Welcome to the Deeto Hub

A resource and community space for modern marketers, sellers, and builders using customer voice to grow — together.

Learn, share, and lead with customer voice

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This hub is built for anyone who wants to do more with the voices of their customers. Whether you're scaling advocacy, building trust with proof, or rethinking how to go to market — you're in the right place.

Inside the hub, you’ll find:

  • How-to guides and playbooks for building with customer voice

  • Campaign-ready templates and swipe files

  • Benchmark reports and reference best practices

  • Event recordings, expert sessions, and community spotlights

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You don’t have to figure this out alone. The Deeto community connects you with other leaders using customer voice to build better GTM motions, faster-growing brands, and smarter strategies. If you are interested in joining when it launches, sign up below.

How Deeto helps:

  • Automate advocacy management workflows

  • Dynamically generate customer stories and social proof

  • Eliminate manual reference management

  • Track and report advocacy impact on revenue

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Organic growth is a fantastic way to build your business. Growing a business organically means using customer-driven strategies instead of paid advertising. This prioritizes long-term sustainability, trust, and customer engagement to increase brand loyalty and reduce acquisition costs. 

An organic growth strategy also allows you to scale efficiently by leveraging existing customers, word-of-mouth referrals, and quality-driven strategies rather than expensive marketing campaigns.

Unlike paid growth strategies—which often yield short-term gains—organic growth emphasizes long-term success through trust, credibility, and consistent value delivery. 

Understanding Organic Growth: What It Means for Customers and Your Business

What is Organic Growth? A Customer-Focused Definition

Organic growth is business expansion achieved through customer retention, referrals, and word-of-mouth marketing rather than paid advertising. It focuses on sustainable growth, authentic relationships, and long-term customer value. 

If your organization achieves organic growth, you’ll build customer satisfaction and brand advocacy. You’ll also create valuable experiences that often keep customers. 

Long-Term Benefit vs. Short-Term Gain

  • Brand credibility: Organic growth builds brand credibility and customer trust by focusing on genuine interactions. Building a business through organic growth means prioritizing meaningful customer engagement. If you deliver value rather than relying on paid tactics, you’ll likely develop lasting relationships.
  • Rapid results: Paid growth can offer quick results but may not sustain customer relationships or drive long-term engagement. Although paid strategies can generate immediate traffic and conversions, they often fail to build deep customer trust. 
  • Higher customer lifetime value: Businesses that invest in organic growth often achieve higher customer lifetime value (CLTV) and improved retention rates. Customers acquired through organic efforts have higher engagement and long-term value. 

Why Organic Growth Matters to Customers

1. Authenticity and Trust

Customers prefer brands that offer genuine interactions rather than aggressive sales tactics. Transparency, ethical business practices, and value-driven messaging help establish trust, which makes customers more likely to stay loyal.

2. Value-Driven Interactions

Businesses that focus on providing real solutions—rather than just pushing sales—build deeper connections with their audience. In addition, customers appreciate brands that prioritize their needs, leading to repeat purchases and long-term loyalty.

3. Sustainable Relationships

Strong, lasting customer relationships translate to higher brand advocacy and organic referrals. This reduces dependence on expensive customer acquisition methods, making growth more sustainable in the long run.

Why Organic Growth Matters to Customers

An organic growth strategy isn’t just important for businesses, but it’s also important for customers. Let’s look into some reasons why: 

  • Authenticity and Trust: Customers prefer genuine interactions over sales-driven engagements. They value transparency, ethical practices, and brands that align with their values.
  • Value-Driven Interactions: Businesses providing meaningful solutions retain customers longer and encourage repeat purchases.
  • Sustainable Relationships: Long-term customer relationships lead to brand advocacy and referrals, reducing reliance on costly customer acquisition efforts.

The Business Benefits of a Customer-Centric Organic Strategy

Increased Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

Loyal customers contribute more revenue over time through repeat purchases and referrals. Businesses that focus on customer retention see greater profitability without increasing acquisition costs.

Reduced Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

An organic growth strategy leverages existing customers, reducing the need for expensive marketing campaigns. Instead of constantly spending on acquiring new customers, businesses can focus on nurturing and expanding their current customer base.

Enhanced Brand Reputation

Strong customer relationships translate into positive reviews, higher credibility, and a brand image that attracts new customers organically. A well-respected brand naturally gains traction in the market.

Leveraging Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Happy customers naturally promote your brand to their networks, fostering organic expansion. A strong referral network can significantly boost sales and customer trust.

The Customer Journey: The Foundation of an Organic Growth Strategy 

Mapping the Customer Journey: From Awareness to Advocacy

It’s crucial to identify the touchpoints. Understanding where and how customers interact with your brand helps optimize the user experience. 

You must also understand customer needs at each stage. Addressing pain points and providing solutions at each phase of the customer journey ensures higher satisfaction.

Creating a Seamless and Positive Customer Experience

First, you must optimize for user experience (UX). This means ensuring easy navigation, responsive design, and clear messaging to improve customer satisfaction.

You must also provide exceptional customer service—including quick resolutions, attentive support, and proactive engagement to build trust. 

Furthermore, it ensures personalization and customization. Tailoring experiences to individual preferences increases engagement and customer happiness.

The Importance of Customer Feedback in the Customer Journey

Customer feedback provides insights to refine products, services, and overall experience. You should encourage reviews and act on customer input to demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.

Building Trust and Authority: The Cornerstone of Organic Engagement

Establishing Your Brand as a Thought Leader

Creating valuable and informative content is essential for positioning your brand as an industry leader. 

If you offer blogs, whitepapers, webinars, and educational resources, your brand can share insights that resonate with your audience and showcase expertise. This approach not only helps establish authority but also attracts potential customers who need trusted guidance.

Thought leadership also plays a crucial role in building credibility. As you share your expertise, you position your brand as a reliable source of information. This trust can significantly impact customer acquisition and retention, as customers are more likely to choose a brand when they see an expert in its field.

Transparency and Authenticity in Communication

Open and honest interactions are at the core of building lasting relationships with your customers. 

Transparency builds trust and shows that your brand values clear communication and is committed to being upfront about its practices and policies. This openness encourages customers to feel more connected and confident in their choice to engage with your brand.

Additionally, addressing customer concerns promptly is essential in demonstrating your commitment to service. When you respond quickly to issues, it reflects your brand’s reliability and dedication to customer satisfaction.

Social Proof and Credibility

Customer testimonials and reviews play a critical role in building trust. Real experiences from satisfied customers help reassure potential clients that your brand delivers on its promises. 

Positive feedback acts as a form of social proof, validating your brand’s credibility and attracting new business.

Case studies and success stories further enhance your brand’s credibility by demonstrating proven results. When potential customers see that your brand has successfully solved challenges for others, it increases their confidence in your ability to meet their needs. 

Leveraging Customer Advocacy: Turning Loyal Users into Brand Ambassadors

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Identifying and Nurturing Your Brand Advocates

You should recognize and reward loyalty. You can achieve this with exclusive perks for dedicated customers to encourage repeat business and referrals.

  • Creating Exclusive Experiences: VIP programs, personalized incentives, and behind-the-scenes access foster brand loyalty.
  • Encouraging customers to engage through community platforms enhances brand visibility.

Encouraging Customer Referrals and Recommendations

There are many excellent ways to engage your customers. Let’s look at some of the best ways: 

  • Creating a Referral Culture: Build a sense of community and encourage existing customers to refer by emphasizing how much their feedback and recommendations matter.
  • Personalizing Incentives: Tailor referral rewards to customer preferences, such as discounts, free products, or exclusive offers, to make the referral process more appealing.
  • Leveraging Social Media: Enable easy sharing options on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to amplify the reach of referrals and recommendations.
  • Tracking and Rewarding Success: Use referral tracking tools to monitor which customers are referring others and reward them based on the volume or quality of referrals.
  • Referral Milestones: Create tiered rewards for customers who refer multiple people, offering incentives as they hit certain referral milestones.
  • Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Encourage customers to share their experiences through reviews or testimonials, amplifying trust in your products or services.
  • Building Trust with Testimonials: Showcase positive customer experiences and success stories to help build trust with new potential customers.

Managing and Responding to Customer Reviews and Feedback

Timely responses to reviews demonstrate attentiveness and build trust. You must address feedback—both positive and negative—to show customers that their opinions matter.

Community Building: Fostering Engagement and Loyalty Organically

Creating Online and Offline Communities

Social media groups and forums are critical for growing your community. To strengthen customer relationships, you should create spaces for meaningful discussions and peer-to-peer support.

You should also consider events and meetups. It strengthens customer connections through real-life interactions and builds deeper loyalty.

Encouraging Interaction and Participation

You should ask questions and initiate discussions. Engaging customers directly makes them feel valued and involved. It’s also critical to respond to comments and messages. That’s because active engagement strengthens relationships and brand trust.

Building a Sense of Belonging and Shared Identity

You should build a positive and inclusive environment. A welcoming community enhances customer satisfaction and retention.

