Mindy Youngs Advisory logoMindy Youngs Advisory

Customer Marketing Advisory for B2B Companies

Turning customer relationships into measurable business growth.

Mindy Youngs Advisory helps B2B companies create greater customer value and turn post-sale engagement into measurable business impact: retention, expansion, and customer-influenced pipeline and revenue.

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Because Closed Won Is Not Closed Done.

The customer relationship doesn't end when the deal closes. It's where the next opportunity begins. The best customer programs create value before asking for value.

I help B2B organizations build and scale Customer Marketing strategies that strengthen customer relationships, improve engagement and adoption, uncover customer insights, create meaningful advocacy opportunities, and contribute to retention, expansion, and revenue growth.

With 25+ years of marketing experience, including nearly a decade building and leading Customer Marketing at Procore Technologies from pre-IPO through public-company growth, I bring the perspective of an operator who has built these programs, navigated organizational change, and tied customer engagement to the metrics leaders care about: gross and net revenue retention, net expansion revenue, and customer-influenced pipeline and revenue.

My approach combines strategy, practical operating models, cross-functional alignment, leadership coaching, and AI-enabled innovation to help organizations move from reactive, one-off activities to scalable, measurable customer programs.

Where I help most. Many companies already have Customer Marketing teams, advocacy tools, and content producers. What's often missing is the strategy that connects customer insight, customer journey and lifecycle, advocacy, storytelling, and cross-functional business priorities into one system. That connection is where I focus.

Point of view

Customer Marketing is a revenue function.

You cannot grow what you cannot keep. Customer Marketing protects retention, then builds growth on top of it, with net revenue retention as the north star.

Gross retention

Renewals, reduced churn and downgrades, deeper product usage.

Net retention

Net revenue retention and net expansion revenue from the existing base.

Pipeline

Expansion pipeline plus new-logo pipeline influenced by references, referrals and stories.

Sentiment & cost to serve

Positive sentiment and NPS, and self-service that lowers support costs.

I report impact as "influenced" or "associated with" where that is the honest claim, so leaders can trust the numbers.

Customer marketing consulting services

Eight areas of expertise, one connected system.

Customer marketing strategy, Voice of the Customer, customer advocacy and reference programs, customer storytelling, executive customer advisory boards, lifecycle marketing, customer community and AI-enabled customer marketing. Open any area to see what it covers, the business impact it targets and the metrics it moves.

Customer Marketing Strategy & Operating Models

Build the foundation for Customer Marketing to operate as a strategic business function.
  • Customer Marketing assessments, audits, and maturity evaluations
  • Customer Marketing strategy and program roadmaps
  • Operating model, organizational design, and team responsibilities
  • Cross-functional alignment across Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Product, and Revenue Operations
  • Program prioritization, resource planning, and measurement frameworks
  • Leadership coaching and guidance for Customer Marketing teams
Business impactClearer priorities, stronger cross-functional execution, scalable operations, and greater visibility into Customer Marketing's contribution to business growth.
Metrics it movesNet revenue retention, net expansion revenue, gross retention, and visibility into Customer Marketing's contribution to the revenue plan.

Voice of Customer & Customer Intelligence

Turn customer feedback into actionable insights, better experiences, and advocacy opportunities.
  • Voice of Customer strategy and program design
  • NPS, CSAT, customer feedback, and listening frameworks
  • Customer signal mapping across the lifecycle
  • Feedback synthesis, sentiment analysis, and insight prioritization
  • Cross-functional feedback loops and accountability models
  • Identification of customer friction, success patterns, and advocacy readiness
  • AI-enabled customer intelligence and insight workflows
Business impactBetter understanding of customer needs, earlier identification of friction and opportunity, more informed business decisions, and a consistent pipeline of potential customer advocates.
Metrics it movesCustomer sentiment and NPS, earlier churn-risk detection, gross and net revenue retention, and a steady supply of advocates.

Customer Advocacy, References & Referrals

Build a scalable advocacy engine that creates value for customers while supporting business growth.
  • Advocacy and reference program assessments
  • Advocate identification, qualification, and recruitment strategies
  • Customer reference program design and operating models
  • Reference matching, request workflows, and customer fatigue guardrails
  • Customer referral program strategy
  • Advocate recognition, engagement, and participation models
  • Cross-functional advocacy sourcing and activation
  • AI-enabled reference matching and advocacy workflows
  • Measurement of advocacy engagement and business influence
Business impactA larger, more engaged advocate community; faster and better-matched references; reduced customer fatigue; stronger support for Sales; and improved visibility into influenced pipeline and revenue.
Metrics it movesReferenceability, reference-influenced pipeline and revenue, win rates and sales cycle speed, referral pipeline, and advocate renewal and expansion.

