ReferenceQueen

Thanks to Ice Blue Sky for the opportunity to make an appearance as Guest Blogger this week. 

Take a look at the full blog post here to find out how you gear for success from day 1 of deciding you need a Customer Reference Program, or as a sanity check for your own current program. 

Here's a taster to whet your appetite:

"...it’s been great riding the crest of a wave with other CRP managers, feeling our way from ‘just’ case studies to where the best CRPs are today:

Providing a mutually beneficial platform for company and customer alike (without resorting to bribes, err I mean incentives)

Adding value to an organisation, by first understanding what that value actually looks like and then delivering against it

A philosophy of ‘Think Customer First’; you are the gatekeeper, funnel (for multiple requests from across your business), and salesperson all rolled into one when you are a CRP manager

The funnel is dead. The new consumer decision journey:

I wanted to share with you a LinkedIn post written by @davidedelman. He claims that the traditional funnel is dead, and that today's customer journey doesn't finish at purchase, but that it spreads beyond into advocacy and more. This is a theme I am passionate about, given that social media helps consumers act 'smarter' when considering a purchase - be that consumer goods or B2B technology.  Customer advocacy, I believe, is the evolution of customer referencing and as CR professionals, we need to be ready and able to drive this approach from within our own companies. This is what adds true $ value to our organisations through our programs.

Rather than re-write David's words, here are his views below. I hope you find the article as of much interest as I did:

"Here is a graphic I use all the time to describe the consumer decision journey (CDJ). I like to say that the funnel is dead, because it’s outdated. Today’s consumer takes a much more complex iterative path thru and beyond purchase. The classic funnel shows an ever-narrowing array of decisions and choices until purchase, when in fact the channel-surfing customer today often is expanding the set of choices and decisions after consideration. Just as importantly, treats the post-purchase process with the same level of importance as the pre-purchase journey.

It’s a pretty simple concept really but clients like it because this visual highlights and isolates the most important aspects of the journey.

Consider: What brands/products do consumers have in mind as they contemplate a purchase?

Evaluate: Consumers gather information to narrow their choices.

Buy: Consumers decide on a brand and buy it.

Post-purchase: Consumers reflect on the buying experience, creating expectations/considerations that will inform a subsequent purchase

Advocate: Consumers tell others about the product or service they bought.

This visualization of the journey helps focus conversations on where to spend money, where the opportunities are, what sorts of people and processes you need to deliver on them, where you’re weak and your competitors strong. It’s incredible the conversations I’ve had where clients realize they’re over-spending in one stage of the journey or under-spending in another. The CDJ approach helps clarify the issues that are undermining your brand, or where your brand has an opportunity to grow. You can read more about it in this article.

What part of the consumer decision journey is critical to your brand?

Read more on the Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum site. And please follow me on Twitter@davidedelman."

Here's the latest Customer Reference video I've worked on - what do you think?

It was an absolute pleasure to work with the folks at Roskilde Festival, and what they achieve is no mean feat:

180 bands

100,000 guests

30,000 visitors

1 secure network

This had me jumping up and down in agreement!

Bill Lee very eloquently summarises the main reasons customer reference programs fail to gain the traction companies hope for.

Often the impact a good reference program can have, is underestimated as companies adopt a 'suck-it-and-see' approach; they don't appreciate the impact to the bottom line that a program can provide through more effective sales references, thought-leadership references/content in support of business strategy, and the reputation of the business in having great brands in their customer lists.

I've just come back from our Corporate HQ in the US, where I had the luxury of spending time with colleagues from the Global Reference Team as well as the wider marketing organisation. It was a good time to reflect on progress made over the past year, and also plan for future success.

A year passes by quickly, so looking at the deliverables we've brought to market is satisfying but only a part of the story. When I joined Juniper, I took time to listen and find out more about the company and its reference needs. From this I was able to:

build a picture of the goals we needed to attain

pin down the overall objectives

demonstrate the strategy and tactics we needed to deploy to accomplish these objectives

The reference numbers at the end of the year will go a long way to show the success we've had in designing a program that adds tangible value to our customers, and leads us to create reference assets that not only support our sales teams, but supports our thought-leadership and marketing standpoint.

