Welcome to the Deeto Hub

Overview

In this episode of Authentic Customer Voices, we sit down with Amber Heffner, Director of Strategic Growth at ParentSquare, to explore how her team built an advocacy program that scales without sacrificing authenticity, empathy, or trust. From spreadsheets and scattered permissions to a structured, AI-enabled system, Amber shares how ParentSquare transformed advocacy into a consistent, human-centered part of the customer journey. We cover how her team identifies “moments that matter,” celebrates everyday wins, and builds lasting relationships that drive both engagement and pipeline impact.

Full Transcript

[Podcast Intro – Host]
Welcome to the Authentic Customer Voices podcast, where we spotlight leaders reshaping how organizations listen, grow, and lead through the power of customer voice. Today's guest is Amber Heffner, the Director of Strategic Growth at ParentSquare, where she leads with purpose, empathy, and a deep commitment to meaningful engagement with their customers.

From orchestrating advisory boards to designing moments that matter across the customer journey, Amber is pioneering a more human-centered approach to advocacy in education. In this episode, we'll unpack how Amber and her team are scaling authentic connection without scaling headcount. Why small moments of recognition have outsized impact on trust, participation, and long-term growth.

With that, let's dive in.

When you first looked at ParentSquare's advocacy program, what were the biggest challenges or gaps that you were seeing?

[Amber Heffner]
I did have to laugh, Shawnna, because we definitely were that crew that had spreadsheets and Airtables and docs and Google Drive folders, and so everything was all over the place. Some salespeople were using this and some were using that. We knew we had amazing, happy customers, but advocacy was feeling like it was happening by chance. We would scramble to find someone for Sales or Marketing who wanted a story. And as you mentioned earlier, we'd go back to the same group of people to pull those quotes from. And permissions—did we actually have their permission to use these quotes we had in all these different places? That was a big one for me.

When we started building our advocacy program, we knew what we had in place wasn't scalable, and it wasn't a great fit for the customer either. We did not have a formal advocacy program before Deeto. What we had were great relationships and individual efforts, but not a system. The challenges I mentioned were exactly what led us to find Deeto. Partnering with Deeto gave us the opportunity to build our advocacy program from the ground up in a way that respected our customers' time and also gave us an opportunity to highlight the amazing things they were doing.

[Host]
What made you decide to focus on what you refer to as the "moments that matter" when asking customers to participate?

[Amber Heffner]
I love this aspect of it. What it always felt like before was, "Oh, we need something now, we're coming to you." Now with Deeto, we're able to go to our customers and we may even go to them with a story already in place. Like, "Hey, we heard you were rock stars during implementation. You shared this special story with our implementation manager, and now we want to highlight it." We're celebrating the great things they're doing.

When a district has a big win, launches a new feature, or hits a milestone, we're there to celebrate it with them. We curate that content and put it out into the world to highlight them and put them on a pedestal. It really was more than just filling a content gap. Our customers are educators and leaders passionate about making a difference. They are inspired every day in the work they do. The stories they share help us too, because they also help others learn how ParentSquare can help in their engagement with families.

[Host]
How has Deeto helped change the way your team finds and activates advocates?

[Amber Heffner]
It's been such a game changer. Before we had Deeto, we knew we had great customers and great stories, but it was about finding a way to curate that content and highlight it. We spent time trying to track down customers willing to join a webinar, give product feedback, or participate in pilots. There were times we couldn’t follow through because we couldn’t secure the right advocate.

With Deeto, we can see in real time who's ready to raise their hand. The AI makes it easy. We can match them to references or to opportunities like product feedback or webinars. It's engagement that feels natural to them. We're able to say, "Hey, we know you raised your hand for a webinar, here's an opportunity." It's not just my team benefiting, it's Product, Marketing, and Sales too. Everyone can quickly find the right fit. We’re spending less time chasing our customers and more time engaging them in meaningful ways.

[Host]
What measurable impact have you seen since rolling out this approach?

[Amber Heffner]
One of my favorite stories is the number of hours we spent tracking down advocates, trying to figure out permissions, and locating spreadsheets. We're estimating we save 100 to 200 hours annually across all tasks like webinar prep and finding the right advocate. We had an example of a salesperson going to an event in Florida who wanted a case study. We went into Deeto, found a Florida ambassador, and flipped their story into a case study in a couple of days. Our marketing team has never been able to do that before.

For social media, our marketing manager can go into Deeto and find specific stories. That alone saves 75 to 80 hours a year. Our pool of advocates has grown dramatically, giving us more content. We've collected nearly 1,500 approved social proof assets that are searchable and ready for Sales, CS, and Marketing.

We are seeing advocacy directly influence pipeline. References and proof points are easily accessible. Sales cycles have improved by 20 to 30%. Manual efforts have been cut by about 30% because teams can go into Deeto and find what they need. Most importantly, we are seeing our advocates more engaged. They're choosing how to participate, being recognized, and showing up to meetings and events as satisfied, engaged customers.

[Host]
What advice would you give to marketing leaders trying to scale advocacy without headcount?

[Amber Heffner]
First, don't overcomplicate it. Start with a clear, high-impact moment and build from there. Lean on tools that do the heavy lifting. For a long time at ParentSquare, it was just me. I was a one-person team for 15 months. Even then, once we found Deeto, we could start building our program. It was the support of our internal team and the strength of Deeto as a platform and a partner.

We don't see Deeto as just a vendor. It has helped us scale far beyond what I could have done alone. You can individualize your advocacy program based on what works for you. Our customers and how we highlight them might be different from how someone else does. Our focus has been to build a program that highlights the amazing things our customers are doing and keeps them engaged. Engaged customers are happy customers, and happy customers spread the word.

Yes, the spreadsheets and the docs and all those tools were frustrating. We knew we couldn’t continue that way. Ultimately, we needed something that highlights our customers. That's why we're in this business. So my advice: keep it simple, lean on great partners, and never lose sight that advocacy is about relationships first.

[Host]
What’s next for advocacy at ParentSquare?

[Amber Heffner]
We’re really excited about broadening advocacy beyond case studies and references and moving into community-style connections. Think regional events where customers learn from each other or where we highlight their stories in their own words. Long term, I want advocacy to feel like part of the journey from day one—something that grows naturally with the relationship.

We’ve built a strong foundation with references and case studies, but that’s just the start. We’re leaning into customer-led storytelling. We’ve added 20 regional events for peer-to-peer communities to spotlight how they engage families. The partnership with Deeto helps us keep advocacy in motion and continuously surface new opportunities.

We love the campaign feature. We just did a back-to-school campaign where our ambassadors shared tips for family engagement. Some of that content is our best yet. We're keeping it fresh and meaningful. We also want to do more social media spotlights and possibly a podcast to highlight our districts.

It feels like a natural extension of the customer journey, and we want it to be seamless from onboarding to renewal, celebrating success every step of the way.

[Host]
A huge thank you to Amber for joining us today and sharing her thoughtful perspectives on scaling advocacy in a way that is deeply intentional and rooted in care. To our audience, thank you for joining us. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast to hear more episodes on leading with customer voice and scaled advocacy. See you next time.

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For years, companies have said they were customer-led. But the voice of most customers still sit in silos, trapped in surveys, dashboards, or advocacy tools that never reach the people making decisions. That changes now.

