Finding New Customer References

September 6, 2011

Do you find yourself stuck in a reference rut? Are you using the same handful of customers time and time again to fulfill reference requests?  Worried about burning them out?  It might be time to recruit some new customer references.

 
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.

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Posted by Joshua Horwitz

Look Forward by Looking Back to Your Most Loyal

June 9, 2011

In a recent post we discussed making the most of existing customer reference content.  With a similar mindset, let’s talk about the customers themselves.  If you are running an effective program and avoid burning out your customers, it’s not uncommon to establish long term customer reference relationships. 

These customers that have been with you a while require a few extra considerations so you can continue to maximize the value of their ongoing contribution:

• Keep it Relevant    Take the time to really understand how your customer is using your solution today and what’s happened in their environment recently.  It’s too easy to presume their good stories will continue to be of interest to new prospects when in fact things may have changed on their side or yours.  Take the time to determine if their message is still on target and if possible, help them understand the talking points that are important to your current prospects’ needs and selling situations.

• Go For The ROI    Customers are often recruited into reference programs way before any return on investment (ROI) has been materialized.  Those that remain loyal customers are most likely to have achieved the most real value from your solution, but it’s not unusual to forget to go back and ask again.  Take the time to work with them to explore further than you have in the past.
 
• Find New Faces    Don’t be afraid to ask who else might have stories to tell.  We always recommend trying to find multiple contacts within each customer reference site, but that request gets easier as the relationship matures.  Asking your loyal customer to vouch for how easy it is to be a reference for your company can make all the difference in recruiting others that may have new perspectives and new stories to share.

One of the most important reasons to run a formal reference program is to increase the tenure of customers who agree to be references.  Take the few extra steps needed to ensure they continue to add value long term.

1 Comment | Customer References, Program Tips | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Joshua Horwitz

Recruitment Strategies – Plus Webinar

December 1, 2009

If you are interested in best practices for building references, you might want to check out this recorded webinar on Customer Reference Recruitment Strategies.  It was prepared based on feedback from some of our clients that have the formula down.

I’ll give you the key points here, but definitely check out the webinar itself for the full picture!

1. Build your strategy. Define what you are looking for and how you are going to get there. Don’t just wait for it to happen. Use survey techniques and some simple math to understand what you need and how much of it based on the audiences you intend to serve.

2. Communicate. Reach out to the different groups within your company that work with customers. Let them know what you are doing and why. Anticipate their concerns with information about why customers won’t be overused. Set expectations clearly and hold to those promises at all cost.

3. Make it easy.  Ensure that your process is easy! Don’t ask too much of your participants at any one time. Use clearly defined forms and an organized way to keep track, this way nobody has to guess what to do and nothing falls through the cracks. Stick to your guns when people try to take short cuts, guiding them back to your process. Reinforcement of good behavior is key!

4. Ring the bell. Most important, celebrate your successes! Bring that visibility to executives and don’t be afraid of internal marketing. Use metrics to show results, branding to create an identity and campaigns to increase awareness. The more buzz you can create, the more it drives people to want to be a part of it. 

The webinar is about 20 minutes and goes into a lot more depth. Enjoy!

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Posted by Joshua Horwitz

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