“Any customer you get promoted is a customer for life.” – Patrick McKenzie, Entrepreneur
The more your value proposition starts to become reality, the more you’ll want to start turning your attention back to your early adopter, change agent, and internal champion.
They believed in you. They took a chance with your technology. They put their credibility on the line. Now that your product is starting to deliver value, you can make them heroes in their organizations.
They can look like visionaries who had the foresight to see the potential ROI of a new and unproven technology. Now you can help get them promoted.
By helping them achieve their professional goals, you can cement the customer relationship. This will also send a strong positive signal to other prospects on the market: adopt our technology, and you too can get promoted.
To help create heroes, consider creating a “Get Promoted” email. Make the value generated by your solution visible. Create a summary email to communicate that value every month. Send the email to the end users and the members of the Jury. Not only will this help with customer retention, it will reinforce the association between the value generated and the stakeholders involved.
Entrepreneur Bob Thinker and investor Tae Hea Nahm also recommend creating a hero report to summarize the value delivered. The report should be easy to present to executives. It should help to reinforce the value of the collaboration and, indirectly, get your allies promoted.
Example of a Hero Report to Communicate ROI
Lastly, consider referring to your change agent, internal champion, or early adopter by name in your case studies, giving them opportunities to speak on panels and at events, and sharing their hero stories on social media. Visibility will help to reinforce their personal brands and position them as thought leaders—and may open new opportunities for them.
You can read how Taleo did just that here.
Take care of the folks who have helped open the doors of organizations for you. If you can help get them promoted—or get them more of what they want—these relationships can turn into mutually beneficial, career-long work collaborations.
More on Working With an Internal Champion
- How to Find an Internal Change Agent to Make the Sale in B2B
- How to Map the Needs of the Decision-Making Unit (DMU) in B2B Sales
- How to Map the B2B Buying Process With Customer Interviews
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