Normally, marketing and PR is all about promoting you, your products, and your company. But by sharing the spotlight with your best customers, or even shining it almost entirely on them, you stand to benefit.

Here’s how it works: Write case studies about how your customers used your products and services to overcome their business challenges. Collect their testimonials. Then pitch the ideas to the media and encourage the trade press to write articles about it.

This type of customer public relations program (CPR) can arm your sales and marketing team with “credibility” tools to help them accelerate the sales cycle. It also offers clients the opportunity to tout their best practices, helping them establish thought leadership in their respective industries. A classic win-win situation.

However, implementing a successful CPR does require a certain amount of know-how and experience. Here are some steps to ensure your CPR program brings new life (and new leads) to your sales and marketing efforts.

1. Getting started. Make a list of your best clients. You may be wary of supplying names of these businesses to people outside. But, case studies about how products you sell help customers, client testimonials and even third-party articles are all powerful tools in your sale team’s inventory and can ultimately, help you sell more.

2. Get their permission. Most companies are usually happy to participate, but make sure you’re clear on their policies before you start mentioning client companies to journalists.

3. Don’t abuse their courtesy. Don’t use the same client company over and over again -- they may begin to feel exploited and that could train your business relationship. Aim for one to two referenceable customers in each of your top tier segments. This will help diversify your pool of mentionable clients and will make it easier for you to go after more markets with great case study examples.

4. Leverage the coverage. So, you’ve crafted a story, pitched it, and the media has published it. Now what? Keep the momentum by having your sellers take the stories with them into the marketplace. Incorporate them into your corporate newsletters. Share them with prospects and partners. Use them as the very tools with which your reps sell.

A CPR program will take some time to succeed. But by cultivating your customer base to highlight their successes, you will be poised to provide the validation that today’s increasingly skeptical market demands.

Marina Rosales Greenwood is the principal and founder of Activa PR, a full-service PR agency providing sales-driven programs. For more information, visit the Activa PR Web site at: www.activapr.com or call 415-776-5350.