As customer advocacy professionals, we’re all deeply cognizant of one simple fact: we trust our peers, the lessons they’ve learned and the advice they’re willing to share.

Customer-advocacy-extraordinaire Abby Atkinson has been a trusted peer, thought partner and collaborator to Referential for years. Countless of our colleagues have learned from her leadership. Abby’s deep understanding of the power of the Voice of the Customer and her unwavering passion for celebrating the success of customers have earned her numerous accolades across the world of marketing.

From being inducted to the Summit on Customer Engagement’s (SCE) Hall of Fame to sitting on the Institute of Certified Customer Advocacy Professional’s Oversight Committee, Abby has been recognized numerous times over for her prowess at championing the value of customer advocacy and her skill in designing, launching, sustaining and scaling customer advocacy programs.

On a personal level, Abby is recognized across Referential as an unquestionably passionate and invariably successful customer advocacy professional. In more ways than one, Abby has demonstrated the incredible value companies can reap from learning and sharing their customers’ experiences. She’s also proven that it’s possible to inspire even the most skeptical customer advocacy naysayers with her keen analysis of program performance and proven ability to harness learnings and action from metrics.

All of this to say, we’re ecstatic to have the opportunity to learn from Abby and her many experiences in customer advocacy through her new blog – Customer Advocacy Insights. In her welcome to blog visitors, Abby writes,

“This site has been created as a place where my fellow advocacy practitioners can share ideas, tips and challenges about managing customer advocacy programs. I wanted to provide a forum to collaborate, commiserate and cheer each other on!

The Voice of the Customer is one of the most valuable tools a company can leverage. Our role is to ensure that voice gets heard. It can take the form of one-on-one calls with prospects, speaking at events and developing stories about their experiences.

I’m passionate about customer advocacy. I’ll bet you are too. We are making a difference every day.

Each of you has a story to tell, and we’d love to hear it! Don’t be shy – tell us about what’s working, what’s not, or simply ask your peers for insight.”

Though Referential has had the privilege to work directly alongside Abby throughout the years, our discussions of evolving best practices and collaborative dialogues on amplifying customer voice have yet to reach even the first signs of a lull. We’re truly excited to have the opportunity to continue learning from Abby’s diverse experiences managing customer advocacy and reference programs through her blog. If you’ve ever wanted to learn, firsthand, how to transform the idea of customer advocacy into a thriving, successful customer engagement program at your company, Abby’s site is an absolute must to follow.

Her unwavering commitment to the customer advocacy profession and lifting up her peers in the discipline is what distinguishes Abby as one of our most trusted colleagues and partners.