Join us for the public debut of AI-native Customer Orchestration, the next evolution of Deeto.

You will see how Deeto brings customer intelligence and activation together, connecting every authentic voice, signal, and story into one system that helps businesses act faster, make smarter decisions, and build stronger relationships.

This is where customer voice becomes operational.

This is where companies finally build every decision on customer truth.

The Agentic Singularity Summit brought together respected CMOs and revenue leaders to explore how AI is reshaping go to market models at a pace that most organizations are struggling to match. The conversations made it clear that 2026 will require a different operating rhythm for marketing and sales. Teams will need connected intelligence, continuous orchestration, and a deeper understanding of customer reality.

Across the full discussion several consistent predictions emerged. Each one signals not only where the market is headed but also what capabilities organizations need to begin building now.

Prediction 1: GTM Engineering Becomes a Marketing Discipline

The panel repeatedly emphasized the rise of GTM engineering. This is the blending of creative marketing, systems thinking, and the ability to understand and design technical workflows. For years, marketing teams relied on RevOps or specialized counterparts to operationalize ideas. In 2026, that separation will no longer work.

Marketing leaders will need to understand how AI agents operate, how data moves across systems, and how to translate customer signals into structured intelligence that can drive action.

This shift does not require every marketer to learn traditional engineering skills. Instead, it requires marketing teams to understand enough about AI and workflow design to turn insights into execution.

Platforms that unify customer understanding, including voice, sentiment, and direct lived experience, will shorten the distance between strategy and action. This type of customer intelligence foundation gives teams the clarity needed to build effective GTM workflows at speed.

Prediction 2: Buyer Agents Reshape the First Half of the Buying Cycle

Panelists agreed that buyer side AI agents will soon perform much of the early evaluation work that humans used to handle. Before a prospect reaches a sales team, the agent will already have reviewed the company’s website, evaluated claims against public proof, scanned customer sentiment, and aligned all of this against internal buyer criteria.

This shift means the early stage influence that once came from top of funnel marketing will instead come from the truth of the business itself.

To succeed in this environment, organizations will need structured, machine readable evidence of customer experience. Not simply testimonials, but real insight into outcomes, patterns, and sentiment. Businesses that already invest in systems that gather and unify authentic customer voice will be far better positioned for this agent mediated buying landscape.

Prediction 3: ChatGPT Ads and AEO Reshape Content Strategy

Another major shift expected in 2026 is the introduction of ad placements within ChatGPT and similar environments. This will create a new paid channel and a new form of organic discoverability known as Answer Engine Optimization.

Marketing teams will need content that is engineered for both human readers and AI interpreters. This content must be factual, structured, authoritative, and consistent.

This shift reinforces the growing importance of high quality customer intelligence. AI systems will prioritize clarity, accuracy, and information that reflects real customer outcomes. Organizations that already capture structured customer insight will be able to supply the depth of information that AI systems look for when evaluating vendors or surfacing answers.

Prediction 4: Trust and Connected Data Become Prerequisites for AI Scale

The panel spent considerable time discussing trust. The greatest barrier to AI adoption is not tool availability. It is employee confidence in the accuracy, quality, and privacy of the underlying data. With most employees expressing concerns in these areas, organizations must first create clarity and alignment around data before AI can operate effectively.

Connected data is also essential. Most customer knowledge lives across surveys, call recordings, CRM notes, advocacy programs, review sites, and product usage systems. If AI agents operate from fragmented information, they cannot act with confidence or accuracy.

Organizations that succeed in 2026 will be those that create a shared customer intelligence foundation. This type of structure increases internal trust, reduces shadow AI usage, and allows teams to adopt AI responsibly. Platforms that consolidate and structure customer insight play an important supporting role in creating this foundation.

Prediction 5: The Funnel Gives Way to Continuous Customer Orchestration

A recurring theme was the recognition that the traditional funnel is no longer a reliable operating model. Buyer journeys are nonlinear. New signals appear constantly. Team behaviors shift as quickly as market behavior. AI makes it possible to move away from episodic GTM models and toward a continuous customer orchestration loop.

In this model, organizations treat customer signals as a living stream. These signals include conversations, sentiment, feedback, product usage patterns, objections, preferences, and outcomes.

Instead of marketing performing its part and passing the baton to sales, and then sales passing it to customer success, organizations will operate from a unified understanding of the customer.

Customer voice becomes a type of infrastructure. It flows throughout the business and informs sales, marketing, product, and executive decisions in real time. Platforms that enable continuous insight capture and distribution will support this shift by ensuring that the entire GTM engine works from the same source of truth.

Prediction 6: Authenticity Becomes the Most Valuable Currency

The panel was clear that authenticity will gain value as AI generated content becomes commonplace. When everything sounds polished, buyers begin searching for what feels real. Trust is increasingly built around actual customer experience and the consistency with which a company delivers value.

This reality means organizations will need more than generic messaging. They will need credible evidence. Authentic customer voice, captured in natural language and grounded in lived experience, will carry more influence than synthetic content.

Companies that already have systems for capturing real customer insight in a structured way will be better equipped to stand out in a crowded digital market where polished messaging is no longer a differentiator.

Prediction 7: Agentic Workflows Multiply and Must Be Orchestrated

Organizations are preparing for a future in which teams will operate with hundreds of AI agents rather than dozens of tools. Each agent will take on small tasks related to research, personalization, sequencing, analysis, customer feedback, or deal support.

The true challenge is not volume. It is alignment. Agents only operate effectively when they share context and guardrails. If they work from inconsistent or incomplete data, the risk of misaligned actions increases quickly.

Organizations will need shared semantic layers, business guardrails, unified customer intelligence, and careful orchestration. Platforms that supply high quality customer context will play an important role in grounding these agents so they can support marketing and sales without creating unintended outcomes.

The Talent Reality: You Cannot Hire Your Way Into Certainty

Every panelist emphasized that CMOs cannot hire for stable AI skills because the field changes too quickly. Instead, organizations should focus on qualities that support adaptability. These include curiosity, systems thinking, the ability to work across functions, and comfort with change.

Tools will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. What will matter most is whether teams can learn quickly and whether organizations have systems that make customer insight available in a way that accelerates decision making and alignment.

What Will Not Change

Despite the rapid evolution ahead, several fundamentals remain constant.

Human connection still matters.
Customer experience still defines brand strength.
Real stories still outperform synthetic claims.
Teams still need a clear understanding of the end user.
Marketing still requires listening, curiosity, and truth.

AI accelerates the work but does not replace the core responsibility of marketing which is to understand people and communicate value in a way that builds trust.

Final Thought

The organizations that lead in 2026 will not be the ones with the most technology. They will be the ones that can integrate intelligence across teams, operate with shared clarity, and build trust through authentic customer understanding.

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Every company says they are customer-led, but at Deeto, our customers show us what that truly means. They help shape our strategy, challenge our ideas, and inspire the next generation of innovation. Each partnership deepens our understanding of what it means to listen, to learn, and to lead with authenticity. This Thanksgiving, we are celebrating them—the voices that make our community extraordinary.

The customers we highlight here remind us that advocacy is not a single act or department. It is a shared language built on trust and collaboration. When customers share their experiences, they create confidence for others and drive progress for everyone. The companies featured below represent how far advocacy has come and how much more powerful it becomes when it is connected to feedback, intelligence, and measurable impact. These are the voices that inspire us every day to build technology worthy of their belief.