Customer Storytelling & Customer-Led Content

Turn authentic customer outcomes into stories that educate, inspire, and build credibility.
  • Customer storytelling strategy and program development
  • Customer story identification and sourcing frameworks
  • Customer interview and story development playbooks
  • Customer proof-point and business outcome frameworks
  • Alignment of stories to buyer personas, industries, products, and sales priorities
  • Case study, testimonial, video, and speaker program strategy
  • Customer awards program strategy that feeds the story pipeline
  • Story pipeline management and publishing cadence
  • Customer consent, approval, and participation frameworks
Business impactMore relevant and credible customer proof, stronger alignment with go-to-market priorities, better use of customer participation, and a repeatable pipeline of customer stories and award-winning outcomes.
Metrics it movesStory- and reference-influenced pipeline, close rates, proof coverage for priority segments, and a predictable story pipeline.

Executive Engagement & Customer Advisory Boards

Build strategic executive relationships that deepen customer partnerships and inform business decisions.
  • Executive Customer Advisory Board strategy and design
  • Executive engagement program assessments and roadmaps
  • Member selection, recruitment, and engagement frameworks
  • Advisory board governance, agendas, and program structure
  • Executive relationship mapping and engagement journeys
  • Customer insight synthesis and executive feedback loops
  • Executive experiences, roundtables, and peer engagement strategy
  • Measurement of executive engagement and business outcomes
Business impactStronger executive relationships, deeper customer insight, improved strategic alignment, and more opportunities to support retention, expansion, and long-term partnerships.
Metrics it movesGross and net revenue retention among participating accounts, expansion revenue, and executive relationship coverage.

Customer Lifecycle, Adoption & Expansion Strategy

Connect customer engagement to the moments that matter most throughout the post-sale journey.
  • Customer lifecycle journey mapping and engagement strategy
  • Customer onboarding and adoption communication frameworks
  • Lifecycle segmentation and engagement triggers
  • Customer education and value realization strategies
  • Expansion readiness and engagement opportunity identification
  • Customer health, feedback, and engagement signal integration
  • Cross-functional lifecycle orchestration
  • Lifecycle measurement and optimization frameworks
Business impactMore relevant customer engagement, stronger adoption and value realization, improved retention and expansion opportunities, and a more connected customer experience.
Metrics it movesProduct adoption and usage, time to value, gross retention, expansion and cross-sell pipeline, and net revenue retention.

Customer Community Strategy & Engagement

Build customer communities that create lasting value through connection, learning, and participation.
  • Community strategy, assessments, and maturity evaluations
  • Community value proposition and success measures
  • Member segmentation, onboarding, and engagement journeys
  • Community governance, ownership, and moderation frameworks
  • Content and engagement calendar strategy
  • Integration with advocacy, education, product feedback, and lifecycle programs
  • Community activation and growth roadmaps
Business impactGreater customer connection, peer learning, knowledge sharing, stronger engagement, and a sustainable community operating model.
Metrics it movesEngagement and active members, adoption, support deflection and lower cost to serve, and retention of community-connected accounts.

AI-Enabled Customer Marketing & Operational Innovation

Modernize Customer Marketing by combining experienced human judgment with AI-powered workflows.
  • Customer Marketing AI opportunity assessments and prioritization
  • AI-enabled operating model and workflow strategy
  • Customer insight and Voice of Customer intelligence workflows
  • AI-assisted reference matching and advocate identification
  • Referral, storytelling, and lifecycle workflow design
  • Agent decision frameworks, business rules, and human approval processes
  • Customer Marketing measurement and intelligence dashboards
  • AI adoption roadmaps and leadership guidance
Business impactReduced manual effort, faster access to insights, more scalable programs, improved decision-making, and greater team capacity for strategic work and customer relationships.
Metrics it movesTeam capacity, cost to serve, speed to insight, and the scale of every program above without adding headcount.

A connected approach

The most effective Customer Marketing programs work together, not as disconnected initiatives.

  1. Listen

    Capture customer feedback, experiences, needs and outcomes.

  2. Understand

    Translate customer signals into insights and opportunities.

  3. Engage

    Deliver relevant experiences, education and relationships across the lifecycle.

  4. Create value

    Help customers realize greater value from their investment.

  5. Advocate

    Invite successful customers into meaningful advocacy and storytelling.

  6. Grow

    Strengthen loyalty, retention, expansion and customer-led growth.

The result is a connected Customer Marketing approach that creates value for customers and measurable impact for the business.