Next for me is to look to measure impact of the reference program on the sales teams:

are the references we're delivering making a difference to our sales bottom line?

how are the assets we're creating being used/consumed?

Are we as effective for our external customers as well as our internal customers?

Thinking beyond asset creation, and taking an active interest in the above, takes your program from a ‘nice-to-have’ to commercial imperative. Think about how you report success, and learn to speak the language the business connects with.

I am in an unique postion. I really am.

As a Customer Reference Manager I have the privilege of speaking to customers on a daily basis, which means I get to the heart of what's really important to them. I get to apply a new lense to my business life and look at things from a truly customer perspective, rather than navel-gazing!.

Yes, the technology my company offers is very cool, but in the days of budget constraints, tight business justifications and the pressure to do more with less, that isn't the be-all and end-all. By actively listening to customers I get a deeper understanding of their organisation's goals and drivers, and can see the role of technology in enabling them to meet objectives. If a company gets their strategy right, then the technology they select to help support and drive this strategy to get real, measurable results, becomes more relevant and interesting (in my humble opinion).

It's with this perspective that I am able to make recommendations to my own business in how to tell our customers' stories in more compelling ways. As a reference professional, it's important to me that we use that external lens in how we communicate customer success; providing the hooks and messaging to connect with people who may, or may not, already be familiar with our organisation.

It's important to keep evaluating the assets we create - video, PR, case studies etc. - to ensure they are doing the best job in communicating customers' business objectives and the role of technology in helping drive this. A reference program shouldn't start and finish with a case study - there should be a range of materials that help communicate the depth of a project, and align to a buyer's journey. So, materials that provide thought-leadership and education, through to information that makes your offering a more compelling prospect.

As much as customer referencing is about looking forward, it's also important to look back to check your results and consider the effectiveness of your overall program. After four months at my new company this is what I am doing now.

I am not only checking the references I have generated, but also evaluating the overall impact. This helps me sanity check that the strategy I have in place for referencing is meeting the business' needs, and that it is also scalable as demands for references increase or focus changes.

Here are three things I would encourage you to think about as you continue to evaluate your own reference programs:

What is the split between strategic vs tactical references. Do you have visibility into your organisation's five year plan, and are your references geared to support corporate strategy?

Do you have a clearly defined reference program with processes for customer recruitment and engagement. Is there one customer touchpoint, or are multiple areas of your business reaching out for references (risking putting too many demands on your customer)?

After 2 days holed up in a FREEZING hotel conference room in San Mateo, my head is spinning with new concepts, contacts and creativity (see what I did there?!). To have over 100 customer reference professionals from all over the globe in one room, really is pretty spectacular and all credit to Bill Lee for organising the 2012 Summit on Customer Engagement.

There were some great sessions, and the calibre of presenters was impressive. Lots covered over the two days, including:

How reference professionals are utilising social media in their programs

More effective ways to market to new prospects

Extending reach through empowering your customers to deliver their own content

Ways to leverage your highest value customers for strategic referencing

Recognition that not all your advocates will be current customers

To summarise the event in three simple phrases borrowed from the NetApp presenters, and interpreted in my own way:

Think Big: have a lazer focus on the bigger picture and what you want to achieve with your reference program. Align to your company's 3-5 year plan.

Start Small: you have to start somewhere, and it's not often customer reference programs are heavily staffed or funded right away

Move Fast: deliver, deliver, deliver. And while you're delivering, make sure you are measuring and reporting program success in a way that's going to speak to your execs and demonstrate the real value these programs have

I met some of the team from Projectline at the 2012 Summit on Customer Engagement, held in San Mateo, CA on 28/29 February. They asked me for a voxpop on my key take-aways after the first sessions on day 1. Take a look at their website or YouTube channel to get the low-down from other attendees, including Alison Bowen at Microsoft.

