Creating a Culture of Referenceability

We all know the importance of customer references or advocates. But few organizations include referenceability (a customer's willingness to act as a champion with peers) as a core responsibility of each employee. If they achieve a culture of referenceability the added value of that customer relationship increases exponentially. This presentations provides the fundamental concepts for creating such a culture.

1. Creating a Culture of Referenceability

2. What’s the Value? 2 Peers are the most trusted source for a B2B buyer Most companies have a wealth of advocate value that goes unrealized Your best advocates are worth much more than their contract value

3. What’s the Value? 3 They help differentiate your offering from competitors’ They help maintain your value and minimize discounting Advocates provide credibility that make a decision in your favor easier, faster

4. Essential Requirements 4 Creating a Culture of Referenceability requires C-Level support All parts of the organization see it as a top priority and are accountable A willingness to change business as usual practices

5. The Three Elements 5 Employees internalize the responsibility to cultivate customer references Employees identify customers ready to act as advocates/champions Employees are trained on the effective use of advocates in all relevant sales and marketing activities

6. Cultivate 6 All employees, customer-facing in particular, must have referenceability as the end goal in their interactions Incentives may play a role, but this should be a core value of the organization All employees should be empowered to explore a customer’s willingness to advocate

7. Identify 7 Employees across the organization should be looking for advocates Once a customer expresses high enthusiasm, they should be made aware of the customer reference program (or equivalent function) A smooth, easy transition should be made to this team Got one!

8. Effective Use 8 The sales team “playbook” should map customer advocate and customer content to each sales stage Every team in marketing should figure out how customers can tell the company’s story for more credibility Strategic initiatives should always include customer advocate use

9. Catch Fire 9 As more customers advocate, more will see the benefits and participate The role customer advocates play in new revenue and growth becomes tangible, measureable With more visible advocacy, employees are further committed to the goal

10. We Can Help You 10 We’ve been building and supporting customer reference programs since 2003! See our blog www.customerreferenceinsights.com Contact us at 1-800-708-4857 or [email protected]