In addition, you should celebrate community achievements. You can achieve this by recognizing customer success stories to strengthen emotional connections with the brand.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Organic Growth

Ignoring Customer Feedback

Failing to actively listen to customers can lead to missed opportunities for improvement and decreased loyalty. Customer feedback - whether through reviews, surveys, or direct interactions—provides invaluable insights into what’s working and needs adjustment. 

Brands that dismiss this feedback risk losing touch with their audience, which leads to lower retention rates and stagnant growth. 

You should establish feedback loops, actively respond to concerns, and adapt strategies based on customer input.

Overlooking Retention Strategies

Many businesses focus heavily on acquiring new customers while neglecting the ones they already have. However, retaining existing customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. 

Companies should implement retention strategies such as personalized offers, loyalty programs, and proactive customer support. 

Regular engagement, follow-ups, and appreciation gestures (such as exclusive content or early access to products) can turn first-time buyers into lifelong advocates.

Focusing Solely on Acquisition, Not Engagement

Attracting new customers is essential, but engagement is what keeps them coming back. Without meaningful interactions, even the most successful acquisition campaigns will result in high churn rates. 

You should prioritize relationship-building through personalized communication, community-building efforts, and consistent value delivery. 

Whether through social media interactions, educational content, or responsive customer service, ongoing engagement ensures customers remain connected to the brand.

Not Investing in Organic Marketing Channels

Many businesses rely too heavily on paid advertising while neglecting organic marketing efforts. A well-rounded strategy includes SEO, content marketing, social media engagement, and email marketing. These channels drive sustainable traffic and enhance brand credibility. 

High-quality blog posts, informative videos, and interactive social content can attract potential customers and nurture existing ones. 

Businesses that fail to invest in organic channels struggle to establish long-term visibility and authority in their industry.

Deeto and Organic Growth: A Synergistic Approach

Deeto streamlines the process of engaging your customer base and transforming their insights into valuable assets for your sales, marketing, customer service, and product teams. 

With centralized data and AI-driven insights, it simplifies connecting with prospects at scale and ensures communication is authentic. Schedule a demo today to see it in action.

How to Grow a Business Organically from Your Customers

How to Grow a Business Organically from Your Customers

Discover how to grow a business organically using customer-driven strategies and word-of-mouth marketing

Growth
Business development
Customer Advocacy
Marketing
Strategy

Customers aren't shy about voicing their preferences, frustrations, and ideas. Despite that feedback being one of the most valuable resources at their disposal, a surprising number of companies still overlook it (or fail to use it to its fullest potential).

According to research from TreasureData, 76% of business leaders say they're confident they have a complete understanding of their customers to deliver high-quality, personalized experiences. Only 25% of consumers agree.

But the customer experience is largely the deciding factor in your ability to retain customers and grow your business. More than half of all consumers say they'd switch to a competitor after just one bad one.

The best way to truly align your CX with customer expectations? Listen to the ones actually living it.

This is where a Voice of the Customer strategy comes into play.

What is the Voice of the Customer (VOC)?

The Voice of the Customer (VoC) encompasses everything your customers are saying about your business: what they love, what frustrates them, what they wish you’d change. It's the systematic process of gathering, analyzing, and acting on customer insights to improve their experience and, ultimately, your bottom line.

Think of it like this: If you were running a restaurant, VoC would be more than just reading Yelp reviews. You'd want to know what people are ordering the most, how long they're waiting for their food, what they're expecting, and if they'd recommend your place to others. Then, you'd use that information to improve your menu, service times, and overall dining experience.

Voice of the Customer vs. customer satisfaction

While customer satisfaction is a critical component of Voice of the Customer, it goes far beyond that.

VoC is all about gathering deep, ongoing insights into what customers are thinking, feeling, and expecting from your business. It’s proactive and holistic. You're gathering insights on behavior, pain points, and expectations from multiple sources.

Customer satisfaction is more like a snapshot. It measures how happy customers are at a specific moment (usually after a purchase, interaction, or service experience). Think of metrics like CSAT or NPS (Net Promoter Score). These are reactive, and they’re more focused on evaluating specific touchpoints rather than uncovering broader insights.

While customer satisfaction is an important piece of the puzzle, it’s just that — a piece. VoC gives you the whole puzzle, showing you why customers feel the way they do and how you can create better experiences across the board.

The role of active listening in VoC

Collecting VoC data to tick a box doesn't tell you much about the "why" behind it. Active listening means really tuning in to what your customers are saying (and how they’re saying it).

  • Direct conversations with open-ended questions
  • Support ticket trends and analysis
  • Online reviews and ratings
  • Social media mentions

Instead of just looking at the numbers and scores for these things, paying attention to the sentiment and language customers use gives you more context as to the emotions, motivations, and unspoken needs behind their words.

Why VoC matters for your business

The Voice of the Customer is a strategic lever that directly impacts growth and profitability by guiding you toward customer-centric decisions. It allows you to anticipate and address their needs, pain points, and preferences, which ultimately leads to higher satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.

Driving product development with customer insights

Your customers are the ones who use your products every day. That means they’re the first to spot what works, what doesn’t, and what’s missing. They can point out gaps or suggest features you may not have considered internally.

When customers repeatedly ask for the same thing or struggle with a similar issue, that’s your cue to act. Feeding this insight back into your product roadmap ensures you’re building things people actually want, which eliminates wasted dev time and increases adoption.

Enhancing the customer experience and increasing loyalty

Businesses can't rely solely on product differences to stand out. The real differentiator is the quality of the relationship someone shares with a brand.

This is why nearly three in every four told Salesforce they'd switch to another brand for no reason other than a "better deal," while 88% said good service makes them more likely to purchase again.

VoC helps you identify pain points in the customer journey before they become dealbreakers. Maybe onboarding feels clunky or support takes too long. Whatever it is, when you consistently gather and respond to feedback, you show customers you care.

In turn, you'll have better retention, more referrals, and relationships that are harder to break.

Improving sales and marketing effectiveness

If you understand how your customers talk about your product and what truly matters to them, it's easy to mirror that in your messaging. That means clearer value props, better positioning, and more compelling campaigns.

Use VoC insights to refine your copy, identify high-converting language, and pinpoint the actual problems your product solves from the customer’s point of view. Sales teams can also use this intelligence to handle objections more confidently and tailor pitches more effectively.

With Deeto, the VoC data you collect can even be turned into social proof, which you can dynamically display on your website to increase web conversions.

Identifying opportunities for sales and product innovation

Sometimes, your customers will reveal use cases or needs you didn’t realize your product could solve. These are golden opportunities — not just for new features, but possibly new offerings, markets, and competitive positioning.

In your VoC data, look for those outlier comments or recurring “It would be great if…” moments. Those point to areas where you can create add-ons, premium tiers, cross-sells, or spin-off solutions that align with your customers’ evolving needs.

Reducing churn through proactive engagement

By the time a customer cancels, it’s usually too late. But if you’re listening closely, the warning signs are there.

  • Frustration
  • Complaints
  • Waning engagement levels

VoC helps you address those red flags early. Maybe it’s a check-in call, a targeted email, or a product tutorial. Whatever it is, proactive engagement helps them get value out of their relationship with your product.

Building a robust VoC program

To lay the groundwork for a successful strategy, there are four important steps you need to take when setting up your VoC program:

1. Set clear objectives and goals for your VoC program.

You need to know what you’re listening for. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a bunch of data and no clear direction. Goals give your VoC program purpose.

Start by asking: What are we trying to improve? Are you trying to reduce churn? Improve a product feature? Nail your brand messaging?

Once you have clarity, define measurable goals (like improving CSAT by 10% or increasing trial-to-paid conversion). These goals guide everything else, from what questions you ask to which channels you focus on.

2. Identify your key customer segments and personas.

Not all feedback carries the same weight, and different customers have different needs. To understand who you’re hearing from and make sure you’re acting on insights that actually matter to your business strategy, your second step is to segment your audience.

  • New users vs. loyal customers
  • High-LTV clients vs. casual users
  • Enterprise vs. SMB users
  • At-risk vs. happy customers
  • One use case or product tier vs. another

Build personas that reflect these groups and their goals. Then tailor your questions and analysis accordingly. That way, you avoid treating all feedback as one-size-fits-all and start making decisions that are laser-focused on specific customer groups.

3. Pick the right data collection methods.

You need both the right channels and the right timing to get meaningful, actionable feedback. If you’re only using surveys, you’re missing the bigger picture.

The best approach is to mix methods:

  • In-app surveys
  • Post-support feedback
  • Social listening
  • NPS
  • Review scraping
  • One-on-one interviews

You’ll want a blend of quantitative data (scores, trends) and qualitative insights (comments, conversations). Together, they give you both the “what” and the “why.”

4. Establish a centralized system for data collection and analysis.

Data spread across tools and teams is noise. You need one source of truth that turns scattered input into clear insights.

Use a centralized platform for capturing customer knowledge and feedback (like Deeto), or a CRM-integrated solution that pulls in feedback from all your channels. Tag and categorize data, then analyze it on a regular basis to find trends, flag issues early, and continuously refine based on what customers are telling you.

