Following is a conversation I had with Katharyn White, VP of Marketing for IBM”s Global Business Services group. Katharyn is presenting at the 2013 Summit on Customer Engagement on March 5, in Redwood City, CA.

Here are some money quotes. Below that is the full conversation.

Money Quotes (some quotes are abriged for quick reading)

• The increasing importance of references. We have been surveying our sales teams over the last several years about the importance of client references to selling new business. Each year, the percentage of people who said they were “important” or “very important” to gaining new business increased.

• Focusing on client success. Our “Client Eminence” Program has provided a foundational structure for driving (increased) focus with our clients. It has helped us shift the value proposition from simply becoming an IBM client reference to a sustained engagement that highlights our clients’ success in their industry.

• Creating mutual success. The IBM Client Eminence Program fosters “mutual success” as we create eminence for each other. We have developed ways for our clients to showcase their successes through media and analyst relations, success stories, videos, ibm.com, social media and speaking opportunities. And the impact to our business and our brand has been striking. r brands, and specifically their value of the IBM brand.

• IBM’s use and benefit from refrences and case studies. Our references and case studies are used across the entire sales lifecycle and are also featured prominently at our conferences to make the case for why IBM is the partner of choice on a smarter planet — helping us continually sustain our win rates and enhance brand perception of IBM.

• If she were starting or running a customer reference program today … I would start with reframing the scope from a customer reference program to an advocacy program, by focusing on building client eminence through employee engagement. More than just repositioning, the program should be redesigned, from inward-looking reference “hunting and gathering” to an outward-based, cooperative program with features that will benefit clients. A robust advocacy and engagement program is not just key to the success of a business in today’s environment, it is its lifeblood. 

• The importance of social media. We must continue to advance the use of social technologies to provide client references when and where people need them–things like references on demand and rating references with “likes” and comments. After all, our clients use social networking and trust reviews from others before they purchase a vacuum cleaner, why would they not do the same for more important purchases?

Full Conversation

Q. Katharyn, IBM Global Business Services is at the forefront of moving from “chasing references to harvesting customer advocates” AND at the forefront of helping IBM’s clients make this transformation. What are the keys, in your mind, to the success of such efforts?

First we had to build and implement a new model for IBM development of client references. In terms of keys to success, there was no magic for getting this done, rather it was a series of incremental, transitional steps to get us where we are now.

Initially, it required a culture change with our marketing and sales teams around the importance of references to building new business. We have been surveying our sales teams over the last several years about the importance of client references to selling new business. Each year, the percentage of people who said that testimonial materials were “important” or “very important” to gaining new business increased. In concert with this culture change with our IBM teams, we also changed the way that we work with our clients.

IBM has always posited that client relationships were more important than transactions, but we have taken that relationship a step further, to where our clients, in many cases, are advocates for our solution. Customer advocacy is also a function of the value that we provide our clients and the forward-thinking solutions that we deliver to help them leapfrog their competition.

Our “Client Eminence” Program has provided a foundational structure for driving this focus with our clients. This programmatic approach has helped us shift the value proposition from simply becoming an IBM client reference to a sustained engagement with IBM that highlights our clients success in their industry or domain.

Q. What are the major stumbling blocks?

I would say that the major inhibitor was not a stumbling block, per se, but a function of the elapsed time it took us to get to this point. This marketing transition from chasing references to customer advocacy took longer we would have liked, but as we reduced silos and improved communications inside of IBM, we were able to move forward more quickly toward improving our relationships with our clients. Communications with our clients also improved when we spoke our clients’ language by building solutions based on their desired business outcomes.

These industry-specific business outcome “blueprints” have improved the effectiveness of the relationships with our clients by giving marketing the tools to effectively communicate solutions tailored to client needs.

Q. Can you give us a quick overview of IBM’s Global Services advocacy programs. What impact are they having on your business? Your brand?

I mentioned the IBM Client Eminence Program. Let me give you an overview of that mutually-beneficial program. IBM marketing has always stressed the value and shared responsibility of our client’s success. We believe that building, strengthening, and celebrating our long-term, valued relationship is essential. Connecting our businesses in new ways creates opportunities, synergies, and benefits for both organizations…it fosters “mutual success” as we create eminence for each other. We have developed ways for our clients to showcase their successes by demonstrating our tools and capabilities through media and analyst relations, success stories, videos, ibm.com, social media and speaking opportunities.

