A Simple Thank You

A few years I heard a GREAT tip at a Customer Reference Forum that was really impactful. The person said they write hand written notes to thank their references. At that time I was a new to the role and working quite a bit and wondered how I would ever have the time to do hand written thank you notes. However I have become a big believer of doing these. I try to send out some every Christmas thanking 'key' customer references for their help over the past year and wishing them a happy new year! I will also do this throughout the year if a customer goes above and beyond in helping out. It's funny because they has carried over into my personal life. If someone goes way out of their way to help me I send their company a thank you email or call their manager. I might only do this a few times a month which doesn't take much time at all but imagine if we all started doing this what a different world it would be!

By the way if you haven't signed up yet for the next conference you might want to look into this! It's a great way to network, learn best practices, help with challenges you might be facing, help with your program planning and so much more! Bill Lee of the Customer Reference Forum has these on the east coast too but I usually go to the west coast event. I love that they are only two days long so I am not out of the office too long. Learn more http://customerreferenceforum.com/event2011/index.php.

A Paradigm Shift - Asking for References

When I first started out working with references I will be honest that it was a little hard hearing no. When I had been a salesperson years ago I was very good and was able to close almost any deal. But here I was as a reference manager getting no and quite a bit. What I started to realize was that no matter how nice I asked sometimes customers just say no. And honestly there's no way to know why they say no. There are many reasons they say why no including they are too busy, company policies, too shy, they aren't satisfied with the product etc. Whatever you do don't take it personal!

Here's the paradigm shift. There are customers who WANT to do these reference requests. Here is an example. I am working on a press request and I got someone who said thank you for asking because they are non-profit and don't have budget to do PR and this helps them with their company PR.

The bottom line is don't assume every customer will say no. Approach every request as if it's going to be a yes! Years ago I learned in sales that having the right positive attitude can really affect your sales and being a reference manager is very much like being a sales person. IF your customer says no, thank them and move on. There is someone out there who is waiting for you to ask them!

Good referencing!