The Secret to Great Product Reviews. (Hint: It’s Not What You Think.)

Demandbase was recently named a 2023 Gartner® Peer Insights™ Customers’ Choice for Account-Based Marketing Platforms and I couldn’t be prouder. Why me? Well, as the Head of Customer Experience at Demandbase, glowing reviews from customers are about as good as it gets. And this recognition was based on verified reviews from end users of Demandbase One™ who took the time to give their opinions. A whopping 96% scored the platform with four or five stars and 90% said they would recommend it to others. Want to know why? You can catch the full report here.

Now you’re probably thinking the key to getting great product reviews like these is to have a great product. And you’re not wrong. That’s a given. But that alone will not garner the kind of reviews we all dream about. At least not in B2B, where our solutions are multi-faceted and more powerful than buying a hairdryer or pair of shoes.

In B2B, the secret to great product reviews is ensuring your customers achieve and recognize success. Here’s how we do it at Demandbase, and it’s gold!

We’re a partner, not a vendor

I know everyone says that, but without being boastful, I can honestly say we live it at Demandbase. We hear from our customers all the time that they consider us a “true partner” in their success…like an extension of their team.

Here’s just one example from a recent Gartner® Peer Insights™ 5-star review, “…[Demandbase’s] customer success team truly is dedicated to our company’s success and has grown with us in so many ways. We use our partnership with Demandbase as the model all future partnerships should be built on.”

Our focus on partnering with our customers is 100% intentional, because we understand that running a successful ABM program — or creating and launching ad campaigns that build lift and engagement, or using sales intelligence and data to drive revenue to the bottom line — is about so much more than having the right tool. It’s about having the right strategy, best practices, buy-in from leadership, a definition of success and identified KPIs, and alignment across teams, as well as a great platform to orchestrate it all. Without all these components in place, the program is doomed for lackluster results or worse, failure. 

That’s why we come alongside our customers, share our expertise, and ensure they have the training and resources they need to get the most out of Demandbase One™. These things don’t come about by simply plugging in and flipping a switch. 

Walking the talk

This year our Customer Service and Success teams won the International Business “Stevie” Award for Best Customer Service Department of the Year, and our Technical Support team won the American Business “Stevie” for Best Tech Support Strategy and Implementation! I’m busting my buttons. They’re the ones delivering on being a true partner. 

So how’d they do it? Here are some keys to their success, and ultimately our customers’:

• First, we consolidated multiple customer-facing teams into one Customer Experience organization — that’s my baby! 
• Created “statements of value” for each customer to proactively communicate ROI to stakeholders. 
• Redefined our customer journey to include specific milestones and clear hand-offs to remove friction from the customer experience and help them recognize value at regular intervals. 
• Implemented ChurnZero, going from five tools to one, improving efficiency and visibility into key metrics and allowing us to better actively guide customers.
• Implemented a Digital Touch nurture program, which tripled the percentage of accounts certified within the first 30 days and dropped the average time to gain certification from 140 days to 22. 
• Expanded customer training through Demandbase Academy, Customer Office Hours, and instructor-led training, and implemented cross-platform training for internal teams. 
• Offered Managed Services to fill customers’ resource gaps — includes ROI reporting, platform management, strategy, and workshop sessions. 
• Launched a strategic webinar series to inspire customers on various advanced use cases to inspire them on what is possible for the future of their programs.
• Built out journeys, enablement, and nurture programs by persona to ensure we are actively guiding many customers forward based on the needs of their specific role. 

On the tech support side, we:

• Built internal tooling to speed investigation times and reduce time-to-resolution.
• Designed repeatable processes to scale these efforts quickly.
• Expanded support teams across geographies and time zones.
• Added more key performance indicators to include CSAT, time-to-resolution, aged case reduction, periodic update SLAs, and more. 
• Improved job satisfaction and augmented team members’ skills and opportunities. 
• Implemented a more robust product/engineering feedback loop. 
• Cross trained to ensure customers were able to address most of their questions or concerns through one individual versus having to move between resources for different platform questions.

With all these things in place, we’re consistently earning customer satisfaction scores of 98% or better. That’s the secret to garnering great product reviews. 

So if you’re trying to drive stronger reviews for your product, these are some of the best practices you can take to the bank. 

And if you’re less than thrilled with the service you get from your go-to-market (GTM) “vendor” — and I use that word intentionally — our door is wide open. We’d love to become an extension of your team. Just contact us or learn more about how we can partner in your success. 

Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Account-Based Marketing Platforms, Published 28 June 2023, By Peer Contributors

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