The Power of "Stories That Sell"

How powerful are your success stories? Do they just tell a story? Do they
talk about the customer's success? Or are they just something you check off that you've done every quarter?

One of my favorite writers, Casey Hibbard, covers this information extensively in her awesome book "Stories that Sell" and her great blog with the same name.

Casey is always talking about why it's important to include measurable results in your case studies and gives some tips. If you haven't visited
her site take a look. She's even been holding some webinars lately for case study writers great stuff.

One thing I really like about Casey is how she understands what a story needs. Stories need to be compelling AND include some measurable results, for example dollars saved, productivity time increases, avoidance costs, etc. A success story is like a cake. Cake by itself is fine but if you add some icing it take it to a whole new level! A success story without measurable results is fine but if you add them the story turns out so much more powerful. And plus you'll get some great quotes or value statements that your corporate marketing team can use!

Happy Referencing! I am off to eat some cake (with frosting)!

Not all Customers are Created Equal

In my post dated July 27 2010 I talked about the need to know your customers. I am a firm believer that in order to build a relationship with someone you need to know them first. Here are some thoughts from that post and some other things I've been thinking about lately on why it's so important to understand who your customers are:

• You need to know who the main contact is at the company. Will you be working with the IT Admin, Database Administrator, Chief Marketing Officer etc?" It's very different working with an IT Manager versus a Chief Marketing Officer.
• What industries does your customer work in? Although IT managers are similar there are differences between an IT manager at a university and one at a Fortune 100 financial services company.
  
• What types of business challenges do they face? For some it might be something easy as they needed a new phone system or is it complex like a global implementation that will include four very different products.


• What size company do they work at? It's a very different world for an IT manager at a huge enterprise company versus a SMB company.


• Even location plays a factor. Many years ago I managed phone representations for Matrix Marketing and I taught that it was important for the reps to parrot their customers including rate of speech, tone, formality, etc. While I don't recommend going to that extreme, I do recommend that you be aware of differences such as east coast/west coast personalities, fast/slow speakers, etc.

How well do you know your customers? Happy referencing!

What is a Customer Reference Program?

Recently I had someone ask me what a customer reference program was. They were wondering if a company has success stories and video testimonials does that mean they have a customer reference program?

This is how I see it. Someone has a reference program if they have a reference manager dedicated to managing the program and processes for references, success stories and testimonials. Now what you can have is different levels of maturity that your program is at. Point of Reference, a customer reference program vendor, has developed customer reference assets around Customer Reference Program (CRP) Maturity Model. This self-assessment tool helps you understand the current state of your program and chart a course for success. Find out more about this tool here

They have some other great whitepapers and resources too. Check out their "Customer Reference Tools & Knowledge"" website

Happy Referencing!

The Only Way to Eat an Elephant...

One of my favorite sayings is "The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!" I love this saying and it's very applicable to many things in life including home projects, work projects, personal goals and so much more! As a reference manager at a new company it's a saying I need to remember over the next few weeks and months.

It's easy to get overwhelmed as a reference manager. There are always requests coming in and it can be a challenge to balance everything from requests, success stories, video testimonials, reference tracking, etc. And if you are type A passionate reference junkie like me you already have your own lists of 25+ things you want to work on too!

Here are a few tips to help new reference managers (including myself) remember this important principle in our stressful roles. First, don't panic! It can be overwhelming when you start getting reference requests. You will get emails from sales and just about everyone else in the company who needs a reference and needs it today. Honestly panicking is the worst thing you can do. You need to step back, write all the requests down, take a breath (maybe a few ones), prioritize them and get to work. The first few weeks might be rough as you are suddenly one of the most popular people in the office. Second, know what references resources you currently have. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the existing references and reference assets. Once you know what you have, then set some goals on what you'd like to have in the next 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Keep in mind while it would be nice to have a fairy godmother that could wave her magic wand and make all these assets appear, it's just not going to happen. Third, remember to plan and organize. This has saved my life numerous times. I don't know if it's my age, that I drink too much diet Pepsi or what but I just don't remember things like I used to so I track everything. I have a project tracking book, I have a matrix with about 20 tabs etc. I am not kidding when I say I track everything!

Honestly I feel very blessed at my new job because I think Shoretel has awesome products, fabulous customers and great employees. It's only week one but I think I found my dream job! Happy Referencing!