Although we all know peer recommendations are the most trusted source of brand information, we don’t always know who our advocates are or how to get them to share recommendations.
Qwest Communications really struggled with this. In certain markets, up to 50% of Qwest’s prospects request a customer reference before agreeing to purchase. With no systematic approach to sourcing references, sales reps would spend an average of 4 hours (across 2 or 3 weeks) to find each reference. Not only did this slow down the sales cycle, but reps would also burn out happy customers by over-contacting them or turn to less satisfied customers and get poor references. Then Qwest found a creative new approach to references.
Qwest decided to record video testimonials and store them on an online database, so that sales reps could find and share a reference within minutes. To ensure relevance, the references can be filtered by client industry, size, geography, business need, benefit achieved etc. Qwest also cut each testimonial into bite-sized 60-second clips to encourage customers to click through. Reps receive an automatic notification each time a customer clicks through, which enables effective follow-up.
The program has cut the time it takes reps to find a reference by 40%, leading to a sales cycle reduction of 4 days and an equivalent cost saving of 20 full time employees per year. Beyond those benefits, soundbites from the testimonials have also enhanced a range of marcomms and reference interviews have actually boosted customer loyalty and retention.
Tom Robson – the program’s manager – has shared a few tips on how to get effective customer references:
1. Get expert, unbiased third parties to conduct the reference interviews.
2. Aim for around 85% positive comments, but publish the negative too.
3. Don’t provide incentives for participation, but do provide thanks and a nominal gift on the back-end.
Tom will be providing more tips on how to make the most of references on April 6th, including how to identify and recruit happy customers for interviews and how to organize a reference portal.
MLC members, register here to hear Tom Robson share more on Qwest’s work on April 6th at 11am ET (4pm UK time).
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