Gartner Webinar Recap - "How to Manage a Successful Customer Reference Program"

Today I had the opportunity to listen to a great Gartner webinar presented by Richard Fouts (Gartner Analyst) and Linda Welch (Global Marketing Director at Unisys). It was a great seminar which covered a lot of important principles for companies building or expanding their Customer Reference Programs. Here are some key takeaways and I'll post a link to the Gartner site where you can hear a replay and maybe even download the slide.

• The sales cycle used to be 12 months now it’s 15 months (increase by 20%)and customer references help shorten the sales cycle. Customer references are more important than ever to help shorten the sales cycle and have huge impact on revenue.


• #1 thing that influences a customer to buy is a customer reference (2.5 more times likely to buy when company can articulate message with a customer reference). References validate the message a company is saying about their product/solution and references reduce risks. (Gartner survey - Richard Fouts)


• There is a lot of research that shows how impactful references can be. For example last year CIO Insight said that consumers buy 25% faster when provided references


• Manage the program just like you manage your sales pipeline. I've been preaching this for years and I'm so pleased to hear someone else share this philosophy. Richard estimates you can close about 50% of references in your pipeline.


• Over 90% of customers will be references without financial compensation. Offer incentives like advance notice of product development roadmaps, tradeshows and publicity, co-marketing campaigns, free attendance at your events, and speaking opportunities.


• Providers are leaving a lot of ROI on the table by limiting references to sales opportunities.

View the recorded webinar