When to NOT Use a Customer Reference

One of your biggest responsibilities as a customer reference manager is to get customer references so are there times you'd actually NOT use a customer reference? Most definitely. Here are some I've come across in my career:

• Customer has negative experience/unresolved issue - The best customer reference is one whose customer experience has been delightful from a to z. It's not a good time if the customer has a contract issue, unresolved support issue, have issues with their sales rep etc. If your company hasn't been responsive to them, it's obviously not the best time to use them as a reference. Hopefully your company has implemented Salesforce or another CRM so you can review customer records to stay up on their satisfaction levels. Another way to stay informed is your customer surveys. Sometimes customers will only share their unhappiness via surveys so if you company has them, try to get your hands on the results and see how satisfied your customers are or if there are red flags you need to be aware of.
• You haven't checked in with them for a while - Once a customer says they will be a reference, they are always a reference right? Wrong! You should check back with them every six months or so to make sure they are still a good reference. This is also a good opportunity to check if they are using new products/solutions or have a new success that would be good to capture. At some companies they check with the customer every time before giving out the customer as a sales reference.
• You haven't checked with the customer yourself - A mistake I made as a reference manager was trusting a sales manager that the customer was ready to be a reference. Because I trusted the sales manager, I reached out to the customer and asked them what reference activities they wanted to participate in. Big mistake. Not only were they not ready to a reference but they were pretty unhappy with the company for a few reasons. Imagine if I would have given that customer to a prospect to be a sales reference. Bottom line is ALWAYS check with the customer first before giving them out as a reference.
• The customer is hesitant - Sometimes customers have a hard time saying no and so they'll say yes with some hesitation. Make sure to listen closely to any clues that it's not a good time for them. It's better to not use a reference than use one that gives a bad reference and you lose a $200k deal.
• It's a bad time for the customer - Recently I was working with a customer whose company was going through a rough patch. He mentioned they were having layoffs coming up. Although we really needed the reference, out of respect to him I backed off and told him to let me know when things had cooled down a little. Be sensitive to your customer's lives. They will really appreciate it!