Imagine having an army of product advocates who not only spread the word about your software to their new employers but also encourage them to buy more licenses. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it's not. Turning former users into advocates is a tried and tested strategy that can help B2B SaaS companies grow their revenue and decrease churn.

In this article, we'll explore this strategy in detail and give you a SaaS example of a company that has successfully implemented it.

Turn Former Users Into Advocates

The goal of turning former users into advocates is to leverage their positive experiences with your software to promote it to their new employer. Here's how you can achieve this:

Factor Description Example
Usage How frequently and extensively did the user use your product? Wrote 100+ documents using Grammarly
Network Does the user have a large network in your target industry? Connected with multiple editors and writers on LinkedIn
Influence Is the user considered an industry thought leader or influencer? Published articles on grammar and writing in industry publications
Tenure How long was the user a customer of your product? Used Grammarly for over two years
Feature Usage Did the user frequently use a specific feature or tool of your product? Used the plagiarism checker tool in Grammarly for every document
Advocacy History Has the user recommended your product to others in the past? Referred three colleagues to try out Grammarly

Criteria for Identifying Potential Advocates. Example for a Grammarly Premium user.

Identify When a User Changes Jobs

You can use tools like SifData or UserGems to identify when a user changes jobs. This information is essential because it allows you to reach out to the user and offer them an incentive to become an advocate for your product.

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Don't try to turn every former user into an advocate. Instead, focus on users who are most likely to become advocates based on their usage patterns, network, and industry influence. This will help you maximize your resources and achieve better results.

Offer an Incentive to Advocate for Your Product

Once you've identified a former user who has changed jobs, offer them an incentive to advocate for your product. This incentive could be in the form of a virtual credit card, gift card, or other rewards that motivate the user to promote your software to their new employer.

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Incentives should be meaningful to the advocate and provide value to their new company. Consider offering discounts or free access to your product, referral bonuses or commissions, or exclusive content or training sessions.

Here are some examples of incentives that you could offer:

  • Free trial of your product for their new company
  • Discount on their next purchase of your product
  • Commission on new sales generated through their advocacy
  • Exclusive access to new product features or beta tests
  • Swag or merchandise related to your product

Provide Resources and Support

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Personalization is key to making advocacy easy for former users. Provide customized pitch decks, case studies, and other resources that are tailored to the advocate's new company and industry. Also, offer access to customer support or product experts to help the advocate answer questions and overcome objections.

To ensure your former users are successful advocates for your product, it's important to provide them with the resources and support they need. Your dedicated program may include:

  • Training materials on how to pitch the product
  • Sales collateral to share with potential buyers
  • Regular check-ins and support from the account management team

Nurture the Relationship

Nurture the relationship with the former user. Keep in touch with them and provide resources to help them make a compelling case for your software to their new employer.

A SaaS Example: Grammarly

Grammarly, the popular writing enhancement tool, is an excellent example of a company that has successfully turned former users into advocates. Here's how they did it:

Identified Former Users Who Changed Jobs

Grammarly identified former users who changed jobs and had a history of using their software.

Offered an Incentive to Advocate for Their Product

Grammarly offered former users a free Grammarly Business account for their new employer for three months. This incentive motivated former users to promote Grammarly to their new employer and increase the number of licenses per client company.

Nurtured the Relationship

Grammarly nurtured the relationship with former users by providing them with resources to help them make a compelling case for their software to their new employer. They also sent monthly newsletters to former users to keep them engaged and updated on new features and improvements.

Turning former users into advocates is a smart strategy that B2B SaaS companies can use to grow their revenue and decrease churn.

By identifying when a user changes jobs, offering an incentive to advocate for your product, and nurturing the relationship, you can create an army of product advocates who will promote your software to their new employer. Take a page out of Grammarly's book and implement this strategy to see the results for yourself.