6 Must Haves For Your Executive Sponsor Program

Building strong relationships with customers is crucial for business success. One effective way to achieve this is through an executive sponsor program. An executive sponsor program pairs senior executives with account managers to deliver white-glove service to top clients, creating a foundation for long-term customer success. In this article, we will explore the key steps to design and implement an executive sponsor program, discussing its benefits and best practices.

1. Defining the Objective: Setting Clear Goals

Before launching an executive sponsor program, it's essential to define clear and measurable objectives. What do you hope to achieve through this program? Some common goals include:

• Establishing the company as a trusted advisor to senior executives in customer organizations.
• Ensuring strategic alignment between the company and the customer's business objectives.
• Increasing customer satisfaction, adoption, and advocacy.
• Enabling business growth through the broader application of company solutions.

By setting specific goals, you can evaluate the success of the program and track its impact on revenue and customer relationships.

2. Designing the Engagement Strategy: Creating Value for Customers

To create a successful executive sponsor program, you need to identify how you will engage with customers and determine the value-add for their active participation. Consider the following strategies:

• Develop a structured cadence of executive interaction, ensuring regular and meaningful engagement with customers.
• Assign executive sponsors to strategic accounts based on factors such as current revenue, growth potential, strategic value, and customer perspective.
• Map out touchpoints and milestones where executive sponsors can contribute their expertise to drive customer success.
• Foster mentorship opportunities by pairing executives who have achieved success with junior employees, creating an environment for future leaders to be trained.

By designing a comprehensive engagement strategy, you can enhance customer relationships and drive mutual success.

3. Benchmarking and Measuring Impact: Metrics for Success

Measuring the impact of an executive sponsor program is crucial for its ongoing success. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your program's goals. Some metrics to consider include:

• Retention rates: Measure the rate at which executive-sponsored accounts renew their contracts, indicating the program's effectiveness in building long-term customer relationships.
• Net Promoter Scores (NPS): Evaluate customer loyalty and satisfaction by measuring their likelihood to recommend your company to others.
• Revenue growth: Track the impact of the program on revenue generation, indicating its success in driving business growth.

By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can assess the program's effectiveness and make data-driven decisions to optimize customer success.

4. Mapping Executives to Customers: Creating Strategic Partnerships

Pairing the right executives with the right customers is critical for the success of an executive sponsor program. Consider the following factors when mapping executives to customers:

• Cultural compatibility: Match executives who align with the customer's values and business culture, fostering a strong partnership.
• Expertise and experience: Select executives with relevant market knowledge and domain expertise to provide valuable insights to customers.
• Existing relationships: Leverage existing connections between executives and customer executives to strengthen engagement and trust.
• Successful handoffs: Ensure that every time a customer is introduced to a new executive you share a handoff summary.

Account managers play a crucial role in identifying the best executive sponsors for their customers, ensuring a seamless and effective partnership.

5. Communication and Engagement: Launching the Program

Once the executive sponsor program is designed and mapped out internally, it's time to communicate and engage with customers. Launch the program by following these steps:

• Clearly communicate the objectives and benefits of the program to customers, emphasizing the value they will receive through executive sponsorship.
• Schedule introductory meetings between the executive sponsor and the customer's leadership team to establish rapport and alignment.
• Encourage ongoing communication and engagement between executives and customers, fostering a collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship.

Effective communication and engagement are key to building trust and ensuring customers feel valued throughout their journey with your company.

6. Best Practices for Executive Sponsor Programs: Driving Customer Success

To maximize the impact of an executive sponsor program, consider the following best practices:

• Regularly review and adjust the program: Re-evaluate the accounts included in the program, adding or removing customers based on their strategic value and potential for growth.
• Start small and expand: If your organization lacks existing executive relationships, focus on building those relationships first before expanding the program's goals.
• Analyze and share data: Use data to gain insights into customer needs and preferences, sharing these insights with executive sponsors to inform their engagement strategies.
• Foster collaboration: Encourage executive sponsors to work closely with account managers, respecting their existing relationships and supporting their efforts.
• Measure both tangible and intangible success: While revenue growth is an important metric, also consider the intangible benefits of stronger customer relationships, increased customer satisfaction, and improved brand loyalty.

By implementing these best practices, you can drive customer success and foster long-term partnerships through your executive sponsor program.