Gartner: How to Manage a Customer Reference Program

This is an old article (2010), but still covers off the basics of customer referencing with some great insight from the brilliant Richard Fouts.

I encourage you to read the article in full, and the below are my favourite tips:

Have a well structured interview, that the client can complete by email.  Make this optional of course.  At least 80% of your clients will answer your questionnaire over email.  If you prefer a live interview, tell the customer it will take no more than 20 to 30 minutes. But, when you conduct the interview, make sure your questions are brief and easy to understand.  Stick to your agreement – do NOT go over the time frame you commited to .. and never make it more than 30 minutes. 

Include your customer reference program as a natural step in your  sales cycle.  Too often, we look for references from our current list of customers, where we have no leverage. We are simply asking them for a favor.  Hence, it’s more effective to address the customer becoming a reference during the sales cycle as part of your sales negotiations. Think of every prospect as a potential reference.  Many providers get new customers agree to be a testimonial when they close the deal, in exchange for a discount, a free service or some other offer.  This is a very effective tool for increasing the volume of references.

Position the testimonial as a promotional tool for your customer.  Testimonials and case studies, tend to be all about you.  This is logical of course, because it’s a tool to demonstrate what a good provider you are; that you have satisfied customers. But you can also use the testimonial and case study to promote the good work your customer is doing.  When you write the testimonial, include copy about the customer’s value proposition and their successes.  When prospects see this, they often agree quickly to become a testimonial because it is essentially free promotion.

Manage your customer reference program just as you manage your sales funnel. Track your conversion rate. Sales people don’t expect every prospect to close, hence they build a list of prospects with a pipeline value that exceeds their quota. For example, if your conversion rate of prospects that become customers is 50% and your quota is USD $ 1 million, you always have at least USD $ 2 million in your pipeline. You can manage your reference program using the same technique.  For example, if your goal is to develop 10 solid references, you know you should be working with at least 20 customers as reference candidates (assuming you have a 50% conversion rate).

Include your reference program in your sales cycle as a negotiation tool.  This is effective since it costs the prospect nothing and gives them something in return.

I'm still a fairly new addition to my current employer's workforce, and it's a great excuse to ask lots of questions and really delve into the fabric of the company. This helps me understand what is needed from customer references now and helps me gear the reference program to deliver against that need.

That's a no-brainer, right? That's the minumum we reference professionals should be achieving. What I encourage you to do, if you've not already done so, is to look at your company's strategy over the next 3-5 years. In doing this, you can gear your reference program to help drive business growth and work more strategically in supporting your salesforce get to where they need to be.

So, top 3 tips:

1) Ask questions. Lots. Get a copy of your company's 5 year plan, and work out how your program will scale to help drive business growth

2) Get in front of your execs. Find out how they are communicating business strategy and plan to underpin key messaging with customer proof-points

More of a question today, than a blog....

This is the time of year most employees are working on their MBOs, and discussing the subject of career development with their managers. This got me thinking; what's the natural career path of someone in customer referencing (who wants to stay in this area)?

Customer Referencing as a dedicated profession is still in its infancy - even though some of us have been doing this for years! - and though a lot of companies now understand the need for it and are prepared to invest in some headcount, the natural career path seems a little uncertain. It's my impression that companies don't know what to do with their customer reference programs in the longer-term. As long as their current reference needs are being met, they aren't necessarily thinking about how to further develop their customer reference professionals (my current employer is perhaps the exception).

It seems to be more cut and dried for other marketing disciplines, moving from manager to senior manager to director, but is there a need for this approach for customer referencing. Is customer referencing still too new to be thought of in this way? Do companies really *get* the value or are we as a discipline seen as infants who are better seen but not heard?!

I don't have the answers and am curious to hear of others thoughts, feelings and experiences.....