How I partner with organizations

Strategic advisory, program design, fractional leadership and coaching.

Strategic Advisory

Ongoing counsel for executives and Customer Marketing leaders who need an experienced perspective on priorities, programs, operating models, organizational challenges, and opportunities for growth.

Focused Strategy & Program Design

Defined engagements that assess a specific challenge and produce actionable strategies, frameworks, playbooks, operating models, and implementation roadmaps.

Fractional Customer Marketing Leadership

Part-time strategic leadership for organizations building, transforming, or scaling Customer Marketing without requiring a full-time executive.

Leadership & Team Coaching

Regular coaching and guidance for Customer Marketing leaders and their teams as they set priorities, adopt new processes, and execute with confidence.

Engagements are tailored to organizational needs, business priorities, and available internal resources. My role is to provide strategic direction, frameworks, expertise, and guidance, while client teams own implementation and ongoing operations. Scope, timeline and investment are shaped together after an initial conversation.

How a program engagement runs
Phase 1

Assess

Kickoff and priority setting, stakeholder interviews across Customer Success, Sales, Product, Support and RevOps, and a review of current programs and data.

You receive a current-state assessment, prioritized recommendations and agreed success measures.

Phase 2

Design

Co-design the operating model: intake, eligibility, workflows, guardrails, ownership, reporting and where AI can help.

You receive a program blueprint your team applies to real work.

Phase 3

Activate

Design the activation paths, such as story sourcing, speakers, advisory boards and community, and review early implementation.

You receive a playbook, with the first opportunities moving through the new process.

Phase 4

Hand off

Review adoption against the baseline, identify improvements and present a leadership readout.

You receive a 6 to 12 month roadmap and documented ownership.

Throughout: weekly coaching for the team member who owns the program, a regular check-in with the executive sponsor, and review of work between sessions.

Example engagement

Voice of Customer & Advocacy Strategy

A focused advisory engagement to establish a connected approach to customer listening, advocate identification and customer storytelling.

Many organizations already have Customer Marketing leadership, people running advocacy, and tools for capturing testimonials. What's often missing is the system that connects them: a consistent way to hear from customers, recognize who is ready to advocate, invite them in on terms they are comfortable with, and agree with Sales and Customer Success on which stories the business needs most.

In regulated industries such as financial services and healthcare, many customers face limits on public participation. A strong program plans for that from the start, with clear approval guardrails.

Participation options for regulated customers
  • Anonymized or aggregated insights and proof points
  • Private peer conversations and reference calls
  • Advisory input, beta feedback and roundtables
  • Named stories, quotes and speaking, with approvals built in
Intended impact
  • More actionable customer intelligence
  • A sustainable pipeline of eligible advocates
  • Customer stories aligned with business priorities
  • Less reliance on one-off requests

Experience that connects strategy to results

Customer marketing results from nearly a decade at Procore.

Mindy built and scaled Customer Marketing through multiple stages of company growth, from pre-IPO through public company, leading a 12-person team across Voice of the Customer, lifecycle, advocacy and community. Results by program:

Advocacy impact

~$20MReference program influenced pipeline, up from ~$3M
$8MInfluenced revenue from that pipeline
10% to 14%Referenceable customer accounts

Referenceable customers were 10% more likely to expand and 7% less likely to churn.

Executive engagement impact

14% higherGross revenue retention
45% higherNet expansion revenue
$13.8MIncremental annual revenue impact

Led and expanded Procore's Executive Customer Advisory Board from one board to four district boards. Results for participating customers vs. similar-size customers not participating.

Lifecycle impact

$15M+Cross-sell pipeline generated
~10%Increase in product usage
50%Faster time to first project creation

Built and scaled lifecycle, adoption and expansion programs across the post-sale journey.

Community impact

33KCommunity members in year one
~$40K/moLower cost to serve through self-service support
2.5xLess likely to churn, accounts with a community member

Built Procore Community and customer-led engagement programs.

I bring an operator's perspective to advisory work: understanding not only what a strong Customer Marketing program looks like, but what it takes to build, operationalize, measure, and scale one.

Testimonials

What customers and colleagues say.

I had the pleasure of working with Mindy for 4 years during my time on the Procore Customer Advisory Board. Mindy is simply phenomenal!! Her ability to engage others and positively impact a customer experience is second to none. Her every interaction is driven by a level of kindness and passion I have seen unmatched by anyone I have encountered in my career. Mindy fosters lasting relationships, and that attracts life long customers. I would highly recommend engaging Mindy’s help on any Customer-focused marketing or engagement initiative. The value she brings to the table is beyond measure!

