"Identifying Advocate Candidates: Finding Your Best Customer Champions

Customer satisfaction matters, but it doesn't automatically translate to advocacy. Most delighted customers never actively promote your solution. They're not identified, not asked, or not qualified to participate in your advocacy programs.

The difference between having a deep bench of ready advocates and scrambling for references every quarter? A system for finding and qualifying potential advocates before you need them.

Smart customer success teams treat advocate identification like sales treats pipeline building. You're constantly looking for signals, qualifying candidates, and moving people through stages. You're combining data (NPS, health scores, usage patterns) with human judgment (relationship quality, communication style, actual enthusiasm) to build a real pipeline of advocates.

This guide shows you how to find customers with genuine advocacy potential and the willingness to participate actively.

Quantitative Indicators

Start with the data. It won't tell you everything, but it gives you a solid baseline of who might be worth talking to.

High NPS Scores (9-10 Promoters)

Net Promoter Score promoters are your primary candidate pool. These are the people who said they'd recommend you.

But there's a gap between "would recommend in conversation" and "will participate in a case study." Not all promoters become active advocates. Use NPS 9-10 as your initial filter, then dig deeper.

Some promoters are genuinely enthusiastic. Others just don't want to give negative feedback.

Strong Health Scores

Look for overall customer health scores above 80 (on a 100-point scale). This usually means:

They're actually using the product regularly
Adoption is solid across their team
The relationship feels good on both sides
They're not at risk of churning
They're getting real value

You can't build advocacy on shaky foundations. A struggling customer won't credibly endorse your solution, no matter how much they like your CSM.

High Product Usage

Active usage tells you more than satisfaction surveys. Watch for:

Daily or weekly logins (not once-a-month check-ins)
Using multiple features, not just one core capability
Power user behaviors like building custom workflows or integrations
Deep integration with other tools in their stack

Usage intensity correlates strongly with advocacy willingness. Power users often become your most passionate champions because they've invested time learning your product and getting results from it.

Long Tenure

Customers who've been with you for 12+ months have proven staying power. They've:

Made it through implementation (which can be rough)
Integrated your product into their actual workflows
Seen real results over time
Demonstrated commitment through at least one renewal

New customers might love your product, but they haven't built the track record that makes compelling advocacy stories. "We've been using this for 18 months and here's what changed" beats "We signed up last month and it's great so far."

Successful Renewals

Renewed customers, especially those who renewed early or expanded during renewal, are putting their money where their mouth is. Renewal behavior validates any public endorsement they might give you.

If someone renewed without hesitation, they believe in your value proposition. If they negotiated hard or barely renewed, they're not your advocacy candidates right now.

Expansion History

Customers who've expanded (more users, additional modules, or other products from your company) have voted with their budget. Their investment proves they believe in your value, which makes any advocacy feel authentic rather than forced.

Plus, expansion customers often have new success stories to tell. "We started with the sales team and expanded to marketing because the ROI was so clear" is a great narrative.

Qualitative Signals

Numbers get you partway there. But the human signals often matter more.

Enthusiastic Communication

Pay attention to how customers talk to you in regular interactions:

Do their emails sound genuinely positive and excited? Or just polite and professional?

Do they thank you for specific things, not just generic "thanks for your help"?

Do they proactively share wins or cool ways they're using your product?

Do they ask questions that show they're thinking strategically about getting more value?

Enthusiasm in everyday communication predicts advocacy willingness better than any formal survey. If someone sends you a "You won't believe what we just accomplished with your tool!" email, they're a strong advocate candidate.

Proactive Engagement

Some customers actively engage without prompting. They:

Reach out with success stories they want to share
Tell you about creative ways they're using features
Ask strategic questions, not just support issues
Start conversations beyond required business reviews

These people enjoy talking about their experiences. That's exactly who you want in your advocacy program.

Internal Championing

Watch for customers who champion your solution inside their own organization:

Are they expanding to other departments? (Someone's selling internally.)

Are they training new colleagues with genuine enthusiasm? (Not just checking a box.)

Are they defending renewal decisions when questioned? (They're willing to go to bat for you.)

Are they evangelizing your product to other teams? (They're already advocating internally.)

Internal champions often become external advocates. They're already doing the work of promoting your solution. You're just asking them to do it in a slightly more public context.

Relationship Depth

The quality of your relationship matters more than the length of it.

Strong relationships have:

Warmth and friendliness in interactions (you actually like talking to each other)
Trust and candor (they tell you when something's not working)
Rapport beyond transactional exchanges (you know a bit about each other's work contexts)
Mutual respect (they value your expertise, you value their feedback)

When you have a genuine relationship, asking for advocacy feels natural. When you have a transactional relationship, it feels awkward and extractive.

