Stepping into a new customer advocacy role can feel a little like moving into a house where the lights don’t work, the fridge hums and the neighbors can’t remember the last time anyone actually lived there. If the program you have inherited looks like a community of champions and more like a ghost town of forgotten logins and outdated case studies, here’s the good news– your first 90 days don’t have to be a slow march through cobwebs. They can be the period where you prove you’re not just keeping the lights on, you’re setting the stage for a program revival that turns heads.
What’s even better? While I do have a quick 15 minute podcast on the topic, you can download the CPR Framework Checklist from the attached folder to get the ball rolling on what I say next… read on.
1. The First 30 Days: Become an Investigator, Not a Builder
Resist the urge to hit “relaunch” on day one. Instead, think like a detective. Audit what already exists, old spotlights, reference logs, even half-finished initiatives hiding in shared drives. More importantly, talk to people. Reach out to five to ten advocates who once participated. Ask them what they expected, what worked, and where the cracks appeared. Then, do the same with your sales and CS teams. You will uncover gaps that no spreadsheet can show.
2. Days 31 to 60: Prioritize with Ruthless Clarity
This is where most advocacy managers go overboard, new platforms, new swag, new everything. Do not do that. Your second month is about pruning, not planting. Pause what has no clear owner. Refresh assets that still quietly deliver value (even that two-year old case study sales still clings to). Double down on small wins, like customer reviews that pop up naturally after onboarding. In short, don’t burn the whole garden, just water the flowers that are still alive.
3. Days 61 to 90: Relaunch Softly, with Proof Over Polish
By the third month, you are bound to feel pressure to “make it big”. Ignore it. This is not the time for a platinum-tier advocacy empire with points, badges and fireworks. Instead, go small and intentional. Launch one campaign, make one clear ask, and show one story of impact that connects advocacy directly to revenue or retention. Share that story internally. Once colleagues believe, scale becomes far easier.
Your first 90 days aren’t about overhauling everything, They are about listening, pruning and proving. Do that well, and you will earn the trust to build bigger later. And if you want the full CPR framework– Context, Prioritize, Rebuild– tune into the fourth episode on my podcast channel and also download the CPR Framework checklist that gives you the headlines worth crossing and the audio that gives you heart, nuance and play-by-play reviving tips for a program that everyone else thought was gone.