Voices That Inspire

The customers in this category have redefined what advocacy means in modern marketing. They have built communities that celebrate authentic experiences and turned their customers into teachers, mentors, and champions for others. Their programs prove that advocacy is not only about recognition but about empowerment—the ability to share success in a way that fuels connection and creativity. These organizations have shown that when advocacy is treated as a living, breathing system of engagement, it can inspire entire industries to move forward together.

Knak

“Building Knak Nation has been an incredible journey for our team. We started from the ground up and, within 90 days, created a customer-knowledge program that connects and celebrates our most passionate users. In the first month alone, we generated dozens of authentic stories and quotes that highlight the creativity and success of our community.”
Jeff Coveney, Brand Evangelist, Knak

6sense 

“Most teams treat customer marketing as an advocacy program. Those are great outcomes, but they are byproducts of realized value, not the mechanism that creates it. Customer marketing is far more powerful when it is treated as a usage engine, a system designed to drive adoption, expansion, and long-term growth.”
Latane Conant, Chief Marketing Officer, 6sense

Wrike

“Revamping our customer program has been a complete game changer. We went from managing everything in one chaotic spreadsheet to a streamlined, organized system where customer advocates are easy to find and ready to support at any moment. It’s created efficiency, clarity, and a stronger connection between our teams and our customers.”
Karilla Dyer, Senior Customer Advocacy and References Manager, Wrike

Atlassian

“Our focus has always been on empowering customers to tell their own stories in their own words. We believe the best proof of value comes directly from their experiences, and our role is to make sure those voices are heard, celebrated, and shared in ways that inspire others.”
Kristen Smith, Head of Global Customer Marketing, Atlassian

Sales Assembly 

“Customer voice is everything to us. Our entire community is built on the idea that people learn best from the experiences of their peers. By elevating those voices, we create resources that educate, influence, and inspire the next generation of revenue leaders.”
Matt Green, Chief Revenue Officer, Sales Assembly

Beekeeper

“Our process for collecting and sharing customer stories has come a long way. We’re now able to spotlight the incredible success our customers are seeing, make those stories easily accessible to sales, and recognize our advocates for the impact they’ve made. It’s created a stronger connection between our teams and the customers who inspire us.”
Sid Khaitan, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Beekeeper

Voices That Build

The companies in this group believe that growth is built through listening. They view feedback not as a checkbox but as a catalyst for innovation. Each has designed processes that bring customers into the center of their decision-making. They use insights to refine products, improve experiences, and strengthen relationships across teams. Their stories show that when feedback and data are combined with empathy, the result is progress that lasts. These are the builders who treat customer voice as a shared foundation for collaboration and continuous improvement.

Vimeo 

“Our customers shape everything we create. Their feedback, ideas, and experiences influence how we innovate, how we communicate, and how we grow. By capturing and sharing those insights across our teams, we can build stronger relationships and tell even more authentic stories.”
Sheryn Anthes, Director of Customer Marketing, Vimeo

ParentSquare

“Bringing everything together in one place has completely changed how we work. Our teams can collaborate more easily, share insights faster, and stay focused on what really matters—supporting our customers and the communities they serve. It’s helped us strengthen relationships and create more meaningful impact every day.”
Amber Heffner, Director of Customer Advocacy, ParentSquare

Acumatica

“Customer proof is one of the most important ways we learn, evolve, and communicate our value. By capturing real outcomes and connecting those insights across teams, we can align product, marketing, and sales around a shared goal—helping our customers succeed. Every launch, every story, and every conversation starts with their voice.”
David De Rego, VP of Product Marketing, Acumatica

Pigment

“Customer feedback is one of our most valuable growth signals. By capturing and sharing customer stories across our teams, we can highlight their success, learn from their experiences, and make smarter decisions together. It allows us to continuously evolve and showcase the real value our customers achieve in partnership with Pigment.”
Karin O’Grady, Global Customer Marketing Manager, Pigment

Cymulate

“Listening to our customers and understanding their experiences is at the heart of how we grow. By gathering feedback and turning it into meaningful insights, we can highlight their success and the impact they’ve achieved. Sharing those stories across our teams helps us engage prospects authentically, and ensure our customers’ voices guide how we communicate.”
Aviva Spotts, Customer Marketing Manager, Cymulate

Datarails 

“Customer proof has become a powerful driver of our sales motion. Our teams can identify references, activate referrals, and connect the right stories to the right opportunities faster than ever. What once took days now happens in minutes, creating real momentum and visibility across the business.”
Aviv Canaani, Chief Revenue Officer, Datarails 

Voices That Prove

Trust has always been the foundation of strong brands, but today it has become a measurable advantage. The organizations in this category understand that proof is not a static asset but a living, evolving story. They use Deeto to capture authentic evidence of customer success and make it visible to everyone who needs to see it—marketers, sellers, and decision-makers alike. They show how advocacy becomes even more powerful when it is paired with data and automation that help the right proof reach the right audience at the right moment. Their work reminds us that credibility is not given; it is earned through the consistent, authentic voices of satisfied customers.

Drata 

“Customer proof has become a key part of how our revenue team builds trust with prospects. Our sellers can access verified references instantly, giving them the ability to answer questions with evidence instead of promises. That level of visibility saves time, strengthens credibility, and helps us close business faster.”
Kristen Howard, Director, Customer and Community Marketing, Drata

Made4Net 

“Our customers are at the center of how we grow. By building a structured advocacy program, we’ve been able to connect their success directly to our brand and sales efforts. Their stories strengthen credibility with new buyers, accelerate deals, and remind our teams every day why customer partnerships matter.”
Renee Truttmann, Chief Marketing Officer, Made4Net

Dropbox 

“Our customers’ experiences are the most powerful proof of our impact. We’ve built greater visibility into where advocacy lives and how those relationships can help others make informed decisions. What was once a manual process is now a thoughtful, connected way to highlight customer success and empower every seller to lead with authenticity.”
Mariah Lincoln, Head of Integrated Campaigns, Dropbox

Klaviyo 

“Customer marketers are constantly navigating new tools, shifting priorities, and competing metrics of success. What matters most is staying focused on impact—creating programs that genuinely help customers succeed and amplify their stories in ways that drive growth. The noise will always change, but the voice of the customer remains the signal.”
Ciana Abdollahian, Head of Customer Marketing, Klaviyo

DailyPay

“The best partnerships are built on understanding. Working with a team that truly anticipates our needs and supports our vision has made all the difference. It’s helped us strengthen relationships with our customers and turn every interaction into an opportunity to build trust.”
Maria Braune, Director of Client Advocacy, DailyPay

Voices That Begin

Every success story has a beginning, and these customers represent the next generation of organizations investing in customer voice as a core growth strategy. They are building their advocacy and feedback systems with intention, ensuring that intelligence, insight, and authenticity are connected from day one. These early adopters remind us that customer marketing is no longer a supporting role; it is a growth function that links value creation with storytelling. Their journeys mark the start of a new chapter for their companies and for the Deeto community.