Holly WardCFO, Park Construction Co. · Procore Customer Advisory Board member

I highly recommend Mindy Youngs Advisory for helping businesses build customer value that drives growth through Customer Marketing including Customer Advocacy, Community, Customer Advisory Boards, and Voice of the Customer! Mindy strategically built and scaled these customer programs and teams at Procore during multiple stages of high growth, both pre-and-post IPO. I can personally attest that Mindy will without a doubt be the biggest partner and advocate for your business, team, and client success!

Michael BeahmCustomer Marketing & Advocacy Leader, Procore Technologies

Anyone in my network looking for help with or pondering how to improve your customer engagement, deliver value, and reap the business results of doing so... Mindy Youngs is your person, 100%

Julian GonzalezCOO & Co-Founder, Cultsure

AI-enabled customer reference matching

MY Reference Agent methodology

A seven-stage method for AI-enabled customer reference matching that protects customer relationships. AI finds and accelerates. People apply judgment and own the relationship. Select a stage to see how it works.

Stage 1: Define. Clarify the request and the data.

Every match starts with the decision: what the prospect needs and what is known about each customer.

If a field matters to the decision but cannot be trusted or accessed, the agent flags the gap. It does not invent the answer.

Request inputs
  • Prospect or account, industry and segment
  • Buyer persona and use case
  • Key objection or question
  • Deal stage, value and needed-by date
  • Customer fit, health and reference history
Blueprint

Configurable workbook

What should this company's agent do? Inputs, guardrails, weights and outputs, set by the client.

Playbook

Methodology

Why does the model work this way? The reasoning behind each rule and each human checkpoint.

Configuration

AI-ready instructions

What exactly do we tell the AI to do? Every change traces back to an approved Blueprint update.

Build the decision model before automating the workflow
Version 0.1Prototype

Workbook, sanitized data and a manual AI prompt.

Version 1Assisted matching

Recommendations and drafts, with humans operating the workflow.

Version 2Connected workflow

Approved systems, integrated approvals and outcome capture.

Version 3Intelligence

Reference signals join broader customer marketing intelligence.

AI can accelerate the work. Experience and judgment determine whether it is the right work.

Insights

Recent thinking on customer marketing.

Lessons from conversations with CMOs, customer marketing leaders and founders, shared on LinkedIn.

Customer advisory boards

Five questions every ECAB should answer

Industry direction, CX, product, go-to-market and customer strategy, and why the last one matters most.

Read on LinkedIn Customer relationships

Relationships come before tactics

What customers did for me when I started this business, and why real relationships are the cornerstone of customer marketing.

Read on LinkedIn AEO

Customer feedback is now your content strategy

Why AI answer engines trust customer voice over company voice, and what that means for case studies.

Read on LinkedIn Customer advisory boards

What nearly a decade of running an ECAB taught me

Five discussion areas, executive sponsorship, and the retention results that followed.

Read on LinkedIn References

Fixing a manual, reactive reference program

Ask at the moment of delight, let usage data point the way, and let an agent do the matching.

Read on LinkedIn Community

Launching a community product leadership trusts

Start with the why, ask customers first, pick the technology last.

Read on LinkedIn

See all posts on LinkedIn

Featured in Central Coast Voyager: Exploring Life & Business with Mindy Youngs of Mindy Youngs Advisory

Frequently asked questions

Customer marketing questions, answered.

What does a customer marketing consultant do?

A customer marketing consultant helps B2B companies grow from the customers they already have, through retention, expansion, advocacy and referrals. Mindy Youngs Advisory assesses current programs, designs the strategy and operating model, and coaches the team that runs it, across Voice of the Customer, customer advocacy and references, customer storytelling, executive customer advisory boards, lifecycle marketing and community.

What is a fractional head of customer marketing?

A fractional customer marketing leader provides senior strategy and leadership on a part-time basis, for companies building, transforming or scaling Customer Marketing without hiring a full-time executive. It suits teams that need direction, priorities and measurement while their own people own day-to-day execution.

How do you measure the ROI of customer marketing?

Tie every program to metrics leaders already track: gross revenue retention, net revenue retention, net expansion revenue, and customer-influenced pipeline and revenue, plus customer sentiment and cost to serve. Report impact as influenced or associated with unless the measurement design supports causation. At Procore, this approach showed reference-influenced pipeline growing from about $3M to nearly $20M, with $8M in influenced revenue.

How do you build a customer reference program without overusing the same customers?

Feed the program automatically instead of relying on favors: invite customers to opt in after a high NPS or CSAT score, use product usage data to find strong candidates, and add event speakers from day one. Apply guardrails before matching, so at-risk, escalated, opted-out or recently used customers are never asked, and have the account owner approve every request. The MY Reference Agent methodology uses AI for the matching and keeps people in charge of the relationship.

