Do You Have a Map For How You’d Like Your Program to Evolve?

February 23, 2010

In the last few posts, we’ve been discussing the attributes of a successful customer reference program and we’ve tried to emphasize that success is most often found in the best practices of program management rather than specific customer reference tactics. This post we’ll discuss the importance of having a roadmap for your program.

When building or managing a customer reference program it is essential to have a vision of what you want it to be, what you want to accomplish and how it will evolve over time. Particularly with customer reference management, one of the things you’ll quickly discover is that you have many stakeholders, each with different opinions of what you should be working on. 

The most effective way to deal with this complexity is to clearly articulate your mission and the scope of what your program intends to accomplish. Make sure to include a plan for accommodating expanding goals as they grow with the program over time.

Aiming for too much too soon brings on a bigger risk of failure and will require many more resources upfront.  Over promising on results that can’t be delivered immediately will reduce your ability to demonstrate the success you need to move forward and grow the program over time.  As much as we would all like to see huge results right away, try thinking of this as a marathon rather than a sprint. You will accomplish a sustainable, strong and valued program in the long run.

Make sure to get your plan on paper as the exercise will help you organize the goals, objectives, strategies, tactics and measurement of the plan. Once documented, you have a map that can be used to communicate with the rest of your organization. 

When thinking about the evolution of your program, consider starting with a limited number of customer reference activities and increase those activities over time. Another dimension is to expand the audience you are serving. For instance, you may begin by offering reference activities for your direct sales organization but after that begins to run smoothly you may decide to add your channel sales to the program as well. Yet another dimension is to consider how your program can be integrated into other customer engagement programs, such as beta programs, customer advisory councils, and others. 

By sharing your plan with sponsors and stakeholders, you will gain their confidence as you demonstrate incremental success. Without it you may end up with a program that stagnates and creates apathy among your participants. 

And remember that the best plans and programs are evolutionary. Customer references are dynamic by nature, so embrace that and constantly look for opportunities for improvement and expansion. A flexible program will go the distance and provide excellent results that become a key part of your business.

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Posted by Joshua Horwitz

Do You Have Support From Sales And Sales Management?

February 16, 2010

Continuing down our customer reference program checklist, the next item may sound obvious but unfortunately it is not as commonly achieved as you would expect. Make sure that you have support from both sales and sales management.  Here we are speaking about support for the customer reference process and tactics that you’re implementing for your program. The best method to secure this support is to align yourself with the sales organization. 

Three important recommendations include:

1) Work to develop real relationships by meeting in person whenever possible rather than relying entirely on email. 

2) Call out the situations and individuals that help you succeed to help bring visibility and foster competition.

3) Secure trust by communicating clear expectations of what you will deliver. Then deliver. And if you fall short, own up to it. 

A more complete list of recommendations for securing support for sales and sales management can be found within the Customer Reference Handbook. Even if your program is heavily focused on just producing marketing deliverables, the sales team is both your supplier and end consumer. It is essential to make sure that they are engaged in the process.

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Posted by Joshua Horwitz

Do You Have an Executive Sponsor With Political Influence and Budget Authority?

February 8, 2010

In our last post on the checklist for a successful customer reference program, we discussed making sure that the value of customer references is fully acknowledged by sales and marketing. The next important question on the checklist is whether you have an executive sponsor? In our experience many do not.

While it is important to have a manager that supports you, that is not an executive sponsor. Even if your boss is a VP, he or she may not really be an appropriate executive sponsor. A customer reference program is a challenging, cross-company initiative. To be successful, we’ve found you need someone with a visible and respected position who has:

- The ability to work with other groups. You will want your customer reference program to work effectively with other sales, marketing and company initiatives. This can be a challenge for an individual who works solely with one group. 

- The ability to secure funding. In order to run an effective customer reference program you will likely need some level of budget. 

- The ability to help create and maintain credibility. You will need a person who has the respect of the majority of your employees. This will help convey the importance of the program and keep the momentum going. 

An executive sponsor is someone with the influence to mobilize and energize the people you need. You, of course, will be responsible for taking the action to complete the tasks. If you are not sure how to enlist an executive sponsor first take the time to really understand your organization, because the organization chart may not tell the whole story. Networking with many people will help you gain access to key executives. This can be a challenge if you do not hold a management title in your company however; even working with your own manager can help you gain access to higher ups. As you begin to talk with others make sure you have a solid justification, clear vision, and lucid plan so that you can communicate your goals and demonstrate your accomplishments. This will help get people on board quickly.

Once you have secured your executive sponsor, keep the communication lines open so that your sponsor can maintain consistency. Remember that this will not always be your executive sponsor’s top priority, so demonstrate your ability to adapt to the changing priorities and find ways to make it easy for your sponsor to continue advocating your program.

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Posted by Joshua Horwitz

Is There Consistent Acknowledgement That References Are Valuable?

February 1, 2010

Whether you are building a new program or already have a program underway, it’s important to know the answer to this simple question. Does your company acknowledge that references are valuable to sales and marketing? We’ve seen too many customer reference managers focusing on process best practices, automation tools and creative deliverables without first securing confirmation on this important question. Customer reference tactics are important, but if your organization doesn’t have real appreciation and active recognition that customer references drive revenue, then your efforts will be undermined or encounter friction along the way. So this is the place you need to begin. If there is partial acknowledgement but you hear qualifications in the answer you receive, then you need to refocus the discussion back to this fundamental question.

If your immediate management team appreciates the value, then you are off to a good start. Expand by taking the pulse of your executives, sales staff, marketing department as well as PR and Investor Relations. If there is still general agreement that references do hold value, then you can move on to defining and communicating the goals that will maximize your program efforts.  

We suggest that your goals be as specific and measurable as possible so that you will have solid data with which to report ROI as the program develops. Some examples of customer reference program goals are below:

  • Increasing the frequency of reference use (greater use of references adds greater value)
  • Increasing the coverage of your portfolio (greater match is more effective)
  • Increasing the longevity of references (reduced effort to obtain, demonstrated effectiveness)
  • Reducing the turn-around time to provide better experience for prospect and less time wasted
  • Reducing the amount of distraction of sales to obtain (more benefit with less cost)

If however, your organization does not value customer references then you must do some homework to demonstrate it to your key constituents. Look for a champion in the Sales department. He or she will help create the positive perception and momentum you will need to carry the program forward. Also, look at your competitors and compare what they are doing to your process. Look for opportunities to point out areas of improvement or to validate your own activity in customer references. It is also very helpful to use third party research to prove your case on the value of customer references. There are industry analysts and groups that provide updated statistics and projections on the future importance of this discipline. Finally, enlist an executive sponsor for your program. Executives can effectively communicate your message and instill its importance to the company overall. 

This post is part of our checklist for a successful customer reference program. 

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Posted by Joshua Horwitz