Peppers & Rogers write:
Forrester Research recently published reports detailing the need for customer advocacy. It lists four components of customer advocacy: transparency, simplicity, benevolence, and trustworthiness.
...now the strategy of customer advocacy, specifically making the business more transparent, is coming to the fore. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), a consortium of pharmaceutical companies, has launched the Clinical Trials Portal. It is the first Internet search engine constructed specifically to link to online information made available by the pharmaceutical industry about clinical trials worldwide.
"The product should be the one a trusted friend would recommend. For the customer to have confidence, belief, and willingness to accept your advice, you must establish trust with a carefully instructed advisor virtually on the Web or in person," Urban says. "A transparent and intelligent advisor who is genuinely in the corner of the customer represents advocacy for the customer across your firm's product offerings. This need is amplified by the fact that customers want to make good decisions efficiently. They want to trust an advisor to save time and make a better decision."