5 ways to gather meaningful Voice of the Customer insights

Like I mentioned, tapping into the Voice of the Customer requires a healthy mix of quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of sources.

Broadly speaking, there are five categories of customer feedback to use:

1. Surveys and questionnaires

These are your workhorses. They’re scalable, structured, and perfect for capturing specific feedback at key moments (like post-purchase or post-support interactions).

Ideally, keep them short and focused. Ask both quantitative questions (“On a scale of 1–10…”) and open-ended ones (“What could we have done better?”).

Tools like Typeform, Google Forms, or SurveyMonkey make it easy.

Pro tip: Personalize surveys based on customer segment or journey stage to keep things relevant.

2. Interviews and focus groups

This is where you go deeper.

Interviews let you explore emotions, behaviors, and underlying motivations you won’t uncover in a form. To avoid bias, start by choosing a diverse sample of customers and create a relaxed environment where they can be candid. Ask open-ended questions and actively listen.

Focus groups are great for getting multiple perspectives at once and watching how ideas bounce around. They're gold for product development, UX research, and branding insights.

3. Social media listening

Social platforms are an unfiltered feedback channel; people say what they really think about your brand and product, in real time.

Use tools like Brandwatch, Hootsuite, or Sprout Social to monitor brand mentions, hashtags, and sentiment. Pay attention to trends, complaints, praise, and what they're saying about competitors.

4. Customer reviews and ratings

Reviews are unsolicited, brutally honest, and loaded with insights about what people value most. They also highlight emotional drivers that formal feedback might miss. Track your reviews on platforms like Google, G2, Yelp, or whichever platforms are relevant to your industry.

Look for patterns in language, tone, and specific features being mentioned. High ratings tell you what to double down on. Low ones? They’re a free roadmap for improvement.

5. Feedback and support channels

People usually reach out when they’re stuck, confused, or frustrated. So, your support inbox shows you in real time where your points of friction are.

Analyze tickets, chat logs, call transcripts, and feedback forms. Tag and categorize issues by type, frequency, and sentiment. Better yet, loop your support team into the VoC process, since they’re on the front lines and know what’s bothering customers through first-hand experience.

KPIs and metrics for measuring VoC success

Tracking the right KPIs helps you connect feedback to action and measure whether your efforts are actually making a tangible impact.

Here are seven key metrics you’ll want to keep an eye on:

  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures how likely customers are to recommend your product or service to others on a scale from 1 to 10, on average. It’s a great proxy for loyalty and long-term satisfaction.
  • Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): A direct measurement of how happy customers are after a specific interaction (usually on a scale from 1 to 5). It gives you quick, actionable feedback on specific touchpoints (e.g., post-support).
  • Customer Effort Score (CES): Measures how easy it was for a customer to complete a task or resolve an issue. Lower effort correlates with higher satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Feedback volume and response rates: High volume and engagement usually indicate your VoC program is well-tuned and that customers want to share their thoughts.
  • Sentiment analysis scores: Sentiment trends help you track emotional shifts — whether users feel more confident, frustrated, engaged over time.
  • Churn and retention rates: The percentage of customers who stop doing business with you vs. those who stay. If your retention improves as you implement VoC-driven changes, you’re on the right track.
  • Product/service improvement rates: Internal tracking of issues resolved, features added, or experience upgrades directly linked to customer feedback (a.k.a. your VoC wins in action).

Developing your Voice of the Customer strategy

Your VoC strategy is where the rubber meets the road. To create a structured, repeatable process that ties customer feedback directly to business outcomes, there are five key steps to follow:

1. Align VoC with your business goals.

Start by identifying your core strategic objectives. Are you trying to break into a new market? Reduce churn? Improve onboarding?

Once you’ve nailed those down, Deeto simplifies feedback collection by allowing your customers to share it directly. When you invite them to the platform, they instantly become part of your knowledge base.

2. Prioritize customer feedback based on impact.

Not all feedback carries equal weight. Feedback from a high-LTV or long-time customer might reveal deeper loyalty drivers or critical gaps, especially if they're aligned with your ICP. Segment insights so you’re not optimizing for edge cases or low-impact voices.

Also pay close attention to patterns. If 20% of your customers flag the same issue, that’s probably a high-impact opportunity.

3. Turn feedback into actionable insights and recommendations.

Analyze the data to uncover trends, root causes, and opportunities. Group comments by themes (e.g. pricing, usability, support) and tie them back to your goals. Then create clear, specific recommendations your team can act on — for example, “redesign the signup flow to reduce confusion” instead of “people are getting stuck.”

4. Implement changes based on those insights.

Work with Product, Marketing, Support, and Ops teams to turn insights into roadmap items, experiments, or process improvements. Set timelines, assign ownership, and track progress for each.

Small changes (like updating onboarding emails) can be quick wins, while larger changes (like building a new feature) need more planning, but both matter.

5. Close the feedback loop.

In VoC, active listening also means you respond. You acknowledge the feedback, you act on it, then you let customers know you've implemented a solution. One way to do this is to send an email saying “You asked, we listened," highlighting what’s new and thanking them for their input.

With Deeto, knowing who is responsible for which feedback is easy because everything is tagged by name and segment. It also integrates with your CRM, so you can reach out directly to the customers who gave feedback without having to manually search for their contact information.

Voice of the Customer best practices to maximize impact and efficiency

Timing, application, and analysis make the difference between “meh” insights and truly actionable ones. To implement the steps I've mentioned above, there are a few important best practices to keep in mind:

  • Ask the right questions at the right time. Don’t just ask what customers think, ask why. And don’t wait until the end of their journey. Trigger quick, relevant feedback at key touchpoints (like during onboarding, after purchase, or post-support).
  • Watch what customers do, not just what they say. Abandoned carts, feature usage patterns, churn points—these are all forms of feedback. Layering behavioral data with traditional feedback gives you a way more complete picture.
  • Keep a VoC backlog. If you collect customer knowledge with Deeto, you can log it, prioritize it, and revisit it regularly to create a clear path for future improvements.
  • Build a “feedback taxonomy.” Create categories or tags for feedback types (e.g., pricing, UX, onboarding, support). This way, it's easier to spot patterns, share insights internally, and track improvement over time.
  • Use VoC insights to drive sales. Use Deeto to incorporate positive feedback throughout the sales cycle and build credibility with your potential customers. And build a customer advocacy program starting with your biggest promoters.

Common VoC challenges and solutions

Even with those best practices, you'll probably run into four main issues when you're implementing and scaling your VoC program:

  • Low response rates
  • Large volumes of unstructured data
  • Feedback response times
  • Personalization and targeting

Let's take a closer look at some possible solutions to these issues:

Dealing with low response rates

One of the biggest challenges for VoC programs is getting enough responses to make the data statistically significant.

Increase your response rates:

  • Keep things short and focused (2–3 questions max for quick touchpoints).
  • Use in-context surveys (like in-app prompts or post-purchase pop-ups).
  • Offer a small incentive.
  • Let people know their feedback actually leads to change.

A platform like Deeto makes things easier because customers leave their knowledge and insights directly within the app, and it's as easy as making an Instagram post.

Analyzing large volumes of unstructured data

Open-ended feedback, reviews, and support tickets pile up fast—and it’s hard to make sense of them manually.

The solution here is to use AI-powered text analytics or sentiment analysis tools, which can help you categorize, tag, and analyze the feedback at scale. Build a tagging system or feedback taxonomy to organize themes, then routinely extract the top 3–5 insights per channel to stay focused.

Acting on feedback quickly enough

When internal processes move slow, the insights customers give you lose momentum.

To fix this, assign VoC "owners" in each department who can triage and route feedback for particular categories. For instance, at-risk customers can be routed to Customer Success while major bug reports can go to your Product team.

Personalization and hyper-targeting using VoC data

Maybe you collect great insights but struggle to apply them to personalized marketing, onboarding, or product experiences.

If you tie VoC data to your CRM or customer profiles, you can use the feedback to build smart segments (e.g., “frustrated new users,” “loyal customers who want X feature”). From there, customize content, offers, or product flows based on that segmentation.

You can use Deeto's AI-powered segmentation tools to curate and suggest the most valuable content for each specific use case or customer interaction.

Deeto connects the Voice of the Customer to ongoing advocacy and retention efforts.

It's more than just a platform you can use to collect, centralize, and track VoC insights. It's an end-to-end customer marketing platform, meaning you can take different kinds of feedback from different kinds of customers and apply them to different areas of your business.

Customers choose how they want to contribute, so there's no "right" or "wrong" way to provide feedback. This makes it easier for you to get more insights from a wider variety of customers.

And our AI-powered tools make it easy to segment and track different types of feedback, create usable content (e.g., case studies), and connect customers with prospects in your pipeline based on their knowledge and first-hand experiences.

Request a demo to see how it works.

What is Voice of the Customer? Process + Full Guide in 2025

What is Voice of the Customer? Process + Full Guide in 2025

Learn what Voice of the Customer (VoC), how it works, key methods, best practices, and strategies to improve growth.

Customer Advocacy
Customer Success
Marketing
Strategy
Growth

If you're building out a sales team, you're either going to hire sales development representatives (SDRs) or business development representatives (BDRs).

