Leslie Paterson (VP, Customer Advocacy & Engagement at BMC) on Leading, Building, and Reinventing Advocacy Programs

In this episode, Leslie Patterson, the VP of Customer Advocacy and Engagement at BMC Software, shares insights from her more than two decades of experience in the software industry. Leslie shares her journey into customer advocacy starting from her days in advertising to her tenure at Computer Associates. She discusses her successful career in building and reinventing advocacy programs for prominent enterprises like Oracle and Genesys, highlighting how she leverages the transformative power of the customer's voice. Leslie also explores strategies to develop trust within teams, deliver high impact results, and navigate transitions into new business environments. From rethinking sales alignment and leveraging engagement directors to optimize customer engagement to the importance of using metrics to back up new initiatives, Leslie shares rich insights and pragmatic advice for advocacy teams of various sizes. She also shares her thoughts on tackling challenges and opportunities in customer advocacy, particularly in creating engaging communities and well-structured programs, and the role of senior leadership in successful customer advocacy efforts.

• (00:56) Leslie's Journey into Customer Advocacy
• (03:33) The Importance of Embracing Failure
• (04:34) Lessons from Oracle and Genesis
• (07:25) Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
• (07:49) The Role of Measurement in Business Impact
• (09:22) Avoiding the 'Shiny Object Syndrome'
• (10:00) Transition to Genesys
• (12:13) Challenges and Opportunities at BMC Software
• (12:26) Building a Structured Advocacy Program
• (14:13) The Power of Customer Communities
• (15:38) Leadership and Building Trust within Teams
• (20:22) Stepping into New Roles and Leadership Positions
• (20:50) Building a Team from Scratch
• (26:27) The Power of Customer Advocacy

Stay tuned through the end of the show (33:42) to learn: 

• What season draws Leslie out of the countryside and into the city.
• Whether Leslie thinks pineapple belongs on pizza.
• Who Leslie thinks we should interview next.

Featuring:

Leslie Paterson (LinkedIn)

Sunny Manivannan (LinkedIn, Twitter) 

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