Company Values Alignment

Customers whose company values align with yours make the best long-term advocates. Look for:

Shared mission or purpose (you're trying to solve similar problems in the world)
Similar culture characteristics (how you both approach work and communication)
Compatible communication styles (direct vs. diplomatic, formal vs. casual)
Mutual respect and appreciation (you genuinely like working with each other)

Values alignment creates authentic partnership. These relationships extend naturally to public advocacy because the partnership already feels meaningful.

Behavioral Signals

Some customers show you they're advocacy candidates through their actions.

Unsolicited Referrals Given

The best advocate candidates are already advocating. Watch for customers who:

Make introductions to peers without being asked
Mention you in industry conversations or online
Write about you in LinkedIn posts
Connect you with colleagues at other companies

If someone's already referring people organically, inviting them to a formal advocacy program is easy. You're just asking them to keep doing what they're already doing, with a bit more structure and recognition.

Positive Reviews Posted

Customers who post positive reviews on G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, or social media without any prompting from you are gold. They've already demonstrated:

Willingness to share opinions publicly
Comfort with public endorsement
Time investment in supporting you
Active advocacy behavior

If someone took time out of their day to write a review without being asked, they'll probably say yes to other advocacy activities.

Active Community Participation

Look at your user community, forums, or events. Who's engaged?

Answering other customers' questions
Sharing best practices and tips
Contributing to discussions regularly
Attending user groups or conferences

Community-active customers often enjoy broader advocacy work. They like being helpful, sharing knowledge, and connecting with peers. That translates well to speaking, webinars, and case studies.

Feature Requests (The Constructive Kind)

Customers who provide thoughtful feature requests and product feedback show:

Deep product engagement (they're using it enough to have opinions)
Strategic thinking about product evolution (they see where you could go)
Time investment in improvement suggestions (they care about the long-term)
Genuine interest in product success (they want you to build a better tool)

These people make excellent advisory board members or beta testers. They're engaged enough to have strong opinions but constructive enough to be helpful.

Feedback Provision

Pay attention to who responds when you ask for input. Customers who participate in surveys, join research calls, or provide feedback when asked are demonstrating:

Willingness to contribute their time
Investment in the relationship
Comfort providing opinions
Responsiveness to requests

Survey participation is a decent predictor of advocacy participation. If someone will give you 10 minutes for a survey, they'll probably give you 30 minutes for a case study interview.

Relationship Quality Indicators

The strength and structure of your relationship with a customer affects their advocacy potential.

Strong executive sponsors make everything easier. Look for executives who:

Actually participate in business reviews (not just delegates)
Respond promptly to emails and requests
Show strategic commitment to your product
Invest real time in the relationship

Executive engagement creates two things you need for advocacy: access and approval. If an executive is engaged, they'll likely approve advocacy participation. If they're disengaged, getting legal and PR signoff becomes much harder.

Multi-Threaded Relationships

The more connection points you have in an account, the better your advocacy chances:

End users who love the product daily
Department leaders who champion it to their teams
Executives who approve participation and provide strategic air cover
Procurement or legal contacts who can navigate approval processes

Single-threaded relationships are risky. If that one person leaves or gets too busy, your advocacy opportunity disappears. Multi-threaded relationships give you backup paths and broader organizational support.

CSM Rapport

The relationship between your CSM and the customer matters immensely.

Strong CSM rapport looks like:

Regular, positive communication (they actually enjoy talking)
Mutual trust and respect (both sides value each other's time)
Collaborative problem-solving (working together, not CSM begging for engagement)
Friendly, warm interactions (there's genuine connection)

When your CSM has strong rapport with a customer, advocacy conversations feel natural. When rapport is weak or transactional, asking for advocacy feels awkward and extractive.

Response Rates

Quick, consistent responses to communications signal:

They prioritize the relationship with you
They're engaged and attentive (not ignoring your emails for weeks)
They respect your time and requests
They have an active partnership mindset (not a vendor-customer dynamic)

High response rates correlate with advocacy participation. If someone consistently responds to your emails within a day or two, they'll probably respond to an advocacy request too.

Meeting Engagement

Watch how customers show up to business reviews and check-ins. Do they:

Come prepared with questions and topics to discuss?
Bring strategic questions, not just support issues?
Share successes and wins proactively?
Actually value the meeting time? (Or do they reschedule constantly?)

Meeting engagement demonstrates relationship investment. That investment often extends to advocacy activities.

Success and Value Indicators

Customers need real results to be credible advocates.

Clear ROI Achievement

Look for quantifiable business results:

Cost savings they can document ("We're saving $50K annually on our old tool")
Efficiency gains they can measure ("Our team ships features 30% faster now")
Revenue impact they can calculate ("We closed 15 more deals last quarter")
Time savings they can quantify ("This saves our team 10 hours per week")

Concrete ROI creates compelling advocacy stories. Vague "we like it" testimonials don't move the needle. "We saved $200K in the first year" does.

