What Is A Customer Champion?

Every business needs a customer champion to help it advocate for the needs of the people that matter the most – the customer. In customer retention management, the customer champion not only represents the customer but also ensures that their voices are heard.

However, not many business owners understand who exactly the customer champion is. That is the very reason for writing this article. After reading this article, it should be easier to understand the use of the customer champion and one of the best retention strategies.

Definition of Customer Champion

A customer champion is someone who has used a company’s product and loves it to the extent of advocating or telling others about it. whenever they make recommendations, they sound more credible than other forms of marketing and publicity.

Businesses must identify their customer champions early enough to improve metrics such as net revenue retention. That is because, according to the Harvard Business Review, customers are twice as valuable if they connect with a brand on positive terms. Since they are emotionally connected the customers are less likely to churn, improving customer retention.

But why is customer retention important? According to Bain & Company research, improving customer retention by just five percent results in improved profits by between 25 percent and 95 percent. And the best way to improve customer retention is to engage customer champions early enough.

And yet every business’s net revenue retention also depends on it. According to a study by Gartner, companies can retain up to 80 percent of their revenues by holding onto just 20 percent of their existing customers. companies must identify and engage with these top customers early enough to reduce churn and increase revenues.

The role of the customer champion is to speak for the customer within the company. But their role is not automatic. A customer champion must necessarily be authorized to work across the organization. They ensure that the people that matter listen to the customer’s voice and understand their needs. Importantly, they must personify the customer to better understand their needs.

Characteristics of a Great Customer Champion

Besides the most obvious definition of the customer champion, describing them in terms of their characteristics is the best way to know who they exactly are. Here are the characteristics of the customer champion:

1. Excellent Communicator
A customer champion is an excellent communicator, effectively reaching out to others within and outside the organization. They provide more reliable feedback that helps the organization to enhance the customer experience.

2. Problem-Solvers
Customer champions are creative. They identify problems, analyze data, and develop creative solutions to problems within the organization. Hence, they motivate other staff to consider each problem as solvable.

3. Motivator
Within the organization, customer champions support teams to deliver even in the face of difficulties. They are more effective in customer retention management, delivering fast results in vital metrics.

4. Attention to Detail
To help develop effective customer retention strategies, they identify the nuggets in large troves of data to deliver more targeted messages. With every action, they aim to meet specific customer needs.

5. Team Player and Leader
A customer champion leads teams by clearly defining everyone’s role. All team members have a place in the organization and feel more rewarded for their roles. They also participate in the team to deliver fast results.

6. Good Negotiator
As part of renewal management, a customer champion relies on customer-focused metrics to deliver results in the fastest time possible. Instead of relying on hearsay, they utilize management by facts to make their decisions.

7. Willing to Learn
A customer champion doesn’t act like they already know it all. They are open to new approaches in customer retention management. Consequently, they help raise customer service standards within the organization.

How Will a Customer Champion Aid Renewal Management?

Renewal management is the act of tracking customer subscriptions to understand the number of renewals, maximize customer retention, and grow company revenues. While many companies do renewal management manually, a better way is to use automated tools such as Run Retain.

The platform has a user-friendly interface that enables customers to enjoy using it while building a strong emotional connection. With this digital platform, organizations can connect more effectively with customers. It utilizes emotional design to help businesses excel in their efforts for better renewal management.

Implementing Customer Champion for Net Revenue Retention

The main purpose of customer retention is to improve net revenue retention over time. It starts when the business identifies its most valuable customers by studying the champion’s lifetime value. Then the business develops a tracking process that follows up on the champion whenever they take a new job or role.

Regardless of where the customer champions are, the business must establish a process for contacting them. Finally, it is necessary to keep track of the value contribution by each customer champion.

The business must decide whether the champion is driving cross-sells or upsells. Has the champion influenced the purchase of the company’s products and led to increased net revenue retention? Keeping track of customer champions enables the company to understand their true value over time. There can be no better retention strategies.