In the late 2010s, a group of advocacy professionals found common ground in their constant effort to establish customer advocacy as a business imperative and receive internal recognition for the impact of their advocacy programs.
The problem wasn’t that companies didn’t value or believe in customer advocacy. Rather, companies wanted all the returns of customer advocacy, just without accurately investing in the initiative or recognizing the discipline as a comprehensive business function in and of itself.
As a result, the leaders of customer advocacy programs often find themselves nestled levels down in an organization with roles absent of “director” in the job title and with responsibilities that extend beyond the hefty task of delivering an exceptional advocacy experience for customers and internal stakeholders alike.
For years, a prominent discussion at customer advocacy conferences centered around how best to demonstrate the complexity of managing a program’s numerous components, communicate advocacy’s distinct role within customer engagement and secure a sufficient program budget.
After one fateful breakout session where the idea of a customer advocacy certification surfaced, Robin Hamilton, Managing Director of inEvidence, launched a survey to understand if those in the advocacy profession genuinely did see merit in establishing some levels of certification.
The consensus? A resounding yes.
Within months, the inaugural ICCAP Oversight Committee convened for the first time and began defining the certification tiers and core competencies for each. The processes and strategies of more than 75 advocacy programs were surveyed to determine prevailing industry standards and best practices. Alongside a dozen volunteer experts, the Oversight Committee dedicated over 100,000 hours to analyzing source data and distilling themes and trends to ensure CCAP credentials effectively represent the nuance and rigor within the discipline.
In 2018, ICCAP tested and certified its first cohort of practitioners, and hasn’t stopped recognizing the skills and expertise of established advocacy professionals since!
““Going after expanded professional education is something to hold on a pedestal; it establishes confidence in you from your clients and employers. It shows initiative, character and drive! Invest the time and effort in yourself, today. Speaking from personal experience, you will not regret doing so.””
How the certification was created
hours
100,000+
Experts Consulted
18
Source Data
75+ programs surveyed