If you're building a customer reference program, or taking a good hard look at how your current program works, this is the right question to ask. All customers are not equally good candidates for your program.
Before answering this question a gap analysis should be conducted to make sure that you know a) the segments that need coverage today, and b) those that are up-and-coming. The current demand is most easily identified by getting a sales pipeline report from your CRM system. You can slice and dice that information by, for instance, industry, product/solution, and geography; as well as criteria combinations (e.g., product A and healthcare). Once your target segments are identified, then it’s time to think about your ideal customer reference profile, which should include:
* Tenure - A customer reference should have some experience with your products/solution to share with prospective customers. Results, especially measurable, are the bottom line. A...
