Customer engagement programs can strengthen relationships and build loyalty with key

stakeholders at existing customer accounts. Research shows, however, that customer

engagement programs are most successful when managed programmaticallynot as one-off
activities or campaigns. Here are six steps that Marketing can take to establish a formal
customer engagement program. A successful customer engagement program has many moving
parts, but ITSMAs framework can help companies create more effective customer engagement
programs:

1. Set clear objectives.

Clear, appropriate, and well-communicated objectives are the cornerstone of any successful
program. First and foremost, a customer engagement program must focus on deepening
relationships, not on short-term sales transactions. All stakeholders across the company (senior
executives, account managers, marketing, and so forth) need to both understand and agree on
the program objectives, such as engendering loyalty and trust, strengthening existing
relationships, developing new relationships, and more.

This is often easier said than done because it is difficult to partition the customer engagement
activities from the broader account team objectives. Still, the customer engagement
professionals must persevere!

Ultimately, the only reason for investing in customer engagement programs is to position the
company for increased revenue growth within the account. However, this objective must be
understood as a long-term, indirect benefit. The immediate concern is the quality of the
relationship.

2. Tier and target customer accounts.

Through strategic tiering and targeting of customer accounts, companies build relationships with
those customers, and the executives within those customers, that present the greatest upside.
One-size-fits-all programs rarely work. Furthermore, with limited resources, companies are
unable to provide the same level of engagement across all of their accounts. Some accounts
are targeted for one-to-many programs, while others receive more attention through one-to-few
and even one-to-one programs. Many of the companies ITSMA has worked with create different
programs for various tiers of accounts. And then, within accounts, personalizationbased on
personal profiles of key individualsis highly effective.

Customers are typically selected based on current revenue or profit, potential revenue or profit,
strategic value, or the current state of the relationship. Individuals within accounts can be
targeted by position, reporting relationship, role in the purchase process (e.g., budget holder,
decision maker, influencer, end user), or influence. Some programs are designed specifically to
spot the rising stars and help accelerate their careers.

Sales (or client directors/partners in professional services firms) should be involved in the
customer selection process. Sales owns the customer relationship and if the account team is
not on board, failure wont be far behind.
3. Balance the event and communications mix.

The best-performing companies take a programmatic approach, as opposed to an event-

focused approach, to their customer engagement programs. They also follow an overall
cadence and communication strategy based on customer input. Specifically, they:

Connect in-person events with ongoing communications to progressively build

stronger relationships. Without diminishing the importance of face-to-face activities, a
sophisticated use of linking communications elements (email, newsletters, webcasts,
and interactive social media) could significantly enhance the return on investment (ROI)
from expensive in-person meetings. For some companies, the follow-up activities
capture and communicate significant value, extending the shelf life of an in-person
event.
Avoid overreliance on one-to-many activities, such as large annual conferences that
do not encourage more intimate and mutually beneficial relationships. Although big
conferences are likely to remain important, a tiered approach should be explored,
incorporating one-to-few activities such as advisory boards and customer councils.
Follow the trends and develop events that are smaller in size, shorter in duration,
customer-driven, and centered around peer networking.
Create an exclusive club via membership boards and councils that provides an
untapped opportunity to strengthen relationships, create advocates, and build
unparalleled insight.

4. Create optimal content.

Content is the number-one driver for senior executive event attendance. If there isnt
compelling, relevant business content, executives will pass on your event in favor of another
providers. Hospitality programs are fewer and farther between and are best left to the sales
organization. Along these same lines, the best way to differentiate your program is through your
ideas and thought leadership, not the chosen venues. When planning events, solicit input from
customers to select activities/meeting formats and create agendas.

As important as the formal content is to capture potential attendees attention, the real draw for
your programs is peer interaction. Customers want to network, learn, and even influence your
strategy and plans. Consequently, you need to make sure that events include true peers.

One of the happy outcomes of an event that emphasizes customer input and peer interaction is
the creation and co-creation of new intellectual property (IP). This new IP can be further
developed and packaged for delivery via multiple channels (portals, videos, white papers,
podcasts, LinkedIn, and so forth).

5. Implement great program management.

Best-practice customer engagement programs are typically managed globally by a dedicated

group within the marketing organization. A single global program is not requisite; however, a
global committee or management office will facilitate optimal resource utilization, consistency,
and best-practice sharing. Regional, country, and local programs and events are needed to
supplement global events. Most importantly, there needs to be discipline around action items
and follow up from meetings and events, including adherence to timelines and timely, ongoing
feedback. Accountability must be a priority.
6. Garner internal stakeholder commitment and support.

To flourish, the customer engagement program needs support from all the key internal
stakeholders. Obtaining sufficient budget and resources is always a challenge. Many of the
individual programs and activities can be expensive and demonstrating ROI, given the long-term
nature of the value proposition, can be difficult. Still, in our research we have been pleasantly
surprised to find that senior management seems to know intuitively that customer engagement
programs are important. Thus, they are willing to fund the programs even when there is a lack of
hard evidence to support investment. That, however, does not mean you should forgo building
the business case altogether. On the contrary, marketing still must set objectives, define key
performance indicators (KPIs), and measure its results with the goal of documenting marketings
contribution to business outcomes.

When at all possible, marketing should include senior executives and other internal
stakeholders in the program as speakers, facilitators, relationship stewards, and so on.

Finally, all program outputs, including quantitative metrics, qualitative feedback, and IP
developed, should be shared via a formal internal communications program with senior
management, sales account managers, and more widely via multiple delivery channels.