HP  

“Our customers are our strongest proof of innovation. We are creating a more intelligent, scalable way to connect those customer experiences directly to our go-to-market teams. It gives us real visibility into where advocacy lives, and helps us turn that trust into momentum for the business.”
Richa Pande, Global Head of Marketing, Industrial Print

G-P (Globalization Partners)  

“At G-P, our customers are the foundation of our global story. We want to bring those voices together across markets and languages, making it easier for every region to share proof of value in a consistent and authentic way. It’s how we scale trust globally.”
Jen Anderson, Director of Customer and Lifecycle Marketing

Bizzabo

“Bizzabo has always believed that customer insight is the foundation of meaningful innovation. We are building programs that connect real customer experiences to how we position, launch, and evolve our products. It reflects our commitment to staying ahead of the market, listening with intention, and creating value that grows with our customers.”
‍Gabrielle Scott, Director of Product Marketing, Bizzabo

Qualys  

“Our customers are at the center of everything we do. We want to showcase their success in the most authentic and transparent way possible. By capturing real proof of value from across our portfolio and sharing it thoughtfully with prospects and partners, we help others see how our customers achieve meaningful outcomes with Qualys.”
Tami Casey, Senior Director, Global Corporate Communications

Five9 

“Deeto gives us visibility into the customer relationships that drive our business forward. It helps our teams identify strong advocates, connect them with sellers who need proof, and recognize the customers who make our success possible. It’s bringing our advocacy strategy to life.”
Jennifer Edwards, VP of Customer Experience

Webflow  

“Our customers are creators by nature, and their success stories are what inspire others to build. We want to make it easy for those stories to be seen and celebrated, connecting them to new opportunities and inspiring even more creativity across our community.”
Veronica Hsiao, Director, Customer Marketing & Community

In Closing

Every organization featured here shares one belief: that customers are the truest reflection of growth. Advocacy, feedback, and proof all begin with real experiences and genuine partnership. These customers have shown what it looks like when companies turn that belief into action, treating customer voice as the foundation of how they build, sell, and grow.

To our customers, thank you for your partnership, your creativity, and your trust. You are the proof that authenticity works. You are the inspiration behind every innovation we make. Here’s to the voices that continue to inspire, build, prove, and begin the next chapter of customer-led growth.

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1. Introduction: Why Customer Advocacy Wins

In an era where buyers are trusting customer reviews over marketing messages, customer advocacy has become one of the highest value forms of marketing. Instead of hoping that your happy customers advocate for you by writing a review or recommending you to peers, turn them into brand champions who can influence prospects throughout your marketing campaigns. Whether it’s a quote, success story, case study or referral, using customer voice can scale your business through authenticity and trust. Customer advocacy isn’t just about testimonials anymore, it’s about building scalable systems that turn real voices into real growth. But don’t just take our word for it, check out some of our standout customer advocacy success stories, what made them work, and how you can create your own.

2. How to Write Customer Success Stories

The first step in creating your own customer success stories is collecting customer advocate data from your clients. Reach out to some of your strongest customers, those that have seen the most positive improvement, are enthusiastic about your brand, and represent your ideal customer profile whether that’s in a specific industry, a diverse range of industries, large or small companies, or product use case. 

Once you have an idea of which customers you’d like to reach out to, ask them if they would be willing to publicly share some of their successes. Make sure to include how the stories will be used, where they will be shared, and any benefits they might receive such as exposure to their brand or mutual promotion. You can either write an email to your client suggesting the idea, or if possible, have your client lead ask them on their regularly scheduled check-ins. Here’s a sample email you can send:

“We’re thrilled with the success you’ve had using [Product]. We’d love to feature your story to inspire others. This will showcase your company’s innovation and success — are you open to a short interview?”

Now that you have permission and your client is on board, it’s time to set up the interview. Plan questions that cover both the story and the data. Some questions you should ask include: 

• What problem or challenge were you facing?
• What led you to choose our solution?
• How did implementation go?
• What results have you achieved (metrics, time saved, revenue gained, etc.)?
• What’s been the biggest impact on your business/team?

Once you have your customer’s story, structure it into the template we use below. Always get approval from your client before publishing the story as a show of good faith and to build trust with your customers. Finally, publish and promote your story across multiple channels including social media, email, blogs, or even directly on your website.  

3. The Success Stories 

Story #1: Clarivate

• Who they are: Clarivate is a leading global provider of transformative intelligence. They offer enriched data, insights & analytics, workflow solutions and expert services in the areas of Academia & Government, Intellectual Property and Life Sciences & Healthcare.
  
• The challenge: Yariv, the SVP and General Manager at Clarivate, faced a critical challenge. The company needed a more effective way to expand its pool of references and gather authentic customer feedback & testimonials across their broad user base. Furthermore, they sought to engage customers better without putting undue pressure on them.
• The solution: By leveraging Deeto’s intuitive Reference Management and Prospect-Reference Engagement features, the Clarivate team transformed how they engaged with customers, recruited references, and collected authentic feedback. With Deeto, inviting customers to share their experiences became effortless. The platform’s low-touch workflows allowed Clarivate to generate content at scale while gaining meaningful insights into customer sentiment over time which had previously been a major challenge.

According to Yariv, “Our marketing team has found it incredibly easy to invite users to share their experiences, and the content we’ve generated has been a real asset. What I love most is how much our customers enjoy participating—they genuinely appreciate being heard.”

The benefits extended beyond marketing. Deeto’s Prospect-Reference Engagement capability helped sales build trust and shorten deal cycles, while upcoming adoption of the Referral Module promises even greater cost-effective lead generation through Clarivate’s existing advocates.

• The results: Within weeks, the team produced 50+ new customer stories and reference assets, achieving a 75% increase in productivity through automated collection and streamlined approvals. Even more impressive, they realized time to value in just 2–4 weeks, transforming customer voice into a consistent, scalable engine for engagement and growth.
  
• Why it worked:
  
  • Centralized reference management: Replaced manual tracking with Deeto’s organized database to easily identify, tag, and activate customer advocates.
  • Streamlined outreach: Used automated, personalized invitations to collect authentic customer stories and feedback at scale.
  • Integrated advocacy into sales: Leveraged Prospect-Reference Engagement to connect prospects with relevant references, accelerating trust and closing deals.
  • Captured stories from live events: Invited participants at user group sessions to share success stories through Deeto, fueling a steady pipeline of new content.
  • Measured real impact: Tracked engagement and sentiment data to see which stories resonated most and informed future marketing decisions.

Story #2: Ada

• Who they are:
  Ada is a leader in customer experience and automation technology, helping businesses deliver personalized customer support at scale. 
• The challenge:
  Perri Chaikof, Director of Customer and Partner Marketing at Ada, needed to strengthen the company’s brand trust through authentic customer stories and references. Her advocacy efforts, however, were stuck in spreadsheets, manual scheduling, and untracked reference calls, making it difficult to scale or prove impact.
• The solution:
  With Deeto, Perri built a fully structured and automated customer advocacy program in just weeks. Using Deeto’s Reference Management feature, Ada centralized all advocate data and simplified the process of inviting customers to share their experiences. Automated outreach replaced ad hoc coordination, freeing up countless hours and ensuring every customer interaction became an opportunity for engagement.

