Why Salespeople Don't Like Your Customer-Reference Program (and What to Do About It)
Salespeople work under the pressure of a very competitive environment, and they want access to any tool or resource that will help them win business.
And, as with most large corporate purchases, the only way to get new customers to sign on is to let them hear directly from current customers who can speak about their experience with your products.
So why do salespeople often resist participating in your company's customer-reference program? For several reasons...
Salespeople may feel like they are "bothering" their customers when asking for a reference. Once a new customer has signed up, it is the salesperson's and account manager's job to keep that customer happy. Asking for "favors," such as taking reference calls or participating in marketing-reference activities, can seem like an unnecessary burden.
Salespeople may view the customer-reference process as interfering with their deal. Sales professionals are very focused on reaching the final negotiations of the sale. If the customer-reference process is too rigid or asks too much from them, they see it as a distraction. They often feel they will do better dealing with the reference request themselves without going through a formal channel.
Salespeople are competitive by nature. The customer-reference process is designed to benefit the entire organization, not just one sales professional, yet each salesperson is trying to become the top performer. So if a customer-reference manager asks a salesperson to contribute something that will help another sales representative, the salesperson may not see an immediate benefit to himself.
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Comments
How do you have an effective "reference" program when you don't want to publicize the reference names due to competitive pillaging? And, is a "non-posted" reference as effective as a posted one? In other words - keeping a list of reference customers that agree to be contacted upon request.
Great article! A couple of notes. We automated the reference process using a combination of Eloqua to capture and communicate to references as well as Salesforce.com to store and report on reference data.
In addition, we have our Customer Success Managers request references rather than sales. This may make it easier for the sales team.
Chad
@chadhorenfeldt
In response to Cheryl's question we have the same issue of keeping customer identities private for competitive reasons, for us and for them. What's worked best for us is to keep a list of possible references in each of our product lines and when a sales rep sends his/her request to marketing we go to the well and make calls to the customer who fits the best. This works for three reasons: 1. The customer knows who will be calling and what specific questions the prospect might be asking 2. It forces the sales rep and marketing to think strategically about the customers who would be the best fit for the prospect 3. We don't over use our customer references.
Very good article with in depth analysis