Chances are, you've heard both terms thrown around quite a bit (at times, seemingly interchangeably). While they sound similar, their distinction is important when it comes to hiring decisions. Each position requires a unique set of behaviors, skills, and performance metrics.

Hiring the wrong type of sales rep causes confusion over responsibilities, inefficiencies in your sales pipeline, and underperformance if someone lacks the core strengths for the specific function.

In today's article, I'll walk you through the SDR's and BDR's roles within a company, their key differences, and how to know which one you need to hire for your sales org.

What is an SDR in sales?

An SDR, or Sales Development Representative, is the person in your sales organization who identifies, qualifies, and engages potential customers before handing them off to an Account Executive or a more senior sales rep. Think of them as a “first point of contact” who breaks the ice with interested prospects.

Typically, they:

  • Follow up on people who have shown some level of interest, whether through downloading a resource, signing up for a webinar, or responding to an email campaign.
  • Qualify leads by determining whether their challenges and goals match what your company can offer, and filter out the best-fit opportunities.
  • Hand it off to a dedicated salesperson to continue the conversation and (hopefully) close the deal.

The SDR role engages and nurtures warm leads. They set the stage for more meaningful conversations down the line.

What is a BDR in sales?

A BDR, or Business Development Representative, is your go-to person for finding untapped business opportunities and sparking conversations with companies that may not even know they need your solution yet. While an SDR deals with warm leads and inbound inquiries, a BDR is the hunter who goes out to create opportunities from scratch.

Some of their key responsibilities include:

  • Researching and identifying potential customers that fit your ICP.
  • Reaching out to prospects through outbound methods like cold calls, emails, and DMs.
  • Qualifying leads by understanding their business goals, challenges, and budget.
  • Handing off qualified leads to an Account Executive or sales closer for further nurturing and closing.

BDRs expand your company's market reach by bringing new leads into your funnel. They get your product on the right people's radar, even before they start actively looking for a solution.

Key differences between SDRs and BDRs

The main difference between an SDR and a BDR is that SDRs are focused on inbound leads, while BDRs are focused on outbound sales.

The number-one goal of sales development is to set qualified appointments with prospects who have a strong chance of converting into customers. Someone who meets this criteria is classified as a sales-qualified lead (SQL).

Business development, on the other hand, exists to create net-new revenue opportunities. The BDR's ultimate goal is to broaden the company’s horizons through fresh channels, business partnerships, and market segments.

Let's take a look at those differences more in-depth:

Targeting and lead qualification

BDRs build the pipeline from scratch.

They’re looking for companies or markets you haven't fully tapped into yet (if at all). They start by identifying decision-makers and their roles/titles, then apply their knowledhe of industry trends, to figure out which companies stand to benefit the most from your offering. They base their outreach on simple identifiers like company size, location, and vertical.

Since the people they’re reaching out to haven’t necessarily raised their hands, BDRs start at a more basic level of qualification — that is, confirming whether there’s even a need for your product or service. By starting a conversation, they're essentially gauging (a) whether the prospect fits your ICP and (b) if the timing is right to move forward.

SDRs engage and qualify interested prospects.

SDRs primarily focus on the people who’ve already shown interest in some way, like downloading a white paper, attending a webinar, or filling out a form. These leads are a step or two closer to buying, so SDRs don’t have to comb through entire industries. Instead, they talk with people who come in through existing marketing efforts (e.g., an ad or blog post).

Because of this, qualification is all about determining if that existing interest is a genuine fit. They can delve deeper into how the prospect’s challenges align with your solution and whether the lead meets your company’s “sales-ready” criteria. If the lead checks those boxes, the SDR sets up an appointment or demo with an Account Executive to keep the conversation rolling.

Communication and outreach strategies

BDRs "break the ice."

BDRs' prospects aren’t actively looking for a solution, so they spend time researching both the company and key stakeholders to create highly relevant messages that stand out. From there, they use cold outreach strategies to

Building relationships from scratch takes time — it takes an average of 8 touchpoints to land an intial meeting. So BDRs also develop a sales cadence (a planned sequence of outreach activities) that combines emails, calls, and social media outreach at strategic intervals.

SDRs qualify and nurture the interest prospects already have.

Inbound leads are “warm,” so SDRs respond quickly (often within minutes or hours) to capitalize on that initial interest. Since these leads have already engaged (e.g., by requesting info), they focus on confirming fit and readiness rather than persuading someone to explore a solution from zero.

While the conversion cycle is shorter, SDRs still use a combination of phone calls, emails, and digital follow-ups to keep leads engaged and move them toward a productive conversation with an AE.

Performance metrics and KPIs

Business development teams care about pipeline contribution.

There are three main ways BDR managers measure and evaluate their teams:

  • Number of outbound activities: Think calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages. BDRs are expected to maintain a high volume of outreach to maximize their chances of striking up new opportunities.
  • Meetings booked / opportunities cenerated: The ultimate goal is creating new opportunities or setting up initial meetings with net-new prospects. BDRs get evaluated on how many of their outbound prospects get handed off to Account Executives.
  • Pipeline creation value: Some organizations measure the dollar value of opportunities BDRs bring into the pipeline. Bringing in high-value and high-potential deals matters just as much as (if not more than) lead quantity.

Sales development is concerned with conversion rates.

As for sales development reps, activity metrics like call volume are also important. But, since they're dealing with warmer prospects, there are three other critical metrics to pay attention to:

  • Lead response time: Up to 50% of all sales go to the vendor who responds first. Short lead response times shows reps are striking while the iron is hot.
  • SQL-to-opportunity conversions: When a large percentage of SQLs move on to the Opportunity stage, it means SDRs are doing a good job at filtering out unqualified inquiries.
  • Meetings scheduled: This is similar to BDRs, but with an emphasis on converting interested leads into productive conversations with AEs.

Sales cycle stage ownership

BDRs own the earliest stages in the funnel.

A BDR's prospects might be aware your product exists, but they (usually) aren't actively looking for a solution. The BDR's job is to get them interested. They're there to get the prospect talking about their challenges and see if there's a way your product can help.

SDRs cover the middle ground.

SDRs bridge the gap between marketing and sales. Their prospects have already looked at some of your marketing content and are somewhat familiar with your product. Some might even have requested a demo or trial. In this case, the BDR's job of filling the top of the funnel has already been taken care of by your marketing activities.

Overlap and collaboration: where SDRs and BDRs work together

SDRs and BDRs are both part of an inside sales team. Both roles do the “pre-work” before the heavier sales discussions happen. And both hand off their leads to an AE, who picks up to do demos, negotiate deals, and close business.

Beyond this, there are plenty of opportunities for them to collaborate:

Shared intel and best practices

BDRs might come across a promising new segment during outbound efforts and can pass that insight to SDRs, who use it to tweak their follow-up and qualification methodology. SDRs, who hear firsthand what inbound leads are responding to, share tactics and hooks that resonate.

Coordinated cadences and lead routing

Sometimes a BDR uncovers a highly interested lead who’s actually an inbound lead that slipped through the cracks. And if a lead is initially cold for a BDR but later engages with a webinar or downloads a white paper, that might shift it into SDR territory.

Aligning on company goals

SDR and BDR teams share the ultimate goal of growing and maintaining a solid pipeline. AEs share with both groups what happened post-handoff — was the opportunity a good fit, and if not, why?— so both can refine their targeting.

Should I hire an SDR or a BDR?

When you’re deciding whether to hire an SDR or a BDR first (or at all), it really comes down to what your current pipeline looks like, how established your brand is, and the nature of your sales process.

Broadly speaking, there are five factors that will influence your decision:

1. Your current lead volume and pipeline health

If you already have a lot of inbound leads thanks to marketing, brand recognition, or a customer advocacy program, an SDR is ideal. If you’re still making a name for yourself, a BDR will cold call and educate the market. They'll set up initial conversations that drive early adoption.

2. Sales cycle complexity

Complex deals require a higher degree of personalization and strategic outreach that's right within the wheelhouse of a BDR. If your solution is easier to understand and the sales cycle is shorter, an SDR should be enough to qualify inbound interest.

3. Resource allocation and team structure

If you're already pulling tons of leads from different marketing channels, an SDR can slot in to convert them into qualified prospects. If your marketing function is lean, a BDR can generate fresh opportunities without relying on a heavy marketing funnel.

4. Budget, compensation structure, and results timeline

BDRs are more expensive in the sense that outbound prospecting campaigns take longer to yield results. There’s also a lot of time and effort in building target lists, crafting outreach sequences, and refining messaging. SDRs show quicker ROI because they capitalize on your existing inbound momentum.

5. Growth goals and strategic objectives

If your goal this year is to break into a new industry vertical or geographic region, a BDR is the one who'll spearhead that effort. If your marketing is already effective at driving people to your site or product demos, an SDR will make sure no lead falls through the cracks.

Leveraging technology for SDR and BDR success

Today's customers want convenience and personalization. Internally, software helps you streamline your processes, keep everything organized, and tailor each sales conversation to the individual you're working with.