1) Get on the road and meet as many customers face-to-face as I can - This is the best part of my job and helps build lasting working relationships.

2) Make the most of systems and technology - By automating many processes such as tracking and reporting, I'll free up more time to continue thinking of the overall customer reference strategy and help my company stay ahead of the competition.

3) Communicate, communicate, communicate! - Make sure that my colleagues in sales and marketing are aware of what references are available to support them, plus that they have visibility into pipeline, strategic focus and deliverables.

4) Track consumption - Look indepth at how prospects and customers consume reference information. If it's not working, fix-it and if it is working, continue to refine for maximum impact.

5) Network - Meet other customer reference professionals, share best practice and use learnings to continue to be ahead of the curve.

What are the New Year resolutions you are making in your professional life?

Today's blog has absolutely nothing to do with Customer Referencing, but I'm a sucker for a good news story so bear with me! I like good news at any time of the year, but especially during the Christmas period I love hearing things to remind me that, fundamentally, there is a kindness, decency and humanity in our society not often talked about.

I'm not quite at the stage of sentimentality that requires you to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life', but thought I'd share a story I read on the BBC News website about a modern-day Good Samaritan:

One act of kindness that befell British writer Bernard Hare in 1982 changed him profoundly. Then a student living just north of London, he tells the story to inspire troubled young people to help deal with their disrupted lives.

This spawned another page on the BBC News website, highlighting more random acts of kindness; read them here.

I hope you'll forgive my self-indulgent post, but I thought I'd share what I thought was a really heart-warming story. Acts of kindness don't have to be about the big gestures, pay it forward peeps!

As a mum to a child whose learning is affected by dyslexia, I was really fascinated to be forwarded a link to an RSA Animate video called Changing Education Paradigms.

I have an obvious interest in the subject matter and judging from the 6 million views and counting, I'm not the only one. The innovative way RSA's message is presentated must have had a major impact on engaging people's attention - I can't imagine this volume of traffic for many 12 minute presentations on YouTube.

So what's this got to do with customer referencing? In it's present package, not a great deal, but imagine if you took this approach with one of your key customers. What a great way to educate a market on your unique offerings! Your offerings may not even be unique but I guarantee in B2B if you got your messaging right, something like this would capture interest and help elevate your position with prospects and customers.

I love seeing how companies present their offerings to get heard above the white noise. I remain firmly convinced B2B organisations can take advantage of the investments and testing B2C companies have already made, and adopt these approaches to get ahead of the competition.

1) Companies that get it will move away from the vanilla ‘Challenge, Solution, Benefit’ case studies and delve deeper into the issues that affect industries or a particular customer. Look at the customer's business goals and the role of [insert your company/solution] in helping them address these.

2) Customer references will move from being company-centric to customer-centred. This will make it easier for people to share information and assets your organisation has produced.  I rarely share content that’s an overt company pitch, but have shared content that is linked to my industry and interests, and hits the nail on the head when it comes to addressing the issues I face.

3) Look at how you use Social Media channels. I still see companies using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as online newsletters, which gives little opportunity for people to interact. The airline KLM is the best example I’ve seen – watch the KLM Surprise videos on YouTube to see how their ‘little acts of kindness’ builds their customer relationships, loyalty, and generates a warm fuzzy feeling (or is that just me?!).

4) There are still some pretty cool technologies that aren't heavily used in B2B. Take a look at what’s working in B2C and see what will connect with you audience. QR codes are a good example. Imagine QR codes on the back of business cards linking to customer references on your website for example. You can adapt to suit your sales teams too – e.g. your finance sales teams can have QR codes that link to a banking story etc. Simple and cheap!

5) I love some of the recent augmented reality campaigns too. Lynx, the favoured deodorant of teenage boys, have used this to great effect to create a viral campaign.

This would look great at a trade show showing off product demos/screenshots that people can interact with. Maybe a little safer than fallen angels people can ‘interact’ with. <Cough>.