Public Success Metrics

Some customers have great results but can't share specific numbers publicly. Understand early whether they can:

Share attributed metrics in case studies
Get company approval for external communication
Navigate legal and PR requirements
Be transparent about outcomes

Company policy and personal comfort both matter here. Some industries (like finance) have strict rules about public endorsements. Some people just aren't comfortable sharing specific numbers. Qualify this before investing time in advocacy development.

Innovation in Usage

Customers using your product in creative or advanced ways make interesting advocates:

Using features in novel ways you didn't expect
Developing unique processes around your product
Pushing your product's capabilities to the limits
Achieving exceptional results through creative application

Innovative users create compelling case studies and great conference speaking topics. "How we used [feature] to solve [unique problem]" is way more interesting than "We use it like everyone else does."

Best Practice Examples

Some customers develop replicable processes that other customers could follow:

Documented workflows others could copy
Templates or frameworks they've created
Success patterns they've identified and systematized
Knowledge worth sharing with peers

Best practice developers make excellent community contributors and speakers. They're not just successful; they've systematized their success in ways that help others.

Transformation Stories

The most powerful advocacy comes from before-and-after narratives:

Clear "before state" problems (the pain was real and specific)
Dramatic improvements achieved (not incremental, transformational)
Organizational change (not just tool adoption)
Cultural or process shifts (the whole team works differently now)

"We were drowning in spreadsheets and now we're fully automated" beats "We improved our process a bit." Transformation stories create powerful testimonials and case studies.

Organizational Fit

Not all great customers make great advocates for your specific needs.

Company Brand Strength

Well-known companies add credibility beyond individual results. Look for:

Name recognition in your industry (prospects will know them)
Positive brand reputation (you want to associate with them)
Media presence or visibility (they have a platform)
Influence within your target market (they're respected)

A case study from a recognized brand carries more weight than one from an unknown company, even if the results are similar. That's not fair, but it's true.

Industry Relevance

Advocates are most effective when they're in industries you're targeting:

Same vertical as your target prospects (fintech advocate for fintech prospects) Similar business models (B2B SaaS advocate for B2B SaaS prospects) Comparable regulatory environments (healthcare advocate for healthcare prospects) Shared challenges and needs (they face the same problems)

A prospect in manufacturing doesn't care much about a retail success story, even if the results are impressive. Industry relevance matters more than most people think.

Customer Segment Appeal

Company characteristics should match your target buyers:

Similar size by employee count or revenue (enterprise advocate for enterprise prospects)
Geographic location relevance (European advocate for European expansion)
Technology stack alignment (similar tools and systems)
Organizational maturity level (similar stage of growth)

Prospects relate to advocates who "look like them." A 50-person startup doesn't care about how a 5,000-person enterprise uses your product, and vice versa.

Geography and Market Fit

Location matters, especially for international expansion:

Same country or region as target prospects
Local market knowledge and context
Regional business practices and norms
Cultural alignment and understanding

If you're expanding into APAC, advocates from APAC companies matter more than advocates from US companies. Local references build trust faster.

Competitive Differentiation

Some customers make great advocates specifically because of competitive context:

They switched from a specific competitor you're often compared to
They chose you over alternatives in a bakeoff
They represent unique use cases that differentiate you
Their success patterns highlight your distinctive strengths

"We switched from [major competitor] to [your product] and here's why" is incredibly valuable competitive positioning. These stories address objections before they're even raised.

Willingness Assessment

Potential and willingness are different things. You need both.

Past Participation

Previous involvement is the best predictor of future willingness:

Provided references before
Participated in customer surveys or research
Attended customer events or webinars
Engaged in beta programs or early access

Past participation tells you someone is willing to contribute time and comfortable with visibility. If they've done it before, they'll probably do it again.

Communication Style

Not everyone who loves your product can communicate that effectively. Watch for:

Clear, articulate communicators (they explain things well)
Comfort on camera or phone (not everyone is)
Professional presentation skills (they come across well)
Engaging storytelling ability (they make things interesting)

Some people are great customers but terrible on video or in written case studies. That's fine. Match activity types to communication strengths. Not every advocate needs to do everything.

Marketing Savvy

Some customers understand content marketing and personal brand building:

They appreciate the value of visibility
They see benefits to their own career or company
They're comfortable with promotion and public presence
They value thought leadership positioning

Marketing-savvy customers often enjoy advocacy activities because they get the reciprocal value. They're not just doing you a favor. They're building their own profile.

