates explains what you can control on lyynx.