CRM integration and management

CRM is the core system your sales force will be working in. It handles just about everything:

  • Lead and contact management
  • Outreach automation and tracking
  • Opportunity management
  • Deal forecasting
  • Pipeline reporting

It also integrates bi-directionally with all your other tools. For instance, when a lead comes through your marketing automation platform, it auto-syncs that info with your CRM as a contact record to follow up on.

Sales automation tools

Sales automation tools eliminate manual work from different aspects of the BDR and SDR workflow.

  • Sales engagement platforms like Outreach and Salesloft
  • CPQ systems like Zuora and DealHub
  • Lead enrichment systems like Apollo, Clearbit, and ZoomInfo
  • Customer marketing and advocacy platforms like Deeto

These are just a few examples of different tools with automation features that enhance your SDRs' and/or BDRs' productivity.

For instance, you can use Deeto to build personal mircosites for different kinds of prospects and increase top-of-funnel intent. Instead of sending a regular old email, you can send them a persona-based web page with relevant USPs and user-generated content.

Data analytics and reporting

Your tools are constantly collecting data from selling activities, customer engagement, and transactions.

CRM tells you everything you need to know about your pipeline and SDR/BDR performance. That includes things like:

  • How many deals have been closed
  • The value of each deal
  • Average deal size
  • Win rate by lead source, product, or rep
  • # of activities per rep

Sales automation tools provide similar reporting but with a more granular level of detail.

You also have platforms like Deeto, which monitors opportunities and evaluates advocates' and references' impact on lead generation, opportunity progress, and conversions, and shows you which customer segments or industries are most likely to become advocates for your product.

The evolution of SDRs and BDRs in modern sales teams

Today, a significant majority of sales teams have integrated AI into their operations. Salesforce's sixth State of Sales report found that 81% of sales orgs are either testing or already using AI tools. McKinsey's global State of AI survey supports this, showing 78% of organizations use AI, with marketing and sales among the most common areas of application.

It's worked its way into just about every facet of the selling process:

  • Initial lead response for warm leads
  • Lead prioritization and segmentation
  • Email personalization
  • Sales forecasting and pipeline management
  • Cross-selling and upselling recommendations
  • Voice-enabled virtual assistants for scheduling, note-taking, and data entry
  • Natural language processing for analyzing sales calls and conversations

Deeto's AI even analyzes a lead's profile and gives sellers personalized UGC and social proof. That way, reps have an easier time qualifying leads, and they share relevant content that addresses buyer pain points right off the bat.

Deeto helps SDRs and BDRs close more deals.

While the role of the sales rep (BDR or SDR) is a critical one, the fact of the matter is that fewer and fewer buyers are interested in interacting with them. According to research from Gartner, 75% say they prefer a rep-free experience altogether.

The reason is that they prefer to do their own research — 85% of buyers trust customers in their industry more than any other source of information, and they've completed 70% of the decision-making process by the time they engage someone from the company.

Deeto facilitates a more customer-led sales process. You can use it to gather customer feedback and social proof, distribute it across your sales and marketing channels, build a reference pool, and match relevant customer experiences to target accounts.

Request a demo to see how it works.

SDR vs. BDR: Key Sales Role Differences

SDR vs. BDR: Key Sales Role Differences

Explore SDR vs. BDR roles: learn their distinct tasks, goals, & when to use each. Master sales strategies!

Business development
BizDev
Growth
Marketing
New Feature

Customer-led growth (CLG) is a strategy that focuses on customer experiences, feedback, and advocacy to drive success. Instead of relying on aggressive sales tactics, customer-led growth uses customer insights to improve product development, engagement, and retention. 

Companies that use customer-led growth benefit from organic word-of-mouth marketing, deeper customer connections, and improved brand credibility—all key ingredients for success. 

In this article, we will explore the benefits of customer-led growth, key strategies, and how AI-powered tools, such as Deeto.ai, can make you a customer-led business. 

What is Customer-Led Growth?

Customer-led growth is a strategic approach that leverages customer insights and feedback to drive business success. This methodology putsthe customer at the center of all decisions, from product development tocustomer acquisition and advocacy.

In contrast, product-led growth is driven by the product itself, often through experience with free trials or freemium models. There’s also sales-led growth, which is when revenue and customer acquisition is driven by a company's sales team through outreach and relationship building. While both product-led growth and sales-led growth can generate conversions and retention, they don’t contain the same trust element as customer-led growth. All in all, a customer growth strategy is an excellent way for your organization to grow. 

Why Customer-Led Growth Matters Now

According to studies from Nielsen and G2, more than 9 in 10 buyers trust peer recommendations or reviews over traditional brand messaging. It’s not surprising — digital noise is at an all-time high, and with the rise of Artificial Intelligence, how can consumers trust that what they’re reading is a trustworthy source rather than marketing copy fabricated by a large language model? This is why authenticity becomes the biggest differentiator between marketing messages. Customer-led growth delivers a combination of trust, efficiency, and community because users know that they’re getting information from real people with real-life experiences using the product. Companies using a customer-led growth platform like Deeto have seen large improvements in customer acquisition and retention. The proof is in the numbers — Deeto customers have seen 70% growth on user-driven content and an 85% improvement in prospect-reference engagement.

The Benefits of Embracing Customer-Led Growth (CLG)

1. Higher Retention Rates

When you understand and meet customer needs, satisfaction naturally follows. Happy customers often remain loyal, which reduces churn and creates long-term relationships. 

To grow customer loyalty, you should offer personalized experiences, timely support, and ongoing engagement. 

2. Stronger Customer Advocacy

Engaged and satisfied customers become powerful brand advocates. They willingly share their positive experiences with others and influence new prospects through word-of-mouth, online reviews, and social media. 

In return, these customers can significantly impact your brand’s reputation and drive organic growth. 

3. Enhanced Product Innovation

Customer-led growth thrives on continuous feedback loops. When refining or creating new products, listening to customer insights and understanding their pain points can provide invaluable knowledge. 

As such, this customer-centric approach keeps you ahead of the curve, adapts to changing needs, and delivers innovative solutions for your target audience.

4. Increased Revenue

Growing customer loyalty and advocacy has a direct correlation with long-term profitability. That’s because loyal customers contribute to repeat sales and spend more over time. 

In response, it creates a sustainable cycle where investment in customer relationships leads to a steady income.

5. Competitive Differentiation

In today's crowded markets, standing out is a challenge. However, you prioritize customer-led strategies to demonstrate your commitment to understanding and adapting to your customers’ needs. 

This differentiates you from competitors focusing on traditional marketing tactics. 

6. Lower Customer Acquisition Costs

Customer-led growth reduces heavy spending on traditional marketing and paid acquisition strategies. When happy customers spread the word through referrals, testimonials, and organic social media engagement, they attract new prospects at a fraction of the cost of paid ads.

Moreover, customers trust recommendations from peers far more than they do branded advertising. 

7. Stronger Brand Trust and Credibility

A company that consistently listens to and values customer feedback earns trust, which is a powerful asset in today’s competitive market. 

When customers see that a brand is responsive to their needs—whether through personalized interactions, timely support, or meaningful product updates—they develop a sense of confidence in the brand’s reliability.

The Shift: From Sales-Driven to Customer-Centric

The Limitations of Sales-Driven Models

Sales-driven models have some significant downsides, including short-term focus and poor adaptability. 

Let’s break these down:

  • Focus on short-term gains: Traditional sales-driven models prioritize outbound efforts such as aggressive marketing, cold outreach, and high-pressure sales tactics. Although these methods can generate immediate revenue, they struggle to build lasting customer relationships.
  • High churn rates: The emphasis on quick sales rather than long-term engagement can leave customers feeling disconnected from the brand. Therefore, it increases the likelihood of churn after completing the initial transaction.
  • Lack of adaptability: Sales-driven approaches often neglect evolving customer needs. It becomes challenging to stay relevant and competitive in a rapidly changing market.
  • Unsustainable growth model: Relying heavily on acquisition rather than retention leads to constantly needing new customers. This increases customer acquisition costs (CAC) and limits opportunities for organic growth through referrals and advocacy.
  • Missed opportunities for loyalty: Without a strong focus on customer satisfaction and long-term value, you risk losing repeat business and fail to turn satisfied customers into brand advocates.

The Importance of Customer Feedback

At the heart of customer-led growth is a fundamental shift in how businesses perceive and interact with their customers. Rather than treating customers as mere transactions, CLG places them at the center of its business strategy. 

You can use this feedback in product development, marketing, and customer experience strategies to create highly relevant offerings. 

The Key Pillars of a Successful Customer-Led Growth Strategy

1. Customer Advocacy Programs

Encouraging customers to become brand advocates is a pillar of CLG. When satisfied customers share their experiences through testimonials, case studies, and referral programs, they build social proof for your brand. 

In addition, advocacy programs encourage word-of-mouth marketing, which turns loyal customers into growth drivers. It achieves this by influencing potential buyers and expanding brand reach organically.