Time Availability

Be realistic about bandwidth. Even enthusiastic customers need available time:

Not overwhelmed with their current workload
Can allocate 2-4 hours for advocacy activities
Able to meet reasonable deadlines
Actually follows through on commitments

Over-committed customers may genuinely want to participate but keep rescheduling. It's frustrating for everyone. Better to wait until they have bandwidth than to chase them for months.

Company Policy Constraints

Some customers face organizational barriers regardless of personal enthusiasm:

PR and communications approval processes (especially in public companies)
Legal restrictions on endorsements or public statements
Competitive sensitivity concerns (in crowded markets)
Confidentiality requirements (in regulated industries)

Qualify policy constraints early. There's no point developing an advocacy relationship if legal will never approve participation. Ask directly: "If you were interested in being a case study, what approval process would you need to go through?"

Scoring and Prioritization

You need a way to compare candidates and prioritize your time.

Advocacy Potential Score

Create a simple scoring system across key categories:

Satisfaction and Success (30 points possible):

NPS 9-10: 10 points
Health score above 80: 10 points
Clear ROI achieved: 10 points

Relationship Quality (25 points possible):

Strong CSM rapport: 10 points
Multi-threaded relationships: 10 points
High engagement in meetings: 5 points

Willingness Indicators (25 points possible):

Past advocacy participation: 10 points
Proactive positive feedback: 10 points
Communication comfort: 5 points

Company Fit (20 points possible):

Target industry match: 10 points
Appropriate size and segment: 5 points
Brand strength: 5 points

Total possible: 100 points

The specific point values matter less than having a consistent framework for comparison. Adjust weightings based on what matters most for your business.

Qualification Tiers

Set minimum thresholds for different advocacy levels:

Platinum tier (80+ points): High-value advocates worth significant investment
Gold tier (60-79 points): Active participants for standard programs
Silver tier (40-59 points): Occasional contributors for low-effort activities
Not yet qualified (under 40): Keep nurturing, revisit in 6 months

Tier-Based Outreach

Different tiers get different approaches:

Platinum: Personal invitation from your head of customer success or executive team. Premium benefits. High-commitment opportunities like speaking or extensive case studies.

Gold: CSM invitation. Standard benefits. Moderate-commitment activities like testimonials or reference calls.

Silver: Program invitation. Basic benefits. Low-commitment options like surveys or reviews.

Not everyone needs or deserves the full VIP treatment. Save your premium effort for your highest-potential advocates.

Pipeline Management

Treat advocate development like a pipeline:

Regular identification cadence (monthly reviews)
Qualification progression tracking (are people moving up tiers?)
Cultivation status monitoring (who are you actively developing?)
Program enrollment conversion (who's actually participating?)

Track your advocacy pipeline the same way sales tracks deal pipeline. You need visibility into how many potential advocates you have at each stage.

Building a Regular Identification Process

Ad hoc advocate identification doesn't work. You need a repeatable system.

Monthly Review Cadence

Block time every month for advocate identification:

Review NPS promoters from the previous month
Look at health score improvements (who's trending up?)
Monitor customer communication for enthusiasm signals
Check expansion and renewal activity

Consistent cadence prevents the panicked "sales needs a reference by tomorrow" scramble. You're always building your bench.

Cross-Team Input

Different teams see different signals. Gather intelligence from:

CSMs: Relationship quality, customer satisfaction, engagement levels

Support team: Product enthusiasm, usage depth, power user behaviors

Sales team: Referrals given, expansion signals, renewal ease

Product team: Beta participation, feedback quality, feature request thoughtfulness

No single team has complete visibility. Cross-functional input gives you the full picture.

Data Analysis

Pull reports regularly on quantitative signals:

Run filters on high-NPS accounts (9-10 promoters)
Sort by health score thresholds (80+ scores)
Review usage analytics for power users
Check tenure and expansion history

Data provides an objective qualification baseline. Then layer in human judgment.

Outreach and Qualification

Contact potential advocates to validate interest:

Confirm genuine willingness to participate
Understand realistic time availability
Check company policy constraints
Assess communication comfort level

What looks great on paper might not work in practice. A 10-minute conversation saves everyone time. Ask directly: "We're building a customer advocacy program. Would you be interested in participating in activities like case studies, reference calls, or speaking opportunities?"

Program Enrollment

Move qualified advocates into your formal program:

Send program overview and benefits explanation
Collect preferences for activity types (some people love video, others hate it)
Set clear expectations for participation frequency
Begin relationship cultivation (they're in the program, but that's just the start)

The identification process feeds into ongoing advocacy development. You're not just finding advocates. You're building a pipeline that continuously supplies your advocacy programs with willing, qualified participants.

Related Resources:

Tara Minh

Operation Enthusiast

Post-Sale Management

Not All Satisfied Customers Become Advocates