How do you start an executive customer advisory board (ECAB)?

Secure executive sponsorship first, because a board that gives feedback and sees no follow-through loses members quickly. Structure the discussion around five areas: industry direction, CX strategy, product strategy, go-to-market strategy and, most important, customer strategy, meaning what customers are trying to grow, fix and build. In the ECAB Mindy led for nearly a decade, participating customers had 14% higher gross revenue retention and 45% higher net expansion revenue than similar-size accounts that did not participate.

Where should a startup begin with customer marketing?

Start by listening. Set up NPS at a few points in the customer lifecycle, bring NPS, CSAT, reviews and win-loss data into one view, and let that feedback shape onboarding, training and content. High scores then feed reviews, references and customer stories, and low scores show what to fix first. A small advisory board and an early bench of references come next.

How does customer feedback affect AI search and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

Buyers now ask AI tools before they talk to sales, and those tools favor specific, trustworthy answers, often in customers' own words. Customer stories that name the role, industry, problem and result, include a short FAQ, and match what the company says about itself are more likely to be cited in AI answers. That makes Voice of the Customer the starting point for content strategy.

How should customer marketing teams use AI?

Use AI to understand customers, surface opportunities and scale repeatable work such as feedback synthesis, reference matching and drafting, not to automate the relationship. Mindy designs agent decision frameworks with business rules and human approval steps, so AI finds and accelerates while people apply judgment and own every customer conversation.

How do engagements with Mindy Youngs Advisory work, and what do they cost?

Engagements are tailored and scoped together after an initial conversation, as strategic advisory, focused strategy and program design, fractional leadership or team coaching. A typical program engagement runs in four phases (assess, design, activate, hand off) with weekly coaching, while the client team owns implementation. Scope, deliverables, timeline and investment are set based on the business outcomes you want.

Who is Mindy Youngs?

Mindy Youngs is the Founder and Principal Advisor of Mindy Youngs Advisory, an independent customer marketing consultancy launched in 2026. She has more than 25 years in marketing, including nearly a decade at Procore Technologies, where she built and led Customer Marketing & Advocacy from pre-IPO through public-company growth, led a 12-person team across Voice of the Customer, lifecycle, advocacy and community, and grew the Executive Customer Advisory Board from one board to four district boards.

About

Mindy Youngs, Founder & Principal Advisor

Mindy has spent more than 25 years in marketing, including customer marketing, executive engagement, event strategy and marketing operations.

She joined Procore Technologies in 2017, before the company went public, and built its global Customer Marketing & Advocacy function, covering adoption, retention, expansion, advocacy, references, referrals, executive engagement, lifecycle marketing, community and Voice of the Customer. She built Customer Marketing three times as the business evolved, ending with a high-performing team of 12.

She launched Procore Community, established the global Voice of the Customer program, led NPS and customer journey mapping work, and ran the Executive Customer Advisory Board program for nearly a decade, growing it from one board to four district boards.

In 2026 she launched Mindy Youngs Advisory to help other companies build Customer Marketing programs that are strategic, scalable, measurable and customer-centered. She is based in California and works with clients remotely. Connect with Mindy on LinkedIn.

Customer marketing strategyCustomer advocacyReference programsReferral programsCustomer advisory boardsExecutive engagementVoice of the CustomerNPS & CSATCustomer storytellingLifecycle marketingCustomer communityNet revenue retentionAI-enabled customer marketingTeam leadership & coaching

Experience

2026 to now
Mindy Youngs AdvisoryFounder & Principal Advisor
2017 to 2026
Procore TechnologiesSenior Manager, Director and Senior Director of Customer Marketing; Executive Engagement & Experiences; Event Marketing Operations
2003 to 2017
AGIA Affinity Services

Education

2024
Marketing Week Mini MBAs in Marketing and in Managementwith Mark Ritson
2003
B.S. Business Administration, Marketing and ManagementChapman University, Harp Scholarship
2002
Business Studies, study abroadNewbold College

Contact

Let's build Customer Marketing where customer value drives business growth.

Book a free 30-minute introductory call about what you are trying to grow and where your customer programs are stuck.

Book an introductory call
ConnectMindy Youngs on LinkedIn
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  • Strategic advisoryOngoing counsel for executives and Customer Marketing leaders
  • Focused strategy and program designDefined engagements with frameworks, playbooks and roadmaps
  • Fractional Customer Marketing leadershipPart-time strategic leadership without a full-time executive
  • Leadership and team coachingRegular guidance as your team sets priorities and executes