“I love Deeto. It has totally replaced spreadsheets for me. In just a month I’ve been able to stand up an entirely new customer advocacy program that has helped us scale our reference calls and capture a ton of new social proof for our sales and marketing teams.”
— Perri Chaikof, Director of Customer and Partner Marketing at Ada

The Deeto platform not only streamlined reference management but also enabled Ada to capture and activate social proof faster than ever. Perri began using Deeto’s organized repository of advocates to create dynamic, real-world content that supported sales, marketing, and brand storytelling alike.

The results:

• 11–20 new content pieces created in the first phase
• >$10,000 in measurable social proof value
• 50–75% growth in the reference pool within weeks
  

These results reflected not just efficiency, but a deeper cultural shift — from chasing references to celebrating customer voices as a strategic growth driver.

Why it worked:

• Replaced manual spreadsheets with a centralized, AI-powered reference hub.
  
• Launched a structured advocacy program in under a month, powered by automation.
  
• Activated authentic social proof across sales and marketing touchpoints.
  
• Empowered customers to share their stories, increasing engagement and satisfaction.
  
• Freed up time for strategic work, enabling the marketing team to focus on growth initiatives and storytelling.

Story #3: Surgimate

Who they are:
Surgimate is a healthcare technology company that streamlines surgical coordination and communication for medical practices and hospitals.

The challenge:
As the organization continued to grow, maintaining centralized customer references and testimonials became increasingly complex and created inefficiencies that limited how customer success could be shared across teams. The marketing team needed a better way to organize customer feedback, capture authentic testimonials, and make them easily accessible for both sales and marketing efforts. 

The solution:
By adopting Deeto, Surgimate gained a powerful, intuitive system for managing customer references and testimonials. The platform’s AI-driven automation simplified how the team gathered, organized, and distributed authentic customer experiences by replacing fragmented workflows with a unified, scalable approach.

“Deeto has a disruptive vision for how to manage all customer reference material, and I’ve been a believer since day one. Another reason I really appreciate Deeto is their commitment to continuous product improvements and customer support.”
— Laura Eakes, VP of Marketing at Surgimate

Deeto helped Surgimate achieve new levels of operational efficiency while enabling customers to share their experiences more easily. Although the team hadn’t set formal social proof goals, they quickly noticed that customer-generated content provided meaningful, indirect credibility that enhanced the brand’s authenticity and supported future pipeline growth.

The results:

• <$2,500 in social proof value captured early in adoption
  
• <25% growth in the reference pool, creating a stronger base of advocates
  
• 11–20 hours saved per month through automation and simplified workflows
  

With Deeto’s customer-centric platform and ongoing product innovation, Surgimate transformed its approach to advocacy management by turning satisfied customers into credible voices and strengthening internal collaboration between marketing and sales.

Why it worked:

• Centralized reference management: Organized all customer testimonials and materials into one searchable system.
  
• AI-driven efficiency: Automated feedback and review collection, saving hours of manual effort.
  
• Enhanced credibility: Customer-generated reviews provided authentic, organic validation of Surgimate’s value.
  
• Continuous improvement: Regular product enhancements and hands-on customer support sustained engagement.
  
• Operational impact: Freed up time for strategic marketing while maintaining consistent advocacy activity.

Story #4: Wrike

Who they are:
Wrike is a leading collaborative work management platform trusted by enterprises worldwide to streamline workflows and enhance productivity. 

The challenge:
Karilla Dyer, Senior Customer Advocacy & References Manager at Wrike, felt that managing the company’s customer reference program had become cumbersome and inefficient. Sales reps struggled with manual reference matching and relied on spreadsheets that made it difficult to respond to requests quickly or scale campaigns. The lack of structure led to lost opportunities, slower deal cycles, and rising customer fatigue from overused advocates.

The solution:
When Wrike adopted Deeto, the transformation was immediate. The platform’s intuitive design replaced chaotic spreadsheets with a centralized, self-service reference database. Sales reps could now independently source, match, and schedule reference calls without constant involvement from the advocacy team.

“We embraced the transformative power of Deeto, and now our revamped reference program is a game-changer. We’ve evolved from one chaotic spreadsheet to an intuitive, streamlined database of customer references ready for your call. Our reps love the freedom of self-serving references without constant involvement from the advocacy marketing team. We’ve also said goodbye to customer fatigue, as references can now control their contact frequency.”
— Karilla Dyer, Senior Customer Advocacy & References Manager at Wrike

Deeto not only simplified operations but also empowered Karilla’s team to focus on strategic advocacy growth including recruiting standout customers, curating fresh stories, and strengthening relationships. The organized structure enabled the creation of more than 70 concise, impactful customer stories that became vital assets for both sales enablement and marketing campaigns.

The results:

• 50+ new content pieces created within months
  
• >$10,000 in measurable social proof value
  
• 50–75% reference pool growth, expanding across industries and regions
  

Deeto’s automation and AI-driven insights turned Wrike’s reference program into a powerful engine for sales credibility and marketing proof, accelerating both customer engagement and pipeline velocity.

Why it worked:

• Centralized operations: Replaced manual spreadsheets with a structured, searchable reference hub.
  
• Empowered sales teams: Enabled self-service reference matching and scheduling directly within the platform.
  
• Reduced advocate fatigue: Allowed references to manage their participation frequency for sustainable engagement.
  
• Scaled storytelling: Converted 70+ authentic user stories into impactful, ready-to-use sales assets.
  
• Refocused advocacy strategy: Freed Karilla’s team to recruit new advocates and strengthen customer relationships instead of managing admin tasks.

3. 6 Common Threads Across These Success Stories

Throughout these stories, clear patterns emerge that reveal what drives the most successful advocacy programs. 

1. Centralization Fuels Scale

Clarivate and Wrike both replaced spreadsheets with Deeto’s centralized platform, unlocking faster access to advocates, easier tracking, and seamless collaboration between marketing and sales. By consolidating fragmented reference data into one organized system, you’ll be able to generate customer stories, signals and successes at scale.

2. Automation Drives Efficiency and Reach

Manual reference management limits growth because of decentralized processes and time-consuming tasks. Ada and Surgimate saw immediate gains from automating outreach, scheduling, and story collection which saved dozens of hours per month while multiplying social proof and reference pool size. Automation gives you time back for strategy instead of administration.

3. Authenticity Builds Credibility

Across all stories, real customer voices replaced company-generated marketing copy. From Clarivate’s focus on genuine feedback to Surgimate’s organic testimonials, authentic proof resonated more deeply with prospects. Authenticity turns customer stories into trust in your brand.

4. Empowered Customers Become Lifelong Advocates

Deeto’s customer-controlled workflows empowered advocates to share experiences on their terms. Wrike’s advocates could manage contact frequency which reduced fatigue and increased customer satisfaction. Your goal should be to create long-term brand ambassadors instead of one-time references.

5. Measurable Impact Strengthens Advocacy Value

Each program quantified its success. Your KPI’s can be anything from productivity gains to monthly time savings, but it’s important to track these successes so that you can not only see your growth and wins but use the metrics for amplification and to build confidence across your team that advocacy is driving real, measurable impact. Data transforms advocacy from a “nice-to-have” into a measurable growth engine.

6. Continuous Storytelling Keeps Programs Fresh

The most successful teams made storytelling an ongoing process. Clarivate captured stories from live events, Wrike consistently curated new voices, and Ada expanded its reference pool monthly. Fresh content ensures that messaging stays relevant, authentic, and aligned with evolving customer experiences.

