We are just back from our networking and educational experience at the Summit on Customer Engagement (SCE19). Putting a little tiredness aside from the 22-hour return trip to San Francisco and jet lag, we couldn’t wait to share a round-up of what our team took away.

Customer Evidence is a must-have for any company wanting to build trust or strengthen its market position. This explains why most already have at least a few customer stories – or case studies – published on their website. But for many companies, that’s it. The content is produced, they’re happy about it, they promote it across different platforms, and they move on.

In the world of remote working there are three principles that describe how it all works: communication, communication and communication!  As you might have guessed - flawless communication has a crucial role in providing uninterrupted workflow, understanding of procedures and tasks, and team bonding. The fact that we’re  not physically present in a designated office space but, instead, face each other on laptop screens, makes the art of maintaining clear communication and accurate information sharing even more complex and challenging.

Let’s imagine you’re in charge of your company’s Customer Evidence Program, and the end of tax year is looming. As usual, your boss asks “How did your program perform this year?” as a prelude to next year’s budget planning. Now, do you have meaningful info to answer that question?  

If you’re already running a CE Program, I’ll give you 10 seconds to respond. If you have a great answer please put it on the comments, otherwise I hope this article will spare you some headaches.

If you’re not running a program yet, please read on, you won’t regret it. And by the way, have you already contacted Melis Hamurculu, our CE expert for a free consultation? 

Good customer evidence tells an interesting story.

It can be a short clip, a written story or anything in between. But one thing these all have in common is that they tell a story about your customer. A story so gripping that you want to watch or read till the very end. One that won’t see you skipping to the end because you don’t want to miss any ounce of the information right at the very the middle.

I joined Wings4U a year ago, so I’ve had plenty of time to figure out the opportunities and challenges that come with my job and our company.

At first, working remotely felt very strange, like working in a parallel world or being on another planet!  And I was plagued with all sorts of doubts.

To start, I wondered if I could ever get used to working remotely, as I’d previously done a regular office job for years. Then, I was troubled by all kinds of questions such as, Will I be bored or lonely? How do I connect with people? and How do I avoid distractions?  And the biggest mystery of all was how a team scattered around the world could ever possibly keep in sync.

It wasn’t long though before I realized that remote work actually worked!  A team could operate like any other team in any other office, despite not being in the same room.  Meetings, deadlines, brainstorms and clients could all exist in a virtual space - thanks to technology and, most importantly, a smart remote working strategy.

 More and more businesses are getting interested in customer evidence and with good reason. It’s not enough anymore to stick with traditional sales and marketing methods, with cold calls and bombarding customers with slogans and jingles in TV ads. Right now, everyone craves a relatable, authentic, and engaging story.

But while you might have such customer evidence in place, such as your case studies or customer stories, infographics, videos and so-on, how should you use these to their full potential?

From the perspective of customer evidence, a quote is a powerful and concise way to showcase impact and value.   

In a world where short and sweet reigns supreme, a quote grabs the attention of audiences with limited attention spans. A quote is easy to consume and to share.   

With just one sentence, a quote from an advocate customer can get you noticed, potentially sway an opinion or influence a purchase. A quote is therefore a powerful ally to sales and marketing teams.

In my experience, one of the questions regularly posed by organizations and teams is “How do I get customers to engage in reference activities?” And it is a very valid one that begs to be answered, in full, by anyone considering a deeper dive into a customer evidence program.

Indeed, for those in sales and marketing responsible for getting customer references, it’s a question that doesn’t ever really go away.  And, with no simple answer to solve this predicament forever, it’s no surprise that collecting customer references becomes an ongoing challenge.

Why is this? Because each customer is different, your organization is different and everyone has different and often conflicting incentives and priorities.

The approach taken varies because each customer is different and each organization is different. However, from my experience working with organizations creating amazing customer evidence there are best practices you can follow to reach your customers and get their buy-in to your own evidence program.

I hope the following recommendations are the start to customer relationships that quickly transform into true partnerships -  for you and your organization.

From my early childhood, I was reading a ton. Since there was no internet back then, I was consumed by the stories delivered through hundreds of books. Luckily, I kept this habit. Only adapted the technology, as there's less time to read the old fashion way. Mostly thanks to audiobooks, my curiosity, hunger for stories and knowledge is being fulfilled. So I thought to share those that were influential to me and hope that you might find some interesting as well.

I want to dedicate this blog post to storytelling. I've realized that the art of storytelling is one of the most significant powers that form who we are, where we belong and how we connect to the world around us. So without further ado, here are some of the great stories that influenced me in 2018 — happy reading.