I was invited to be a guest speaker with Eric Larson on the Customer Reference Knowledge Sharing Network Blog Talk Radio on the topic of “Internal Marketing” and it’s relevance to an effective customer reference program. You can check out the 15 minute podcast segment here.
In my humble opinion, internal marketing is one of the most important keys to the success of a customer reference program. Some of the biggest challenges related to customer reference management, including influencing behavior across the company, are eased by having broad support. However, many program owners don’t position themselves or their efforts sufficiently. As a result, their efforts are rebuffed and relegated to secondary status. By contrast, companies that execute with internal marketing in mind are often able to use the cross functional visibility of their customer reference program to elevate their program to strategic importance within their company.
So how does one do internal marketing? Well, it’s not so different from any other type of marketing. You define a message and use various communication channels to reach your audience.
Branding
One of the most important elements is naming your program. Doing so gives it a brand and a way for others to describe it internally and to customers where appropriate. As you think further about messaging, consider ways to emphasize the importance. Use language that suggests the positive impact customer references have on your business and the importance of the customers that participate. Give your program a logo and imagery that evokes it’s personality appropriately.
Communication Channels
Look for opportunities to use existing communication vehicles to highlight the program, such as an internal newsletter or an employee portal. If your company has brown bag lunch sessions, use them to get your messages across. Internal company events or quarterly kick-offs can be good times share your message as well.
Messages
Your goal with internal marketing is to establish and maintain awareness of your program, have it assigned the appropriate credibility, and drive the behaviors you need to be successful. While there are a variety of methods you can apply, the most effective is creating references for the effectiveness of customer references. This means identifying stakeholders that have achieved positive results and helping share their message. Even a newly minted program can do this, by finding a few deals in which the sales rep can be encouraged to highlight the importance of an existing customer in the deal.
There are a variety of tactics for internal marketing, but the bottom line is just to get started. Internal marketing for your customer reference program is an important and often overlooked technique for success. If you haven’t checked out the CRKSN podcast, please do. We are considering doing a more comprehensive webinar on the topic. Feel free to let us know your thoughts about the topic at events@boulderlogic.com