4. Lessons for Building Your Own Advocacy Program

The strongest advocacy programs share six common foundations: centralization, automation, authenticity, empowerment, measurement, and continuous storytelling.

Start by centralizing your advocate data. Keep all references, testimonials, and customer stories in one searchable hub so every team can easily access and activate them. Next, automate what can be automated. Use AI-native customer platforms like Deeto to streamline outreach, tagging, and approvals so your team can spend more time nurturing relationships instead of managing logistics. Focus on authenticity by amplifying real customer voices in their own words. A quote, testimonial, or short success story can often be more persuasive than a polished campaign.

Then, empower your advocates by making it effortless for them to share their experiences and giving them visibility when their stories are featured. Recognition keeps engagement high and fosters long-term brand champions. Be sure to measure your impact. Track metrics such as story engagement, reference usage, and influenced pipeline value. These insights help you amplify what’s working and build confidence across your team that advocacy drives real business outcomes.

Finally, keep your storytelling continuous. Refresh your library of customer stories regularly to ensure your content stays relevant, credible, and aligned with how your customers evolve. When you centralize, automate, and humanize advocacy around authentic, empowered voices, and measure their ongoing impact, your program becomes more than a marketing initiative. It becomes a self-sustaining growth engine for your brand.

Overview

In this episode of Authentic Customer Voices, Jennifer Edwards, VP of Customer Experience at Five9, shares how authenticity, trust, and creativity shape her approach to building human-centered experiences across customers, partners, and employees. She reflects on why many companies overpromise on “customer obsession,” the need to replace outdated NPS metrics with real-time insight, and how AI can make feedback more intuitive and human. Her vision for the future is one where technology amplifies authenticity and customer voice becomes the true driver of lasting growth.

Full Transcript

[Podcast Intro – Host]

Welcome to Authentic Customer Voices, the podcast where we sit down with customer-first leaders who are rethinking how authentic voices shape modern experiences and lasting growth.

Today's guest is someone who blends heart, strategy, and community in everything she does. Jennifer Edwards is the VP of Customer Experience at Five9, where she’s leading efforts to create meaningful, human-centered experiences for customers, partners, and employees.

Beyond her leadership in tech, she’s also the co-founder of the Community Art Collaborative, bringing creativity and healing to the communities she serves.

Jen, we are so excited to have you here today. I’d love to kick off with a little about your story, your background, and what drives your work.

Jennifer Edwards:
Thank you so much for having me. It’s great to be here.

My work is driven by experiences early in my career when I started in sales. There were many times when I’d have conversations about things that needed to be fixed or resolved for customers. Once those challenges were addressed, those same customers were ready to sign on the dotted line and buy more.

That was a recurring theme for me, and I found a lot of satisfaction in resolving those challenges and supporting customers in that way. Naturally, I gravitated toward that kind of work, and over time, customer success and customer experience grew out of that foundation.

Outside of my job, my nonprofit work makes me a better leader. It builds creativity and thoughtfulness around the community, and it’s always about connecting and building. Every time I go out to volunteer and work with my co-founder, Michalina, creating art with young people and artists across the community, I come back inspired. That creativity directly influences how I lead my teams and serve my customers.

Host:
I love that. You talk a lot about creating experiences that matter. When it comes to customer voice, what does that mean to you, both personally and professionally?

Jennifer Edwards:
Authenticity is the most important thing we can bring to any conversation or experience—whether in business or our personal lives.

We are each on a journey, building things in both our personal and professional worlds. When we tell stories or share experiences, we should recognize both the people behind them and the brands they serve.

In the community, it’s about the diversity of people and what we’re building together. I think that sense of community—what we see in our everyday lives—also applies to how great brands build and learn from one another.

It’s those authentic stories that so often help someone else have that aha moment. You can see yourself in business, in art, or in shared experiences—and that connection builds common ground. That’s what I try to help my teams create every day.

Host:
I love that. Those aha moments are so inspirational.

Jennifer Edwards:
They’re so much fun, too! I can’t tell you how many times we’ve discovered that customers who work in completely different industries have these surprising intersections—like DJs who love roughing it in the outdoors or executives who bond over making sourdough bread.

Relating on that human level opens the door to deeper, more meaningful business conversations. It changes the way people interact, and that’s so important to creating authentic stories.

Host:
Absolutely. Many companies say they’re “customer obsessed,” but often, it feels like they’re missing the mark. Where do you think the biggest disconnect happens between intention and execution?

Jennifer Edwards:
Such a good question.

I think we sometimes overshoot. We go too big, too far, too fast, instead of taking consistent, manageable steps. There’s a lot of talk about building trust, but part of being truly customer-obsessed is delivering on what you say you’ll do—for customers, partners, and employees alike.

Sometimes it’s not about the big, bold moves. It’s about getting the foundational things right. Talk is easy, but real impact comes from consistent follow-through. When you do what you promise—again and again—you build trust, advocacy, and excitement.

Then, when you announce something new, people believe you’ll deliver because you always have.

We’re in a time where everyone wants to launch the biggest, flashiest initiative, but maybe what’s needed instead is simplicity, thoughtfulness, and consistency.

Host:
That’s such an important point. Your background spans marketing, customer experience, and nonprofit leadership. How has that shaped the way you think about not only listening to but acting on customer feedback?

Jennifer Edwards:
I’m very action-oriented. If something is said, I believe we need to act on it.

The leaders I grew up under taught me that if you say you’re going to do something, you need to follow through. Ownership is key—but ownership also means making sure responsibility sits in the right place within an organization.

Just because I hear something doesn’t mean I’m the one to solve it, but it does mean I’m responsible for bringing it to the right person and closing the loop.

It gets busy, but I try to be mindful—with my advisory boards, advocates, teammates, and partners—that when we commit to something, we follow through.

The small things add up to the big things. Often, it’s about getting the foundations right before anything else.

Host:
Can you share examples of how you bring the customer’s voice to life beyond surveys or CSAT scores?

Jennifer Edwards:
Absolutely. One of my favorites is something our CMO, Nikki Hall, and I do regularly—we go spend a “day in the life” with our customers.

Next week, we’ll be visiting a client to sit with their contact center agents, talk with their leaders, and close the day by hearing from executives who’ll join us at our CX Summit.

Nikki gathers insights, and together we bring those back to our executives, marketing, and strategy teams. We integrate customer feedback into our messaging, ads, and even product direction.

We also have a champion program where customers advise our product teams directly. They test messaging, provide input, and share feedback in quick, manageable sessions. That firsthand input, structured or conversational, always leads to powerful aha moments.

Host:
I love that. Let’s talk about measurement. What signals do you look for to know your customer experience work is making an impact?

Jennifer Edwards:
We track how many champions join our programs and how many advocate publicly on our behalf.

Of course, we also track renewals and expansion, but engagement is one of the strongest signals of health.

Honestly, I’d rather have a customer challenge me than go silent. When customers stop engaging, that’s when you should worry. Challenging conversations move relationships forward.

Advocacy—whether it’s a public quote, a community comment, or a case study—is a sign of trust and health. You can correlate that with growth, lifetime value, and brand strength. It’s always a mutual win when customers advocate because it benefits both their brand and ours.