And the impact to our business and our brand has been striking. Giving our clients the opportunity to showcase their successes has increased the value of both our brands, and specifically their value of the IBM brand.

Q. How can—or should—metrics be used to guide advocacy programs and establish their value? Every variable should be measured, whether it is marketing, development or sales to continue to improve. Years back when we were changing the internal client reference culture, success was measured by volumes of client reference materials and the importance of increasing the number of references year over year by double digits. As our culture change evolved, our marketing teams began to realize that volumes were not the be-all end-all way to measure the success of our client reference program.

While we are constantly evolving the client reference program methodology, we have increased our focus on the quality and effectiveness of our client reference materials. For example, following our metrics, we were noticing that some of the references that we created were not being used as often for client opportunities as others. We determined a couple of root causes, which essentially comes down to balance.

Some of our references were published for uncommon or one-off engagements, so they were not used as often as more common engagements. This was not an effective use of our resources. The second root cause was that we did not have a sufficient variety of our most popular references, potentially causing what we coined “reference exhaustion,” where the client was being asked to be a reference more often than they would like.

From this knowledge, we now build additional client-facing enablement materials from our most robust, appropriate client references and defocus on those references that are not used as often, including a robust social networking plan. This gives us more of what our clients are asking to see and less of what they don’t. It is a shared, synergistic approach that benefits our clients and IBM. It requires additional work on the part of our marketing teams to continually improve communications with our clients, so we know what they need today and in the future.

As requirements change, so must marketing. Of course, the true value of references comes to light in the day-to-day interactions our consultants have with our clients. Our references and case studies are used across the entire sales lifecycle and are also featured prominently at our conferences to make the case for why IBM is the partner of choice on a smarter planet — helping us continually sustain our win rates and enhance brand perception of IBM.

Q. You’ve mentioned that awareness of the importance of customer advocacy is growing among the firms you work with. How would you describe the attitude of the C-suite toward advocacy today? Significant and growing. Given the digital transformation of the front office, C-Suite leaders are establishing new and enhanced systems of engagement with not only their customers, but also their partners and employees. It is throughout these systems of engagement that advocacy programs come to full fruition — both in terms of customer and employees engagement and ROI.

Q. If you were running a customer reference program at a firm today, how would you position the program to your senior management in order to successfully make the transition to a world in which customer advocacy is increasingly critical? Can reference programs play a key role in this new world?

I would start with reframing the scope from a customer reference program to an advocacy program, by focusing on building client eminence through employee engagement. And marketing and senior management support is key to its success. More than just repositioning, the program should be redesigned, from inward-looking reference “hunting and gathering” to an outward-based, cooperative program with features that will benefit clients.

A robust advocacy and engagement program is not just key to the success of a program in today’s environment, it is its lifeblood.

Q. Where do you see the future of customer advocacy going?

As with every other element of our lives, technology continues to change the way we do business. We must continue to advance the use of social technologies to provide client references when and where people need them, things like references on demand and rating references with “likes” and comments.

After all, our clients use social networking activities and trust reviews from others before they purchase a vacuum cleaner, why would they not do the same for more important purchases?

Q. What could companies do to make their social media marketing efforts more successful?

IBMers are at the center of our company’s social business strategy and we encourage them to participate in social media to enhance our social presence, project our expertise, and engage with our clients. There are social computing guidelines, education (from novice to expert), enablement, and experts to support IBMers efforts.

In addition to enabling and encouraging all IBMers to participate, we have social business managers to help certain subject matter experts, thought leaders and executives get up and running on social media.

Finally, what we do in marketing and social media continues to evolve as a central part of our strategy. Our Demand Programs team now integrates social media strategies in our events, thought leadership deployment, and other marketing programs. Social media marketing is in its infancy and we still have a lot to learn, but my advice to other companies is to enable employees with clear guidelines and training, focus on a few activities, and integrate social media in your overall marketing strategy. Build advocacy through employee engagement.