The CustomerX Files with Alison Bukowski

About this Epsiode

Featured Guest: Kelsey Dobbs, Senior Customer Advocacy Specialist, Illumio

Launching a customer advocacy program is no small feat—especially when you’re navigating competing priorities, internal skepticism, and the ever-present need to prove value early. In this episode of The CustomerX Files, host Alison sits down with Kelsey Dobbs, Senior Customer Advocacy Specialist at Illumio, to unpack what it really takes to build a strong, scalable, and high-impact advocacy program from the ground up.

Kelsey brings a unique perspective shaped by hands-on experience building an advocacy function in a rapidly growing cybersecurity company. Throughout her journey, she’s learned that success doesn’t come from simply introducing a new platform or launching a shiny initiative. It comes from guiding people through change—aligning with stakeholders, activating early champions, and creating structures that enable advocacy to flourish long term.

Change Management Strategies

This episode pulls back the curtain on the operational and cultural strategies that make those outcomes possible. Alison and Kelsey explore how to establish trust across the organization, set aligned expectations, and ensure advocacy becomes a critical part of the customer lifecycle—not just a marketing afterthought.

Listeners will gain valuable insights into how to:

• Navigate internal change management and secure buy-in across teams
  Advocacy requires collaboration—sales, CS, product, and marketing must all see the value. Kelsey shares how she builds consensus by meeting stakeholders where they are and demonstrating impact in ways that resonate with each audience.
• Build early adoption through communication and quick wins
  Momentum matters. You’ll learn how to design low-lift, high-visibility advocacy activities that show immediate value and get participants excited to stay involved.
• Operationalize advocacy success through repeatable frameworks
  Sustainable programs don’t rely on heroics. Kelsey outlines how to define clear workflows, enable internal teams, and set measurable goals so the program continues to scale.
• Create authentic engagement with customers
  The strongest advocates are not transactional—they are proud partners. Discover how Illumio cultivates meaningful participation that celebrates customer success stories and strengthens long-term relationships.

Who Should Listen

No matter where you are on your advocacy maturity journey—whether you’re launching your first program or optimizing what already exists—this conversation delivers practical advice and relatable inspiration. Kelsey and Alison share both wins and challenges, giving listeners a realistic roadmap for what success looks like and how to get there faster.

If you’re ready to move beyond theory and start driving visible, lasting advocacy impact within your organization, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to learn how you can spark internal alignment, empower customer champions, and build a program that continues to grow, influence, and deliver measurable business value.

Featuring:

Lisa Kaspari, Senior Customer Advocacy Analyst at Docebo

Beyond Vanity Metrics: Turning Customer Advocacy Data into Strategic Impact

‍In this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison Bukowski sits down with Lisa Kaspari to talk about the unglamorous truth: if you can’t measure advocacy, you can’t protect it — or scale it. Alison and Lisa make the case for ditching vanity metrics and focus on what actually matters: activity, engagement depth, and repeatable reporting from a source of truth — not someone’s desktop spreadsheet. The episode also hits on modern pitfalls (outdated templates, unapproved customer usage) and where measurement is going next: cohort analysis, predictive insights, and AI-enabled analytics once the foundation is solid.

Lisa challenges teams to rethink what they measure, moving beyond surface-level metrics toward insights that reveal true engagement and business impact. She also shares practical guidance on using data to craft compelling stories that resonate with executives and secure ongoing investment.

Whether you’re building an advocacy program from the ground up or refining a mature strategy, this conversation will help you align advocacy with the outcomes your organization cares about most.

What You'll Learn:

• How to distinguish vanity metrics from meaningful indicators
• The metrics that signal real customer engagement
• Ways to connect advocacy efforts to business results
• How data-driven storytelling strengthens executive buy-in
• Why relying solely on relationships can put programs at risk

Why You Should Listen:

If proving the value of customer advocacy feels like an uphill battle, this episode offers a roadmap for turning your data into influence and your program into a strategic driver of growth.

About this Episode

Featured Guest: Colette Chavalia, Principal Customer Marketing Manager, Databricks. Colette is a leader in customer marketing known for building programs that elevate customer voices and accelerate sales cycles.

Voice of the Customer

Your advocacy program is up and running. Now it’s time to tap into its most valuable source of credibility and influence: the real voice of your customers.

In this Episode

In this episode of The CustomerX Files, we unpack what “Voice of the Customer” truly means in modern B2B—and why today’s smartest customer marketers are activating it far beyond the classic case study. We explore how authentic customer stories fuel trust, shape buying decisions, and become one of the most powerful tools in your go-to-market strategy.