2. Community Building and Engagement

Creating a strong community around your brand develops deeper relationships and a sense of belonging. For instance, online forums, social media groups, or exclusive customer events provide a space for customers to connect, share experiences, and provide feedback. 

Active engagement within these communities keeps you connected with customer needs and gains real-time insights into user preferences.

3. Personalized Customer Experiences

Modern customers expect personalized interactions that match their preferences, behaviors, and past interactions. 

You can use AI-driven segmentation, behavioral tracking, and customized messaging to boost personalization. As a result, this creates meaningful connections, higher retention rates, and increased customer satisfaction.

4. Data-Driven Customer Insights

Utilizing customer data is essential for making informed business decisions. Advanced analytics provide data on customer behavior, pain points, and trends, which allows you to optimize your strategies. 

5. Continuous Customer Feedback Loops

Establishing structured mechanisms for collecting and acting on customer feedback ensures that you meet customer expectations. You can use surveys, Net Promoter Score (NPS) tracking, product reviews, and in-app feedback channels to gain insights for continuous improvement. 

How Deeto Helps

Deeto.ai enhances every aspect of a CLG strategy with AI-powered tools, such as customer sentiment analysis, predictive analytics, and engagement automation. 

With real-time insights into customer satisfaction, preferences, and behaviors, Deeto refines your advocacy programs, personalizes interactions, and builds stronger customer relationships, which drive sustainable growth.

Implementing Customer-Led Growth: The Practical Steps

  1. Identifying Your Ideal Customer Profile: Understanding your most valuable customers allows for targeted engagement.
  2. Mapping the Customer Journey: Visualizing the customer experience helps identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
  3. Creating Customer Feedback Channels: Implementing surveys, interviews, and review platforms facilitates continuous insights.
  4. Developing Customer Advocacy Initiatives: Incentivizing referrals and highlighting success stories strengthens brand credibility.
  5. Building a Customer-Centric Culture: Encouraging a company-wide mindset shift ensures every team prioritizes customer success.

Leveraging AI for Customer-Led Growth

AI-driven technology is revolutionizing businesses that implement customer-led growth strategies. You can deepen customer relationships, enhance engagement, and drive sustainable growth by leveraging AI-powered insights, automation, and predictive analytics.

1. AI-powered customer Sentiment Analysis

Understanding customer emotions and perceptions is crucial for building strong relationships. 

Deeto.ai uses AI to analyze customer feedback from multiple touchpoints, including surveys, social media interactions, and support tickets. 

2. Predictive Analytics for Customer Behavior

Anticipating customer needs is key to delivering personalized experiences and preventing churn. 

Deeto.com's predictive analytics engine forecasts customer behavior. It helps you identify at-risk customers, recommend proactive solutions, and tailor engagement strategies. 

3. Personalized Recommendations and Experiences

One-size-fits-all marketing is no longer effective. AI-driven personalization can deliver highly relevant content, product recommendations, and promotional offers based on individual customer preferences and behaviors. 

With Deeto.ai, you can create dynamic, customer-centric experiences that drive engagement, increase conversions, and grow long-term loyalty.

4. Automated Customer Support and Engagement

Fast and efficient customer support is a critical component of CLG. 

Deeto.com's AI-powered chatbots and automation tools streamline support processes, reducing response times and improving the overall customer experience. 

Using AI to Identify Customer Advocates

Brand advocacy is one of the most powerful drivers of organic growth. Thankfully, Deeto.ai identifies highly engaged customers likely to become advocates and regular customers. 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Customer-Led Growth (CLG)

Measuring the success of a customer-led growth strategy requires tracking key metrics that reflect customer engagement, satisfaction, and advocacy. 

Here are some of the key metrics: 

1. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

CLTV measures the total revenue you can expect from a single customer throughout their relationship with the brand. A high CLTV indicates strong customer retention, repeat purchases, and long-term profitability. 

With improvements in customer satisfaction, personalized experiences, and building loyalty, you can increase CLTV and maximize the return on customer acquisition investments.

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS assesses customer loyalty and their likelihood to recommend a product or service to others. It’s measured through a simple survey question, such as: 

"How likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?" 

Respondents are classified as ‘Promoters, Passives, or Detractors’. A high NPS suggests strong customer advocacy, but a low score may indicate dissatisfaction or unmet expectations.

3. Customer Churn Rate

The churn rate tracks the percentage of customers who stop using a product or service. A rising churn rate signals potential issues with customer satisfaction, the onboarding process, or product value. 

That said, if you analyze churn trends and implement proactive retention strategies—such as personalized outreach, loyalty programs, and enhanced customer support—you can reduce attrition and improve long-term retention.

4. Customer Advocacy Rate

The customer advocacy rate measures the percentage of customers actively referring and promoting the brand. This includes participation in referral programs, writing positive reviews, or sharing experiences on social media. 

A high advocacy rate indicates strong brand loyalty and organic growth potential. You can enhance advocacy with strong relationships, rewarding referrals, and engaging with customers via community-building efforts.

5. Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT)

CSAT quantifies customer happiness based on surveys and feedback mechanisms. Typically measured through post-interaction surveys, CSAT helps you gauge immediate customer reactions to products, services, or support experiences. 

A consistently high CSAT score reflects a positive customer experience. In contrast, lower scores may highlight areas needing improvement.

6. Customer Engagement Score (CES)

The Customer Engagement Score (CES) measures how actively and frequently customers interact with your brand, product, or service. You can track engagement through various metrics, such as login frequency, feature usage, content consumption, or time spent on the platform.

A high CES indicates that customers find value in your offerings and are more likely to stay loyal, make repeat purchases, and advocate for your brand. 

Conversely, a low CES may signal a disengaged user base, potentially leading to higher churn rates.

Overcoming the Common CLG Challenges

Implementing a customer-led approach for experience-led growth comes with many challenges. To successfully transition, you must address internal resistance, optimize data utilization, and scale advocacy efforts effectively

Here are some tips: 

1. Overcoming Resistance to Change Within the Organization

Shifting to a CLG model demands a fundamental change in mindset across the organization. 

Companies must grow a customer-centric culture by:

  • Communicating the long-term benefits of CLG to all stakeholders.
  • Aligning departments—sales, marketing, product, and customer success—around shared customer-focused goals.
  • Providing training and resources to help teams integrate customer insights into daily operations.

2. Collecting and Analyzing Customer Data Effectively

A data-driven approach is at the core of CLG, but many businesses struggle with collecting, organizing, and making sense of customer data. This results in them not becoming a customer-led business. 

To overcome this, companies should:

  • Implement AI-powered tools like Deeto.ai to streamline data collection and analysis.
  • Leverage predictive analytics to uncover customer needs, sentiment trends, and engagement patterns.
  • Use automation to transform raw data into actionable insights, helping teams make informed decisions faster.

3. Scaling Customer Advocacy Programs

As businesses grow, maintaining and expanding customer advocacy programs can become complex. 

To ensure advocacy efforts scale effectively, you can: 

  • Utilize automation for referral tracking, review collection, and customer engagement.
  • Create structured incentives and gamification to encourage long-term participation.
  • Use AI to identify high-potential advocates and personalize outreach efforts.

4. Advocate Fatigue

Featuring the same advocate or case study for months at a time can make your message feel repetitive and lose its impact. To keep engagement strong, rotate your advocates and vary the stories you share so prospects continue to see fresh, relevant proof. Highlight different voices, industries, and outcomes to show the full range of your customer success and ensure your content doesn’t get stale.

The Examples of Customer-Led Platforms

Several platforms have successfully implemented customer-led growth (CLG) strategies. These have helped businesses harness customer advocacy, engagement, and data-driven insights to drive sustainable growth.

Here are some examples: 

Deeto

Deeto's all-in-one customer activation platform simplifies the process of collecting, organizing, and sharing valuable customer knowledge across your organization. From marketing materials and sales resources to experience data and product insights, everything's gathered and stored under one roof.

We also use our own software to support our own CLG initiatives by dynamically displaying social proof throughout our website, connecting prospects in our pipeline with relevant customer references, and bringing customers into the content creation and product development processes.

Influitive 

They specialize in customer advocacy and engagement, enabling businesses to build strong communities, incentivize referrals, and amplify word-of-mouth marketing.

Gainsight 

Focuses on customer success management, providing businesses with tools to improve retention, reduce churn, and drive customer satisfaction through proactive engagement.

Final Thoughts 

Customer-led growth is the future of sustainable business success. If you prioritize customer insights, engagement, and advocacy, you will build loyal communities, drive organic growth, and stay ahead of the competition. 

Deeto.ai provides the AI-driven edge to implement and scale customer-led growth strategies effectively. Book a demo and see how it works. 

What is Customer-Led Growth (CLG)? Benefits & Examples

What is Customer-Led Growth (CLG)? Benefits & Examples

Learn what Customer-Led Growth (CLG) is, its benefits, and how businesses thrive with a CLG strategy.

Growth
Customer Advocacy
Customer Success
Strategy

Reviews, testimonials, and case studies are your most valuable marketing assets. You can use them throughout the entire sales cycle. And feedback informs every product decision you make.

