1. Adopt a business case mindset...

The way to tap into your employer's coffers is to develop a compelling one-page business proposal. It will require an understanding of costs, benefits, and how you will demonstrate a return on investment. Your employer won't invest in your attempt to improve your marketability without understanding how the organization will benefit from their investment.

2. Develop a one-page proposal...

The proposal should include a one-sentence summary, a list of benefits, a list of costs, and a return on investment section. A sample summary might read:

Provide company sponsorship for __ to earn the Customer Advocacy Professional Level 2 Certification.

3. Identify the benefits to your company...

In the Benefits section, list a few bullets about the organization's benefit to funding your exam. For instance, benefits might include:

• Exhibits organization's expertise and domain knowledge in customer advocacy standards, processes, and formal techniques
• Proves organization's customer advocacy maturity
• Establishes an in-house resource for best practices and processes
• Addresses employee development and educational goals
• Validates the company’s high level of expertise in customer advocacy
• Tells your clients that your company holds its staff to the highest professional standards
• Studies have shown that employees with professional certifications are more productive
• Exhibits company employee commitment by investing in personal development
• Differentiates the company from the competition

4. Identify the costs...

In the Costs section, list the cost of the exam and any associated costs such as travel or time out of the office. If possible, list more than one option to provide flexibility. When you review the proposal, you can talk about the options and discuss which one makes the most sense.

Larger companies often provide training opportunities for their employees, and some even mandate specific numbers of hours of training per year. The corporate training budget is an opportunity to apply these funds to your Customer Advocacy Certification instead of to mandated training.

5. Provide the Return on Investment...

The goal of the Return on Investment section is to outline how you'll give back to the organization and use the knowledge gained in a quantitative or qualitative manner. Your manager will want to know how you'll apply the knowledge given the investment. Here's sample language of what you might include in your Return on Investment section.

Using the knowledge from the Customer Advocacy Certification, I will:

• Facilitate a Customer Advocacy Training Study Group for three months during which I help other employees prepare for their exam
• Facilitate best practice sharing sessions for all involved in customer advocacy in the company
• Review our processes to increase efficiency

6. Summary...

In conclusion, to secure funding for your certification you must first demonstrate the value of the certification; to your professional development and especially to your company's longer-term success. Next, you need to include all relevant details such as timing of the exam, what it will cost, and other associated expenses. Then tell your company how you will bring value back to the organization. These simple steps will go a long way in ensuring that you receive this important certification without having to bear the costs alone.