How to Create Customer Advocacy That Directly Impacts Revenue
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Customer advocacy is no longer just a nice-to-have; it's a revenue driver. But how do you build a systematic approach that turns happy customers into active revenue generators?
In this episode of Spotlight on B2B Marketing, Karen welcomes Faith Wheller, VP of Global Marketing for TeamViewer, to explore how to build customer advocacy programmes that directly impact your bottom line. With over 25 years of marketing experience and a track record of managing 700,000 customers across enterprise and SMB segments, Faith shares the frameworks and strategies that transform customer satisfaction into measurable business growth.
From creating tiered advocacy programmes to making customer advocacy an organisation-wide responsibility, Faith provides practical insights that CEOs and marketing leaders can implement to reduce acquisition costs and accelerate sales cycles.
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KAREN & FAITH
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ How to build a systematic customer advocacy platform that tracks and rewards customer actions
✔️ Why customer advocacy must be an organisation-wide responsibility beyond marketing
✔️ The framework for tiering advocates based on their level of engagement and value
✔️ How to identify your advocates using existing platforms and customer signals
✔️ Strategies for rewarding advocates beyond traditional swag (sustainable and meaningful incentives)
✔️ The business case for customer advocacy: ROI, brand awareness, and diversity goals
✔️ How to integrate advocacy programmes into your CRM (Salesforce/Dynamics) for seamless tracking
EPISODE OUTLINE AND HIGHLIGHTS
[00:01:37] Faith's passion for supporting women in business and technology
[00:02:56] The SheSportTech campaign: Leveraging sports partnerships for gender inclusivity
[00:06:32] The business case for diversity initiatives: ROI beyond revenue
[00:13:22] Framework for customer advocacy: From reviews to customer advisory boards
[00:17:05] Rewarding acts of advocacy: Tiered incentives from event tickets to sustainable rewards
[00:18:53] Making customer advocacy everyone's responsibility across the organisation
[00:23:55] Test, learn, and optimise: Using data to refine marketing strategies
[00:27:50] Starting small with customer advocacy: Practical first steps for any organisation
[00:32:17] How advocacy programmes support account-based marketing strategies
RECUCING CUSTOMER ACQUISITON COST AND ACCELERATING SALES
Faith makes a compelling business case for why customer advocacy should be a CEO priority: it fundamentally changes the economics of customer acquisition and sales cycles.
As she says, "Companies often focus on the negative customers, the customers that have the problems and the challenges, but they don't give enough attention to those customers that are loyal, they're happy to advocate for your brand, they're happy to speak at an event, they're happy to do a review or test a product."
The financial impact is significant. When prospects hear from existing customers rather than salespeople, trust is established faster and objections are addressed more credibly. Faith describes how advocates can speak to CIOs at prospective accounts, participate in account-based marketing programmes, and provide authentic testimonials that carry far more weight than any marketing collateral.
Beyond direct sales impact, the advocacy programme supports multiple business objectives including:
• brand awareness through high-visibility partnerships
• diversity and inclusion initiatives that generate positive PR
• product development insights from customer advisory boards,
• improved retention as engaged advocates are less likely to churn when competitors come calling
Faith's tiered reward system goes beyond traditional swag to include Manchester United tickets, Mercedes F1 experiences, dinners with the CEO, and importantly, sustainable rewards like tree planting and charitable donations. This approach recognises that different advocates are motivated by different incentives and that meaningful recognition matters more than generic gifts.
The programme is also designed to start small and scale systematically. Faith recommends beginning with existing signals—G2 reviews, TrustRadius feedback, NPS scores—to identify current advocates, then building a simple customer advisory board of just 10 people. As the programme proves its value through reduced CAC, shorter sales cycles, and increased win rates, investment in more sophisticated platforms becomes easier to justify.
MAKING CUSTOMER ADVOCACY AN ORGANISATION-WIDE RESPONSIBILITY
One of the most critical insights Faith shares is that customer advocacy cannot succeed as a marketing-only initiative; it must be embedded across the entire organisation.
