Boulder Logic would like to invite you to join us for our upcoming webinar.

Event Title: Managing a Global Customer Reference Program – Understanding the Cultural Differences

Date: February 2 at 10 a.m. PST

If you are fielding reference requests from all over the world, then you know how challenging this can be.  Understanding and respecting your customers’ cultural differences is essential to maintaining positive relationships and running a succesfull international program, but it’s often difficult to know what’s expected in each country.

Boulder Logic is excited to have Claudia Koenig share her thoughts and experience on this subject.  Claudia is a true customer reference professional with multiple years experience managing global customer reference programs for some of the world’s leading companies.  Claudia started her own customer reference consultancy firm back in 2009, CKoenig-Consulting, where she provides guidance and support for her client’s best in class customer reference programs.

This 30 minute webinar will focus on the importance of understanding your clients and their regional differences.  Claudia will share tips on how best to interact with people in different parts of the world, such as:

• What is expected in terms of formality in Germany or France?
• Is it necessary to apply for a visa or will a passport suffice when travelling to and from Russia?
• Do they prefer site visits or phone calls in LATAM?

When: Thursday, Febuary 2

Time: 10 AM -10:30 AM PST

Register at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/262055830

 
Finding new references can be challenging especially if your customer list is not as long as you would like it to be just yet.  But, believe it or not, sometimes those that do have a lengthy list of customers, have just as hard a time finding good references than those that have a dozen or fewer.  Regardless of the length of your list, there are several ways to uncover and cultivate a variety of great references for your company.  Below are three to get you started.

1. Build relationships with your sales team.  Depending on the size of your sales organization you may need to be selective about who you focus on as it may not be possible to have a relationship with everyone.  But getting to know your key sales reps is the yellow brick road to uncovering hidden customer gems.  You will have the inside knowledge about what the customers are doing and how they feel about the company.  This will put you on the fast track to adding new reference customers.  Make yourself valuable and likeable to the sales team and you will be rewarded.

2. Send a survey out to your sales team.  Just ask a few key questions or use it to request that they each nominate a few new customers for the program and then do the follow up research yourself.  Try to do this in bite size chunks so as not to overwhelm them and turn them off to the process.  Remember, every sales team is different in terms of their willingness to participate in these types of activities.  So, if your group is likely to be less motivated, try enticing them with some type of  incentive or play on their competitive nature by making it a contest.

3. Scour the list.  Whether your list is scribbled on your office white board, maintained on a spreadsheet or securely housed in a customer reference management database, take a good hard look at who you have, who you have already used and who you have not.  Try to give those you have used recently a break and find ways to use the others, the underused members of your program should be considered a wasted asset and given some extra love and attention.

Sometimes it helps to step back from your day to day routine and take a look with fresh eyes.  Be creative, switch up your typical way of thinking.  Dig a little deeper, you will find fresh resources that will take your program further.

If you work in a fast paced technology driven industry that derives information from sources such as webinars, YouTube and other online sources think about how to make those references as high profile and impactful as possible.  Focus your energy on technology and work with your marquis reference customers to develop excellent presentations using web technologies and video testimonials.

If you work in a smaller niche industry where buying decisions rely heavily on personal peer interactions, concentrate your reference efforts on direct phone calls and other live discussions such as customer forums and roundtables.

If your company can demonstrate irrefutable results without requiring direct peer conversations, you may want to consider putting an emphasis on the written word.  Case studies, whitepapers, or other types of marketing content can be very effective.  Deliver this type of content to prospects via microsites for a personal yet professional website with built in tracking features.

There is a lot to gain from providing great customer references.  Use your combined knowledge of your business and your customers to come up with the right mix of reference activities.  Consider customizable software solutions to help you stay on track and avoid bottlenecks and distractions.  And finally, remember the importance of metrics, tracking your results allows you to report back on the power of the program and keep it moving in the right direction.