Challenge - Fortune 500 References

One of the biggest challenges we face as a Customer Reference Manager is getting Fortune 500 customers to be references. Many of them will do sales and analyst references but when it comes to doing anything public (case study, video testimonial, press interviews, press releases etc.) they don't like to say yes. In fact a lot of these companies have corporate policies saying their employees cannot participate in any of these and they can lose their job if they do.

So should you give up and not even try? Not at all. Even if there's a one percent chance you could REALLY impact your company's sales, would you do it? It isn't easy but you can get Fortune 500 references and here are some tips that can help you:

• Go for the highest levels possible in the organization (CIO, VPs etc) and position it as a win-win opportunity for them. Find out what their goals are for the year and see if you can help (Example - Getting more recognition for their IT success). One thing that really works is have your senior executive (CMO) ask their senior executive (CMO/CIO). It's amazing how powerful this approach is!
• Leverage the sales reps'/manager's relationship with the customer and have the sales rep ask them
• Only ask for one request at a time rather than asking for everything (Video, case study, speaking opportunity etc.). Shoot for activites that benefit the customer. For example, one I had a Vice-President of IT at a Fortune 100 company speak on a Radio Talk Show for CIOs. Her goal was to become a CIO and this helped position her as a thought leader with an audience that could help her career.
• Keep your ears open. A few times after big wins (fixing a technical problem, save the company a ton of money, time etc) I have reached out to the customer to see if they would do something for us. This has worked more than a few times!
• Persistence and ask periodically. Sometimes company policies change or they get a new legal/executive/communications team that isn't as strict.
• Last but not least it takes time. In fact probably weeks or even months longer than if you just ask a small to medium business but honestly it's so worth it. Some of my biggest wins as a Reference Manager were when I was able to get Fortune 500 customers to help with reference activities!

For more on this topic, Bill Lee, of the Customer Reference Forum shares some thoughts in his June 2010 newsletter.

Challenge - Asking for the Reference

Being a Customer Reference Manager is like being a sales person in quite a few ways. One example of this is how you have to sell your program internally and to customers. Another example of this, and one of the most challenging, is asking your customers to be references. This is challenging for some because we are marketing type people not sales. Luckily I spent 12 years in call centers including doing some inside sales so for me it's pretty easy. Here are some tips I've picked up along the way.

First, do your research before-hand. Know everything you can about the customer including order history, environment, current situation, company (revenue, number of employees, industry etc), what products they are using, etc. I believe the more you know about them the more successful you'll be in getting the reference. Plus the more you know, the more confident you'll be in going for the reference (very similar to closing a sale!).

Second, just go for it. I know that asking customers to be a reference is just not comfortable for some of us. It might be out of our comfort zone to ask others to do anything but the only way you'll know if a customer will be a reference is to ask. Know upfront there will be some that will say no. And guess what. That's ok. Richard Fouts at Gartner estimates that you can 'close' fifty percent of your reference pipeline. If a customer says "no", it's just them saying "no" and typically it's not even a reflection on you or the company. They just don't want to for whatever reason. I remember a few years asking one customer and he said no. I took it a little personally and the later found out his mother was really ill and he wanted more time to spend with her.

Third, realize it will benefit the customers too. Customers, especially those who thought leaders, want to share their positive experiences and successes with others. In fact, there are some waiting right now for you to pick up the phone and call them. Ok maybe not but hopefully you get the point.

Here are some other tips:

• Develop call scripts
• Ask sales for help. If you don't know the customer well enough, ask the sales rep to do a intro call for you.
• SELL the customers on the value of the program. Remember win-win!
• Track the response, whether it's yes/no/later. If it's a later, get a month when you can check back. Also if you feel comfortable ask what you can do to get them to say yes. Sometimes it's something simple, like get them a price quote.