"I believe everyone within the organisation has to be responsible for customer advocacy. I mean, it's certainly not marketing. Sales are speaking to customers every single day. They should know who are their happy customers. Customer support, like I say, they're speaking to customers every day. Even the finance team, they're still speaking to customers."
Faith explains that TeamViewer is building a customer advocacy platform integrated directly into Salesforce, making it accessible to all departments. The system is designed for simplicity: when any employee identifies a happy customer who might be willing to advocate, they simply click a button to trigger an invitation to the advocacy programme.
This cross-functional approach ensures that advocacy opportunities aren't missed. Sales teams can flag satisfied customers after successful renewals. Support teams can identify champions during positive interactions. Even finance teams who handle billing can spot loyal long-term customers. By democratising the identification and nurturing of advocates, companies can scale their advocacy programmes far beyond what a marketing team alone could manage.
The platform Faith is developing with vendor Trusted captures all advocacy activities, from writing reviews to speaking at events, and creates a comprehensive profile of each advocate's engagement level and contributions. This systematic approach transforms ad-hoc customer testimonials into a strategic revenue driver with clear metrics and accountability across the business.
KEY ADVICE FOR CEOS AND MARKETING LEADERS
Make Customer Advocacy An Organisation-Wide Responsibility
Customer advocacy cannot succeed as a marketing-only initiative. Sales teams interact with satisfied customers around renewals. Support teams identify champions during positive interactions. Finance teams spot loyal customers through billing. Integrate advocacy tracking directly into your CRM with a simple one-click system allowing any employee to flag potential advocates. This cross-functional approach ensures opportunities aren't missed and scales your programme beyond what marketing alone could manage.
Start Small And Prove ROI Before Scaling
Begin with existing signal: G2 reviews, TrustRadius feedback, NPS scores, to identify current advocates. Launch a customer advisory board with just 10 people to test the concept. This group provides product insights and strategic direction whilst feeling valued. As you prove reduced CAC, shorter sales cycles, and increased win rates, investment in sophisticated platforms becomes easier to justify. Start immediately with minimal resources rather than waiting for the perfect system.
Focus On Your Happy Customers, Not Just Problem Accounts
Most organisations spend disproportionate time on unhappy customers whilst neglecting loyal advocates. These satisfied customers will speak at events, provide testimonials, and talk to prospects, but only if you systematically identify and engage them. Build a tiered reward system beyond generic swag: exclusive experiences, sustainable rewards (tree planting, charitable donations), and recognition. Different advocates are motivated differently; personalised recognition matters more than expensive gifts.
Leverage Advocates To Reduce Acquisition Costs And Accelerate Sales
When prospects hear from existing customers rather than salespeople, trust is established faster. Customer advocates can speak to CIOs at target accounts, participate in account-based marketing programmes, and provide authentic testimonials carrying more weight than marketing collateral. The financial impact is substantial: advocates become your most effective sales force, fundamentally changing customer acquisition economics whilst improving retention as engaged advocates are less likely to churn.
TODAY’S GUEST
Faith Wheller is the VP of Global Marketing for TeamViewer, bringing over 25 years of marketing experience in the B2B tech sector. She is passionate about driving innovative customer advocacy programmes and supporting women in technology and business.
Faith has been instrumental in developing TeamViewer's sports partnerships with Manchester United and Mercedes F1, and created the SheSportTech campaign to promote gender inclusivity in sports technology. She previously held marketing leadership roles at Cisco and other major technology companies.
Connect with Faith on LinkedIn
OUR HOST
Karen Lloyd is a passionate marketing head-hunter and recruitment expert specialising in marketing and C-suite in B2B industries. With over 25 years of experience in the recruitment industry, Karen brings a unique depth of expertise that sets her apart from most recruiters.
Over her career, Karen has accumulated a wealth of experience that includes serving as a Board Director and being actively involved in growing a business for 13 years. Karen has been a part of five start-ups, giving her first-hand knowledge of the critical importance of hiring the right people.
Currently, Karen is the founder and Director of Armstrong Lloyd. She leads a very special team that partners with businesses and empowers them to build industry-leading marketing and sales teams for some of the most exciting B2B brands - from small, agile and disruptive start-ups to global giants providing a wealth of product and service offerings.
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