One of the unique aspects of Deeto's customer knowledge platform is it enables you to create microsites for each buyer persona. It can then personalize them with a prospect’s info and send them automatically based on criteria like their role or company size. This gives you the chance to differentiate your messaging, showcase relevant customer stories, and build trust with them.

In this blog post, we'll dive into four ways Deeto's personal microsites increase top-of-funnel intent for your business.

What are personal microsites?

A personal microsite is a persona-based web page that allows you to display your most relevant social proof to prospects. When the prospect clicks on, they see content tailored specifically to their needs and preferences, without you having to lift a finger.

How it works for the SDR or AE:

  1. Create a new microsite.
  2. Add a CTA (e.g., "Contact Us" or "Book a Demo").
  3. Select the references you want to display.
  4. Pick the assets you want to present for each reference (e.g., quote, user story).
  5. Edit the invitation message to send to your lead, similar to cold outreach.
  6. Hit "Send."

You can also create triggers that will automatically send the microsite to prospects based on their behavior or actions. For example, if a prospect just responded to your first cold outreach, you can set it up to trigger a personalized microsite to nudge them towards taking the next step in the sales process.

From there, the customer can click on the link and see the relevant social proof for their needs, with your SDR or AE’s name and face attached to it.

And for groups of similar customers, you can templatize the process. Deeto lets you create different personal microsite pages for each of your ICPs. Once you've done this, your team all have a new, authentic touchpoint that requires zero effort on their end.

How microsites drive intent at the top of your funnel

At the top of the funnel, it's all about building awareness and creating interest in your product. Your goal is to start the conversation and get a meeting on the calendar. To accomplish that, your outreach needs to be personalized, relevant, and trustworthy. Personal microsites are the best way to hit all three of these points.

1. Personalized content

The average business professional sees 121 new emails come into their inbox per day. A sizable chunk of them are cold emails from companies just like yours. And in B2B sales, less than a quarter of them will even be opened.

Personalization is your biggest differentiator when it comes to getting your prospect's attention. Deeto's microsites cut through the noise by immediately addressing a prospect's unique challenges and interests, rather than making generalized claims and promises.

Tailored content encourages deeper interaction. When prospects find information pertinent to their situation, they are more likely to engage with the content, explore further, and consider how your product or service can address their needs.

That's why personalized CTAs generate 42% more qualified leads. And it's why companies that personalize the B2B buying experience see an average of 1.4x revenue growth compared to those that don't.

2. Customer-generated content

At the top of the funnel, too many companies fall into the trap of sharing generalist content to “cast a wide net.” But 86% of buyers say word-of-mouth is the most influential factor in their purchase decisions. User-generated content (think: quotes, testimonials, user stories) is one of the best forms of this because it presents tangible evidence of your product's value.

Leading with testimonials, success stories, and real-world applications from satisfied users establishes trust and positions your brand as a reliable partner. Microsites give you the ability to achieve this level of personalization at scale.

3. Authenticity through the voice of the customer

At the top of the funnel, prospects are exploring solutions. They haven't yet formed specific brand preferences.

When the content you share is solely created by your business, it comes across as biased and promotional. With a microsite, you're speaking directly to your prospect's customer segment, role, or specific needs. And it's more impactful because you're demonstrating the value of your product or service through the words of someone else.

As you work with different decision-makers (e.g., a technical buyer vs. a C-level exec) throughout the sales process, you can get even more personalized. By creating microsites with different industries, roles, and use cases in mind, you can tailor the content to each member of the buying group's specific priorities.

4. Clean, simple, and consistent UI

A microsite is the perfect channel for personalized content delivery because it's more visually engaging and professional than a standard email or landing page. It features your rep's name, company logo, and brand assets for instant recognition. And because it's self-contained, there are no distractions or competing messages.

Together, these factors make your prospect more compelled to (a) click on it, (b) read through it, and (c) follow the CTA.

Deeto captures customer knowledge and transforms into actionable insights that drive growth across your organization. Request a demo to see how it works.

4 Top of Funnel Tactics Using Deeto’s Personal Microsites

4 Top of Funnel Tactics Using Deeto’s Personal Microsites

Discover 4 top of funnel marketing tactics using Deeto’s personal microsites to boost buyer intent early.

Business development
Growth
Financial

Thanks to generative AI, you can mass-produce virtually any type of content: blog posts, sales emails, even full-on case studies.

Now...solely relying on AI for customer engagement is a recipe for disaster. In 2023, 92% of companies said they use AI-driven personalization in marketing and sales, but the key word here is “driven.” 

Those who use it successfully aren’t replacing their team with it — they’re using it to 10x their team’s productivity and deliver personalized experiences to more customers at once.

To successfully use AI in your sales, marketing, and customer success efforts, you have to know where you need that human touch, and how AI can supplement that.

Where you still need that human touch

According to McKinsey, nearly three-quarters of all customers expect companies to give personalized interactions. And for B2B buyers, 80% of them expect a B2C-like experience when it comes to personalized content and seamless interactions with your company.

Your team members are there to lay the groundwork:

Building meaningful relationships

It's on your sales team to build relationships with potential customers and convert them. And it's on your CS team to activate your cusotmer base and turn them into advocates. If you don't take the time to get to know your users, AI won't be able to bridge that gap.

Navigating complex buying processes

B2B sales involve multiple decision-makers (all with different needs). They have long sales cycles that require a different approach at each stage, and negotiations are complicated.

Your sales team needs to know which content, customer references, and data points to use for each member of the buying group at each step of the process.

Delivering personalized experiences

While AI can personalize content and suggestions based on data points, it can't replicate the human touch in one-on-one interactions. Your sales and CS teams have to be skilled at understanding the unique needs and preferences of each customer and tailor their interactions accordingly, and they need to be the final gatekeeper for any AI-generated content or recommendations.

How AI can support your team

AI isn't a replacement for marketers, sales reps, or CS managers. But, if you lay the foundation with quality data and a well-defined strategy, it’s the missing puzzle piece that'll help you understand your customers, simplify content creation and distribution, and scale your sales and marketing efforts.

Collecting and analyzing customer knowledge

You can use AI-powered software to collect information about your customers' firsthand experiences, preferences, and pain points with your product.

With Deeto, it's as easy as making an Instagram post. Just send them an invite to onboard themselves, and they'll set their contribution preferences.

  • Feedback for product testing
  • Results and success stories for a case study
  • Testimonials
  • Referrals
  • Reference call participation

By analyzing your customers’ contributions Deeto will provide an overview of their sentiments, in addition to consolidating all of their information in one place. From there, you can personalize your engagement strategy for at-risk customers, those with the highest engagement levels, and those who use a particular version of your product.

Centralized management for UGC and customer knowledge

When it comes to integrating UGC into your sales process, the biggest challenge is going out and actually finding where that content is. If you use multiple platforms for things like product feedback and customer advocacy initiatives, nobody has the complete picture they need to authentically engage with customers.

With Deeto, your sales, marketing, CS, and product teams work from the same platform. It gives them a complete view of what customers are saying, what they’re doing, and how you can use that content and data to make more connections with people.

It also has strict guidelines for user ownership and content approvals, meaning your customers' data is safe and secure.

Distributing relevant content to prospects and customers

The other major challenge when it comes to distributing your marketing and sales collateral is the fact that every customer is different. They’ll have different use cases for your product. 

Even within a buying group, two members will have different interests in the decision-making process. If you share the exact same social proof and UGC with everyone in your pipeline, you’ll quickly find it’s irrelevant to most. 

AI, like Deeto’s, can assess a customer’s profile (company type, use case, etc.) and present sales reps with personalized UGC and social proof based on that assessment. Instead of sifting through a bunch of irrelevant content, they’ll be able to share content that speaks to their buyer’s use case and pain points, which drives deals forward significantly faster.

CRM integration

Your CRM has all your customers' purchase history, communication records, business or personal info, and more. Integrating it with your AI tools will help them create more accurate customer profiles, segment them, and run automation workflows that serve them the right content and offers.

When the two are connected, every activity in your customer knowledge system (e.g., a reference call) is instantly updated in your CRM, so everyone's on the same page.

Deeto handles the end-to-end process of activating your customer base and turning their insights into usable assets for your sales, marketing, CS, and product teams. Centralization and AI-powered insights make it easy to connect and communicate with prospects at scale in an authentic and data-driven way. Book a demo and see how it works.

Mastering AI Personalization in the Age of Authentic Marketing

Mastering AI Personalization in the Age of Authentic Marketing

Discover how AI personalization drives authentic marketing in today’s evolving digital landscape.

Content
Growth
AI

Relationships are the core driver of CS programs. But that in no way means you have to do it all by hand.

It's true that a fully automated approach will never work (no one likes talking to bots), but the right mix of AI and human touch can help you scale your program and activate your customer base while delivering personalized experiences for each one.

So, how can your Customer Success team use AI in a meaningful way?

We're so glad you asked...

Identifying user sentiment in UGC

Sentiment analysis is one of the best use cases for AI.

Word-of-mouth marketing — specifically, user-generated content — is one of the best ways to reach your audience. But people publish so much of it that it can be hard to cut through the noise. That's where AI comes in.