Host:
That’s spot-on. How are you thinking differently about customer voice now than you were five years ago?

Jennifer Edwards:
Five years ago, everyone was focused on NPS. But I think NPS needs to evolve.

In B2B, it’s not just about “How likely are you to recommend?” It’s about “How likely are you to renew?” or “How likely are you to expand?” Those questions drive more relevant insights.

NPS has been overused. I’d love to see it reimagined—or even retired—in favor of richer, real-time feedback methods.

AI can help here by capturing sentiment, analyzing themes, and surfacing insights proactively. It allows us to segment and understand what conversations should come next—without being intrusive. Thoughtful, contextual engagement is the goal.

Host:
That’s a great perspective. Last question: What’s your bold hope for how businesses will listen to and amplify the voices of their customers in the coming years?

Jennifer Edwards:
My bold hope is that we become less invasive and more intuitive in how we capture authentic customer voice.

I want to see companies honor the people behind the businesses—leaders and teams building something meaningful—and highlight the human aspect while using technology in a thoughtful way.

Host:
I love that answer. Jen, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.

Jennifer Edwards:
Absolutely. It was wonderful to be here. I really enjoyed this—thanks for having me.

Host:
To our audience, we hope you found this conversation valuable. Follow along for more episodes with leaders shaping the future of customer-led growth. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.

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Overview

In this episode, Sydney Sloan, CMO at G2, shares her perspective on how authentic customer voice is reshaping modern go-to-market strategy. Drawing on her experience leading teams at some of B2B’s most iconic brands, Sydney discusses the shift from traditional SEO to AI-powered discovery, the power of peer reviews, and the evolving role of customer feedback in brand building. She also reflects on how customer voice fuels category creation, campaign strategy, and trust at scale—offering thoughtful lessons for anyone building customer-led programs today.

Full Transcript

[Podcast Intro – Host]

Welcome to Authentic Customer Voices, the podcast exploring how today's most thoughtful marketers and go-to-market leaders are scaling advocacy, trust, and peer connections in a bold new way.

I'm thrilled to welcome today's guest, Sydney Sloan, the Chief Marketing Officer at G2. Sydney is a four-time CMO who’s led some of the most well-known brands in B2B, including SalesLoft, Ada, and Adobe. Now at G2, she's helping define the future of buyer behavior, from AI adoption to how trust is built at scale.

Sydney, thank you so much for joining us today. I'd love to start by grounding in your perspective. You’ve worked across brand, product, and customer marketing, so I’d love to understand how you define authentic customer voice today, and maybe how that meaning has evolved over the years.

[Sydney Sloan]

What I love about marketing is that you get to champion the customer from the very first impression all the way through the journey and their lifetime with your company. We get to partner across the organization to ensure that the customer experience is consistent, on-brand, and driven by feedback.

The best thing marketers can do is really embrace the customer and their personas and make sure they’re served. Authenticity is part of an evolution. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we moved toward account-based marketing, buying groups, and personas, but somewhere along the way, I wonder if we forgot about the user.

How do we ensure we delight and exceed expectations for every single user? What if our goal was to make every user an advocate for the value they receive? What would that take, and what would you ask them to do?

Customer voice is at the core of brand building. It always has been, but now, with large language models (LLMs) indexing conversations from Reddit, G2, or Wikipedia, authenticity is literally what shapes perception. Those voices are powerful. They’re real. And they’re happening in public.

[Host]

Absolutely. At G2, you really do have a front-row seat to this shift in software buying behavior. From your perspective, what’s one key behavior change that marketers and sellers need to pay attention to, especially in light of the G2 Buyer Behavior Report?

[Sydney Sloan]

The big shift we saw was in organic traffic. Suddenly, SEO and PPC weren’t working like they used to. That’s because, as of our 2024 report, 79 percent of buyers are using chatbots or LLMs for research, discovery, and shortlisting.

That’s a massive change, and what’s drastic is how fast it happened. Buyers just disappeared from Google. They’re getting answers from other formats now. Everyone’s trying to figure it out.

At G2, we’ve had to shift too. Our business was built on search. Now we need our data to show up in those answer engines. So, authentic reviews and where they’re captured matter more than ever. Brands need to make it easy, weave it into strategy, and think intentionally about how that voice gets indexed.

[Host]

And you've led some powerful category-defining efforts at SalesLoft and at Alfresco, where voice of customer shaped the narrative. How did that play out?

[Sydney Sloan]

At SalesLoft, SDR platforms were emerging. There wasn’t a defined category yet. I interviewed at Outreach, Clari, and SalesLoft, and I asked the Forrester analyst: “Is this going to be a category?” She said yes. It took Forrester three years to create the Wave. It took G2 three months.

That’s the power of customer voice. Categories don’t form unless there are enough happy customers leaving reviews. You see it in real time. It’s organic.

At Alfresco, we were disrupting a 25-year-old category. The founder had built Documentum and was now disrupting his own creation. We brought analysts on the road with us to hear directly from customers. It wasn’t just about buyer influence, it was about analyst influence, shaped by real voices.

[Host]

One theme you’ve spoken to is balancing automation and authenticity. How can teams embrace AI without losing the trust that comes from real customer stories?

[Sydney Sloan]

There’s a lot of innovation right now. We partner with Deeto, and we’re seeing how transcripts can be converted into meaningful follow-ups, emails, task lists, or even identify happy customers and suggest reviews or case studies.

The key is to connect those systems. From conversation to advocacy platform to review site. That’s your always-on strategy.

There’s also what I call the easy button, embedding review requests into your product, just like in B2C. “Do you like this app?” to “Leave a review.” Some top G2 performers do this really well.

[Host]

And for content and campaigns, especially in an AI-first world, how do you think about using customer proof at scale?

[Sydney Sloan]

A year ago, I would’ve said put customer quotes in your campaigns. That’s still true. But now, we can do more. We feed real voice data into our persona profiles. That trains LLMs on what customers actually care about.

We’re even starting to power agents with this data, small language models trained on customer voice. Not just your own recordings or first-party data, but industry-wide input. That gives you a broader, category-level perspective.

[Host]

Let’s connect this to brand building. If traditional SEO is being overtaken by AI and peer reviews, what should marketers do differently?

[Sydney Sloan]

You can’t buy your way into pipeline like you used to. PPC is breaking.

So first, back to brand strategy. Trust takes time. You have to be consistent and clear about what you stand for, and voice of customer reflects that better than anything.

Second, influencer strategy. B2B micro-influencers, people your buyers trust, matter. Whether they’re on podcasts, reviewing tools, or posting on LinkedIn.

You need to understand where your buyers live, newsletters, communities, events, and participate. It’s about returning to fundamentals and doing them in a new context.

[Host]

Final question. For those building customer-centric programs from scratch, what’s the one piece of advice that’s held true for you?

[Sydney Sloan]

Talk to your customers.

My foundation came from events, working booths, hosting our first customer conferences. You connect with happy customers, help showcase their stories, build them up. At Jive, we joked that if you spoke on main stage, you’d be working there the next year. It was often true.

Your job is to identify those advocates, amplify their voice, and raise their profile. That’s the foundation. And community is part of that, open dialogue, even when it’s not about your product. Help people connect with each other.

In all this disruption, we’re learning new things but also returning to the fundamentals.