You’ll hear how to capture richer, more meaningful customer insights, how to reuse those stories across sales, marketing, and executive conversations, and how to highlight customer impact in ways that actually move the needle. Whether your focus is sales enablement, leadership alignment, or increasing the visibility of your advocacy program, this episode gives you a practical roadmap.

• Elevating the Voice of the Customer
New ways to gather insights—from interviews to user-generated storytelling to data-backed proof points—and how to turn them into compelling narratives that resonate.

• Where customer stories create real impact
How leading teams use customer proof across deal cycles, ABM programs, product launches, onboarding, and C-suite conversations.

• Turning stories into measurable business outcomes
We break down how customer voice drives pipeline influence, accelerates deals, supports retention, and earns internal buy-in.

• Frameworks you can put to work today
Content mapping, intake processes, customer spotlights, and repeatable workflows that help you scale your VoC engine.

Why it Matters

In a world full of noise, crowded categories, and skeptical buyers, authentic customer perspective is your strongest differentiator. Capturing it is step one—activating it strategically is what turns customer love into organizational impact.

This conversation shows you how to build a repeatable, measurable Voice of the Customer program that fuels better content, stronger alignment, and greater trust across your business.

About this Episode

Featured Speaker: Jennifer Ells

In B2B, “engagement” isn’t a buzzword—it’s the engine behind every growth outcome that matters. When you activate engagement internally, you empower teams to deliver consistent, scalable value. When you activate it externally, you generate trust, proof, and momentum where it counts most—your customers.

In this episode, Jennifer Ells breaks down what true engagement looks like today and why the most successful B2B organizations treat it as a company-wide discipline, not just a marketing tactic.

What You'll Learn

• How internal alignment fuels external customer wins
  See how cross-functional clarity and shared goals translate into better customer experiences, faster execution, and measurable business impact.
• Real examples of high-performing engagement programs
  Learn from programs that are already driving retention, revenue influence, and competitive differentiation in the market.
• How to build an engagement flywheel you won’t find in any playbook
  Discover the mindset and framework behind sustainable engagement—so your teams and customers stay connected, energized, and advocating.

Why it Matters

The best brands don’t just talk about engagement—they engineer it from the inside out. This episode gives you the play-by-play so you can do the same.

About this Episode

Featured Guest: Maria Sturgeon

This episode is part of the Advocacy Accelerator series. In this episode, Stripe’s Maria Sturgeon and Alison share how to build a solid foundation for advocacy — setting strategy, aligning stakeholders, and planning for long-term impact.

Launching or scaling a customer advocacy program takes more than enthusiasm and good intentions — it requires thoughtful planning, strategic alignment, and a clear vision for long-term impact. In this episode of the Advocacy Accelerator Series, Alison sits down with Maria Sturgeon from Stripe to unpack what it really takes to build a strong, sustainable foundation for customer advocacy.

This conversation is designed for customer marketers, advocacy leaders, and community builders who are either starting from scratch or looking to evolve an existing program into something more strategic, scalable, and impactful.

Planning is often underestimated in advocacy programs, yet it’s the difference between reactive, one-off engagement and a mature program that delivers value to both the business and its customers. In this episode, Maria shares real-world insights and practical guidance on how to approach advocacy planning with intention and clarity.

What this Episode Covers

Listeners will learn how to:

• Define a clear advocacy strategy
  Understand how advocacy fits into your broader customer marketing and go-to-market strategy, and why alignment at the outset is critical.
• Align internal stakeholders early
  Learn how to bring sales, marketing, customer success, and leadership into the conversation so advocacy isn’t siloed — but supported.
• Plan for long-term impact, not short-term wins
  Explore how to build a program that grows with your customers and your organization, rather than one that burns out advocates or internal teams.
• Set realistic expectations and goals
  Maria discusses how to balance ambition with feasibility, especially when resources, headcount, or buy-in may be limited.
• Create a foundation that scales
  From process to measurement, this episode highlights the building blocks that allow advocacy programs to mature over time.

Why Planning Matters in Customer Advocacy

Customer advocacy is often misunderstood as simply asking customers for references, reviews, or testimonials. In reality, the most effective advocacy programs are rooted in trust, mutual value, and intentional engagement. Without proper planning, programs risk becoming transactional, inconsistent, or difficult to scale.

Whether you’re in the early planning stages or reassessing an existing program, this conversation will help you think more strategically about how advocacy fits into your organization’s long-term success.