NLP (natural language processing) algorithms can identify words, phrases, and linguistic patterns in written and spoken content, then categorize them as positive, negative, or neutral. Advanced sentiment analysis tools can even detect the intensity of sentiments and specific aspects of products being discussed.

Most companies already use this to track mentions on external platforms like product review sites and social media. But you should also apply this to your internal customer knowledge (e.g., reviews, product feedback) and support tickets to fully understand what your customers are saying about you.

Getting feedback from your customers

Collecting customer knowledge isn't as simple as throwing out a survey, asking everyone to rate you, or waiting for someone to reach out. There are tons of different ways to use your customers' insights and firsthand experiences with your product.

  • Sales needs customer references to close deals
  • Marketing wants to publish glowing reviews and testimonials
  • Product has to know what needs improvement and where to build upon
  • Customer Success wants to know about customer health, support experiences, and adoption rates

Not every customer will want to sit for reference calls with new prospects. And not all of them will want to test new features.

You can use an AI-driven platform like Deeto to collect feedback from customers through individualized and personalized contribution asks. When they join your program, they select their preferred contributions. From then on, you are always able to engage them per your needs, and even reward them for their support.

Segmenting customers for targeted and personalized experiences

You're probably familiar with segmentation as it relates to marketing and sales. You divide your audience into smaller groups based on shared characteristics, behaviors, or interests.

But have you thought about applying it to your paying customers?

Using AI algorithms, you can segment customers who've joined your success program into groups based on their feedback and contributions.

And with Deeto's smart-matching capabilities, you can instantly distribute the best customer references to your sales team, target specific customers for product feedback, or dynamically display testimonials on specific parts of your website based on factors like their industry, product tier, or use case.

Bridging the gap between CS and Sales

If you use your customers throughout the sales cycle, you'll close a higher percentage of deals, faster.

  • Reviews
  • Testimonials
  • Success stories
  • Reference calls
  • Referrals

It's on CS to collect these things, which is why you need a shared platform that makes it easy for customers to contribute, your success team to manage, and your sales team to access.

With an AI-powered customer activation platform, you can have customers give their feedback through a simple and quick process. And with generative AI, you can turn feedback, stats, and success metrics into full-fledged case studies reps can send to customers.

When sales can access content and references through the same platform as CS, they'll be able to see and use what's available for each specific deal.

Streamlining the approval journey for customer references

To build a successful reference program, you have to let CS be the gatekeeper and the last step before connecting prospects and customers.

AI-powered platforms have workflows and automation that let you create a pre-approved library of content for sales to use at any point in their process.

And for what isn't pre-approved, AI can automatically trigger an approval process for CS, so the process doesn't slow down the sales cycle.

Identifying active customers based on account health

Indicators like customer feedback, engagement with your product, and participation in your customer activation initiatives tell you which customers are your most active and loyal, and which ones need attention.

It would take hours of sorting through data and analyzing trends to identify these customers manually. But with AI, you can quickly pinpoint active customers based on their account health and flag potential churn risks for your Success team to address.

With Deeto's customer activation platform, you can collect, store, and manage customer knowledge from one centralized location. And its AI-powered features align your sales, marketing, product, and customer success teams around one common goal: providing the best customer experience possible. See how it works.

How AI for Customer Success Is Evolving in 2025

How AI for Customer Success Is Evolving in 2025

Discover how AI for customer success is transforming support, retention, and satisfaction in 2025 and beyond.

Customer Success
Business development
Customer Advocacy
AI

According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, 63% of buyers trust what people say about a business more than what the business says about itself. 

Which is why we are thrilled to introduce Deeto's latest feature—Personal Microsites. This game-changing addition is designed to streamline your sales process and deliver a highly personalized experience to your prospects. With Personal Microsites, you can now automatically direct prospects to a tailored microsite that showcases some of your top customer references, giving them an engaging and user-friendly platform to explore testimonials relevant to their needs.

What Are Personal Microsites?

Before we hop into the nitty gritty of this feature, there’s one thing we want to make sure that you keep in mind. Demand Gen Report noted that 97% of B2B buyers feel that user-generated content, such as customer testimonials, is more credible. Now, that is quite the number, so let’s dive in. 

Personal Microsites are dynamic, individualized web pages that highlight customer testimonials and references most relevant to your prospects. Imagine a prospect finishing an initial call with your SDR and immediately receiving a curated microsite featuring success stories and use cases that resonate with their unique challenges and goals. This targeted approach not only builds credibility but also accelerates the decision-making process, enhancing the overall effectiveness of your sales funnel.

How Does It Work?

Deeto’s Personal Microsites are fully automated, seamlessly integrating with your CRM to trigger their delivery at various stages of the sales process. Here’s a brief rundown of how it works:

1. CRM Integration: When a prospect reaches a specific point in your sales process—such as completing an initial call with an SDR—your CRM can trigger the sending of a personalized microsite.

2. Automatic Delivery: Deeto automatically generates and sends the microsite to the prospect, featuring tailored testimonials that address their needs.

3. Prospect Engagement Tracking: Once the microsite is delivered, Deeto tracks the prospect’s engagement, providing valuable insights into which testimonials they view and how they interact with the content.

4. Facilitating Further Interaction: Prospects can easily connect with your SDR through embedded messaging or call scheduling features, fostering a more streamlined communication process.

Getting Started

Ready to start using Personal Microsites? Here’s a quick summary of how to set it up:

- Integrate Deeto with your CRM to automate the sending of personalized microsites.

- Set up your SDR profiles in Deeto, ensuring they include a name, photo, contact details, bio, and a personal message.

- Set up a couple of different variations of the Personal Microsites to guarantee personalization and relevance.

- Configure the API to ensure the correct microsite is sent based on the prospect's segment.

Need Help?

Our team is here to support you every step of the way. If you need further assistance or encounter any issues while setting up Personal Microsites, please reach out to Deeto Customer Success at support@deeto.ai.

Enhance your prospect engagement with Deeto’s Personal Microsites—where automation meets personalization for a more effective sales process.

A Sales Cycle Touch Point That Makes A Difference - Meet Personal Microsites

A Sales Cycle Touch Point That Makes A Difference - Meet Personal Microsites

63% of buyers trust what people say about a business

Business development
BizDev
Marketing
New Feature

Automatically Collect User-Sentiment With Deeto’s New Feature

In today’s customer-centric world, relying on sporadic feedback or anecdotal evidence is no longer enough to drive growth. Understanding your customers’ experiences throughout their entire journey is essential for aligning your business strategies. Deeto’s new Campaigns feature is designed to automate and streamline this process, allowing you to collect valuable insights in real time, fueling your core business functions with authentic customer feedback.

What is Deeto’s Campaigns Feature?

The Campaigns feature enables you to automatically invite a static or flexible list of customers to become references or contribute specific content. Unlike traditional approaches that require manual outreach, this feature is fully automated, making it easy to build an ongoing feedback loop. Invites can be triggered based on criteria in your CRM, such as customer health scores, product usage milestones, or engagement levels, ensuring that you’re reaching out to the right customers at the right moments.

Beyond just gathering customer references, Campaigns allows you to request targeted content contributions, such as reviews, feature feedback, or product quotes. This dynamic and ongoing approach ensures that you’re consistently collecting fresh insights across your customers’ lifetime value (LTV). Rather than relying on isolated reviews, you’ll gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of customer sentiment.

Why Does This Matter?

Incorporating continuous customer feedback into your strategy has far-reaching impacts. With Campaigns, you can authentically understand your customers’ sentiment and experiences throughout their entire journey, contrary to relying on fragmented or anecdotal feedback. The data collected becomes a living, evergreen knowledge hub that benefits every part of your business.

Key Benefits Across the Organization

For Sales: 

Your team can bring authenticity into every step of the sales cycle by providing up-to-date social proof and connecting prospects with the right customers to help push the deal forward.

  

For Marketing: 

Your team can harness authentic, customer-generated insights to support all GTM initiatives. Real testimonials, user stories, and content about specific features will resonate more.

For Customer Success: 

With continuous feedback flowing in, your customer success team will have a more accurate gauge of how customers feel at every stage, making sure to delight them every time they interact with them

Fully Automated and AI-Driven

The true power of Deeto’s Campaigns lies in its seamless automation. By integrating with your CRM and leveraging AI-driven capabilities, the process of gathering feedback, testimonials, or references is effortless. You no longer need to spend valuable time manually managing outreach and follow-ups. Instead, *Campaigns* operates in the background, steadily collecting data and keeping your knowledge base up to date.

Fueling Long-Term Growth

Deeto’s Campaigns feature is more than just a feedback tool; it enables real-time, authentic customer insights that help every team stop shooting in the dark.

By providing continuous, accurate feedback, your business can evolve alongside your customers, fostering deeper relationships and long-term success.

Start using this feature in Deeto right here

Meet Deeto's New Feature: Campaigns

Meet Deeto's New Feature: Campaigns

In today’s customer-centric world, relying on sporadic feedback is no longer enough to drive growth.

New Feature
Content
Growth
Marketing

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