[Host]

Sydney, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate the time.

The insurance and InsurTech landscape is transforming at record speed. From AI-driven underwriting to automated claims and digital customer experiences, new technology vendors are reshaping one of the world’s oldest industries. But as innovation accelerates, so does skepticism.

Insurance buyers are cautious, risk-sensitive, and highly regulated, which means new vendors must earn trust long before they earn business. In this world, one factor consistently drives confidence and conversion: the authentic voice of the customer.

At InsureTech Connect (ITC) Vegas 2025, Deeto sat down with leaders from Egnyte, Infosys, Smart Communications, Carpe Data, Neutrinos, Optimity, GhostDraft, Proof, Retarus, and Canidium to ask three simple questions:

• Why does customer proof matter so much in insurance tech?
• What makes capturing it harder here than in other industries?
• How can InsurTech marketers get more advocates to share their success?

Their answers reveal a universal truth: in insurance, proof is the product.

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Why Customer Voice Matters More Than Ever

The first insight was unanimous. In InsurTech, buyers don’t believe marketing; they believe other insurers.

Matt Sodnicar, Product Marketing Manager at Canidium, explained:

“It’s absolutely huge because it’s social proof. The customer wants to feel like you know their industry. You’ve got experience in their industry, and it helps accelerate the sales process because nobody wants to be your test pilot.”

Chris Schmitt, Senior Director of Industry Marketing at Egnyte, agreed:

“The people we talk to demand social proof. They don’t want to hear from us; they want to hear from our customers about what they solved for and why we’re important to their business.”

In a regulated, risk-averse space, this dynamic carries even greater weight. Insurance executives aren’t buying software; they’re buying proof that a partner can deliver securely, compliantly, and with measurable business results.

Jose Suarez, Marketing Manager at Retarus, described the impact clearly:

“There’s no better way to tell your story than the stories you’ve already completed. Customer stories and success stories are some of our most visited pages. They hit SEO-quality keywords and show proof of the problems we’ve solved.”

In InsurTech, the most effective marketing asset isn’t your demo. It’s the real outcomes your customers have achieved.

The Unique Challenge of Customer Proof in Insurance Tech

If customer proof is so powerful, why is it so rare?

Capturing and publishing stories in insurance is uniquely difficult. Legal, regulatory, and competitive constraints make advocacy programs slow and complex, even for the happiest clients.

Ben Offringa, VP of Marketing at Carpe Data, summarized the challenge:

“You have insurers that view your solution as a strategic advantage. They don’t want competitors to know what they’re using, so they won’t always come forward publicly as customers.”

Anshul Agarwal, VP Marketing at Infosys, described the internal bottlenecks:

“Once we get an advocacy piece, it has to be vetted through legal, marketing, sales, and project teams. The entire company reviews it first. The timelines are long, and even a single tweak can take a week.”

Ashish Jha, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at Neutrinos, pointed to another barrier:

“When you go back later to find the data, teams say, ‘We never captured it.’ Getting delivery and customer success teams to track the right metrics early on is the hardest part.”

Even when approvals are granted, motivation can fade. Matt Sodnicar noted that many customers see little reason to participate once their project is live:

“They’ve already gone live and moved on. There’s nothing in it for them, and strict NDAs mean some amazing success stories never see the light of day.”

Four Ways to Get More Customer Advocates in InsurTech

Despite the challenges, InsurTech marketers shared clear, practical strategies for capturing and activating customer voice while respecting industry constraints.

1. Capture Proof Early

Brenly McCulloch, Head of Demand Generation at Smart Communications, said timing is everything:

“As soon as that deal closes, that’s when everyone’s most excited. That’s the perfect time to get a customer testimonial—right there, before the moment passes.”

2. Partner with Customer Success

Holly Monroe, Content Marketing Manager at AgentSync, emphasized collaboration:

“You need a strong relationship with your customer success team. Marketing, CS, and the customer have to move together. And don’t just publish proof once. Repurpose it into different formats and share it everywhere.”

Customer success teams are closest to the stories. Working together ensures valuable feedback is never lost.

3. Make Storytelling Easy

Jane Wang, CEO of Optimity, shared a simple approach:

“We make it easy. We prep reports with real metrics and business results, and let customers put it in their own words. It’s faster, more authentic, and brings the case study to life.”

4. Create Safe Advocacy Spaces

Kelley Pidhirsky, VP of Solutions Consulting at Proof, offered a collaborative idea:

“Pull your best customers together under NDA to talk openly about challenges. It’s valuable for everyone because they’re in the same industry and facing the same problems.”

Private advocacy groups allow for candid discussion while still giving vendors a powerful, compliant way to collect insight and social proof.

Proof Is About Trust, Not Just Marketing

The conversations ended with a shared truth: in insurance, proof isn’t a campaign. It’s a measure of trust.

Every customer story, testimonial, or quote represents a relationship built on results. When companies make it easy for customers to share their experiences authentically and safely, they do more than generate leads—they strengthen credibility across the industry.

As the closing statement of the video reminds us:

In insurance tech, proof isn’t just about marketing. It’s about building trust in a competitive, regulated space.

What This Means for InsurTech Vendors

For InsurTech leaders, the implications are clear:

• Design advocacy around compliance. Anticipate approvals and offer anonymized or gated proof options.
• Capture stories early. Don’t wait until renewal. Start at onboarding or after the first measurable win.
• Make advocacy mutually valuable. Spotlight your customers’ success, not just your own.
• Use events as catalysts. Industry gatherings like ITC Vegas are perfect for collecting authentic stories.
• Automate where possible. AI-powered platforms such as Deeto help teams collect, manage, and share proof without the manual work.

The Deeto Perspective

At Deeto, we believe the future of InsurTech growth depends on authentic, scalable proof.

Our platform helps insurance and InsurTech companies:

• Collect customer stories and feedback automatically using AI-led interviews.
• Manage them in a secure, governed hub with built-in consent and compliance workflows.
• Distribute proof across sales, marketing, and partner channels—from reference calls to microsites and embedded widgets.

With Deeto, customer voice becomes a continuous signal that drives confidence and measurable growth.

Conclusion

Insurance has always been an industry built on trust. Today, that trust extends beyond policies and premiums. It lives in every customer story.

By investing in authentic advocacy, empowering customers to speak safely, and using AI to scale the process, InsurTech companies can turn proof into their strongest competitive advantage.

Because in insurance—just like in every trust-driven industry—proof doesn’t just beat promises. It is the promise.

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Overview:

AI has changed how we work, but not what buyers believe. People still trust people. Teams that win today are finding ways to pair automation with authenticity, using real customer voices to build confidence and open doors.

In this session, Deeto and Samplead will show how leading marketing and sales teams are balancing technology with trust to create outreach that actually converts. We’ll share what’s working in the field, how to bring customer proof into personalized outreach, and simple ways to make every interaction feel more human.

You’ll learn:

• Why authenticity drives action in modern sales and marketing
• How to blend AI and human touch for real buyer impact
• Examples of trust-led campaigns that created real results

Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Time: 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET

Location: Live Virtual Event (Zoom link sent upon registration)

Speakers: 

Gedaliah Freund, Head of GTM, Samplead

Gabi Sayah, Head of Growth, Deeto

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Featuring: