The next item on our customer reference program checklist is critical. I can’t emphasize this one enough. You must define your metrics so you that you can measure against your goals, show value and demonstrate success. 

Even if you have not been asked to define your metrics, understand that you should do it. At some point you will need to validate your program to ensure its existence and future growth. In addition, a defined set of metrics that are effectively communicated will elevate your program and help you to secure the executive support necessary for success.
 
It doesn’t need to be difficult or complex. In fact, when initially setting the metrics, we recommend that you start modestly and evolve them over time. You may be able to come up with dozens of dimensions for measuring things, but recognize that reporting takes time to prepare and time to digest. Focus on measuring what matters most. 
 
Consider these areas/categories when beginning to define your metrics:

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The next point to consider on our checklist for building a successful customer reference program is whether you are doing enough internal marketing. By internal marketing, we mean communicating with management and your fellow employees to establish awareness and understanding about your program. 

Since marketing professionals typically drive the customer reference programs, effective communication activities should be second nature. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case and it ends up like the old story where the cobblers’ children have no shoes. This is particularly unfortunate, because to be successful a customer reference program really needs involvement from multiple groups, requiring coordination and strong communication. Internal marketing is the tool for defining, driving and reinforcing the actions and behaviors needed for success.

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Another important point on the checklist for running a successful customer reference program is working effectively with others that are interacting with customers.

When ramping up any customer reference program, interacting with other internal teams and programs across your organization is essential. Failure to do this can result in a disjointed experience for your customer and missed opportunities to increase the efficiency of your own efforts.

I had the opportunity to speak with Laura Ramos; an analyst at Forrester Research who has been researching customer reference programs. She supports the value of customer reference programs but emphasized the problem of reference programs operating in isolation. This isolation is a major threat to a program’s ability to deliver a positive experience. 

Essentially there are two steps to interacting with others that engage customers:

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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.

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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. 

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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:

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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.

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Over the years we have created customer reference management solutions for a broad range of clients. Throughout this work, we’ve really been able to hone in on the elements and factors that make up a successful customer reference program. Perhaps the greatest insight we can share is that success has less to do with performing the customer reference activities and much more to do with engaging in and embracing program management best practices.

We have created a checklist that we think will be helpful to any program regardless of size and budget. We consider these to be the most important considerations for every reference program. Whether launching a small, modestly funded program or expanding a large, well established program, refer to this list to stay on track for success. If you can answer yes to all these questions, you are in great shape. If you can’t, and the majority of your peers can’t, then use this as an action list to guide your efforts.

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If you are involved in coordinating customer reference phone calls, you are doing a disservice to everyone involved if you aren’t doing a little work to help prepare your customer for the questions they might receive.

One approach we’ve seen used successfully is a Customer Reference FAQ document that can be shared with customers when they join your program. While each prospect is going to have their own set of questions, they usually won’t veer too far from the basics. Here is a link to a timeless post with a set of customer reference questions related to Software that may help you get started. Prepare your own questions by collecting feedback from customers, your sales team and product management.

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Is customer reference management an untapped discipline like public relations might once have been? Was there a time when organizations didn’t proactively look for media opportunities or form strategies for maximizing their impact?

Take a look the definition of public relations from Wikipedia.

Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics…Because public relations places exposure in credible third-party outlets, it offers a third-party legitimacy that advertising does not have.

I would argue that customer reference management is very much the same except the end points are between customer and the community: which may be prospects, investors, analysts or media themselves.

Certainly the credibility of third-party has the same effect. Yet surprisingly, organizations are just beginning to give focus and attention to manage this flow.

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