About this Episode

Featured Guest: Sunny Manivannan

In this episode of The CustomerX Files, host Alison Bukowski sits down with Sunny Manivannan, founder and CEO of Peerbound, for a bold, no-BS discussion on the future of customer marketing. From breaking down why the function has long struggled to gain recognition as a revenue driver to how AI is reshaping the game, Alison and Sunny tackle the conversations others often avoid: revenue alignment, organizational placement, and why owning outcomes—not just tasks—will define the next generation of customer marketers. Together, they dig into the hard truths customer marketers are facing today, from persistent questions about revenue impact to the realities of operating within leaner, more outcome-driven organizations.

Strategic Positioning

Sunny brings a refreshingly direct perspective on why customer marketing has historically struggled to be viewed as a true revenue driver. Rather than blaming a lack of effort or creativity, he challenges the function to rethink how it defines success. Throughout the discussion, Alison and Sunny explore the difference between executing tasks and owning outcomes—and why that distinction is critical for customer marketers who want a stronger voice at the leadership table. They also unpack where customer marketing should sit within the organization to maximize influence, alignment, and long-term impact.

Customer Marketing and AI

A major focus of the episode is the role AI is playing in reshaping customer marketing today. Sunny explains how AI can serve as a powerful “force multiplier,” helping teams do more with less while increasing relevance, personalization, and speed. Instead of viewing AI as a threat, he encourages customer marketers to embrace it as a strategic advantage—one that can free up time, sharpen insights, and enable teams to focus on higher-value work that directly supports revenue and growth.

Customer Marketing Strategies

Whether you’re navigating the pressure of smaller teams, questioning how to future-proof your role, or looking for ways to elevate customer marketing beyond “nice-to-have” activities, this episode delivers actionable insights you can apply immediately. It’s an honest, forward-looking conversation for customer marketers who are ready to step up, claim ownership of outcomes, and shape the future of the function.

Listeners will gain practical guidance on how to better align with sales, speak the language of leadership, and position customer marketing as a strategic nerve center within their organizations. Alison and Sunny share real-world examples and clear advice on building credibility, demonstrating impact, and influencing cross-functional teams—especially in environments where budgets are tighter and expectations are higher.

Featured Guest: Kristi Faltorusso, Chief Customer Officer at ClientSuccess.
In this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison Bukowski and Kristi Faltorusso cut past the hype and tackle the real barrier standing between AI strategy and AI success: adoption. You can buy the best tools on the market, but if your teams aren’t aligned, enabled, and ready to work differently, your AI investment becomes… shelfware. Kristi brings a blunt, real-world perspective on what leaders consistently miss when rolling out AI across customer-facing teams. Spoiler: the technology isn’t the problem. The humans are—and the organizations that get AI right are the ones that build change management into the foundation, not as an afterthought.
Key Topics

✔ The biggest myths about AI in CX

Why most teams assume AI will “just work”—and how that mindset derails adoption before it even starts.
✔ Why change management—not tech—is the true failure point

The uncomfortable truth every leader must face before implementing AI.
✔ How to prepare teams for AI-driven workflows

What “readiness” actually looks like, from skills to communication to process redesign.
✔ What customer marketing and CX leaders must do to drive adoption

Your role in removing friction, building alignment, and enabling confident day-to-day use.
✔ Practical steps to turn AI strategy into measurable impact

Actionable steps you can take this quarter to ensure your AI roadmap delivers more than a press release.
Who Should Listen

Whether you’re a customer marketing leader, advocacy professional, or cross-functional growth partner, this episode offers valuable perspectives on how to elevate your Customer Marketing & Advocacy strategy and effectiveness by breaking down the barrier between AI strategy and success: user adoption.
Listen now for a candid, inside look at what it really takes to make AI stick inside your organization—and how you can turn your investment into real, sustained impact.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison sits down with Darren Smith, CTO at Point of Reference, for a candid, behind-the-scenes look at how AI is reshaping the world of Customer Advocacy and Customer Marketing. This conversation is packed with practical, real-world insights. Darren shares powerful ways AI can elevate your day-to-day work.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison chats with Lauren Turner, CEO and Founder of CustomerCentrx, for a candid and insightful look at the current landscape—and future—of customer advocacy in Corporate America.
From the rising influence of AI to the growing demand for measurable impact, Lauren shares her unfiltered perspective on what it really takes to thrive in this space. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just getting started in customer marketing, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and bold predictions to help you future-proof your career.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Ian Hameroff, Founder of the Fulcrum Group. Ian reflects on his 20+ year career in product marketing and helps shine a light on the world of a product marketer, a partner to customer marketer often misunderstood or undervalued. Alison and Ian talk about misconceptions between these two marketing disciplines and how they can complement each other quite nicely, perhaps even be on the same team. This is a must-listen for customer marketing and advocacy professionals that want to take their relationships with internal stakeholders to the next level and level-up their programs.