Customer Reference Programs at the Tipping Point: Update to the 2013 Summit on Customer Engagement

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As companies move increasingly toward a model of customer advocacy—that is, getting your customers to market and sell for you—Bill Lee announces the addition of three breakout presentations at the 2013 Summit on Customer Engagement (March 5-6, Redwood City, CA). Participants who register now can ensure a spot with a limited-time $200 discount.

The new presentations include:

• Creating Apple-Like Customer References and Advocates
  Rob Meinhardt, Founder and CEO, KACE (acquired by Dell)
• Aligning Customer Reference Programs with Corporate Strategy
  Abby Atkinson, Senior Director, Infor Ambassador Reference Program, Infor
• Measuring—and Increasing—the Full Value of Brand Advocate Programs
  Deena Zenyk, Marketing Manager, Customer Advocacy Programs, SMART Technologies

The Essentials of a Great Customer Reference Program

"Customer reference programs can play a critical role in customer advocacy marketing," says Lee. "That's because reference managers are most skilled at 1) building relationships with customer advocates, 2) understanding and communicating the value such customers receive from your firm, and 3) cultivating the very best, or 'rock star,' customer advocates. Our research has identified several critical factors that set successful customer reference programs apart from the also-rans." These include:

Expand your horizons. Despite their huge potential, many customer reference programs run the risk of irrelevance when they subsume references into traditional marketing efforts—such as being just a concierge service for salespeople looking to close deals. Today's savvy firms—like those of the three presenters announced today—position their reference programs at the center of all customer advocacy efforts, such as co-marketing, customer communities, advisory boards and forums, MVP programs and social media programs. Customer advocacy is where the most dynamic innovation and impact are in marketing today.

Make the business case. Customer advocacy trumps traditional marketing in terms of the measurable impact that customer references and advocacy can make on sales efficiency, referral business, lead generation, market awareness, brand building—indeed, on your entire growth engine.

Build your program around customer preferences, not marketing directives. Reference programs that approach customers only when they need a reference create one thing: reference burnout. It's a symptom of allowing marketing objectives to guide reference relationships. Smart reference managers build a powerful reference value proposition around customers' desire—which can be huge—to tout their mutual success with you, often in a wide variety of ways.

Disrupt. Customer reference and advocacy efforts are the most innovative areas in marketing and sales today—indeed, they're reinventing these processes. Embracing this requires smart, passionate and forceful senior executive support. Reference managers who have this thrive.

Always be selling - both internally and to potential new customer references. Internal stakeholders like marketing, sales and social media—who are often bogged down in traditional marketing thinking—need reminding of the powerful impact customer advocates have on sales, lead generation and market awareness. Potential customers need reminding of the tremendous mutual value they can gain from co-marketing.

Create high-value data. Reference managers learn exceptionally valuable things about customers that is otherwise lost, such as how customers actually use a product or service, and what value they actually get from it (both of which are invariably different from what R&D or sales expect). Smart reference managers capture such high-value knowledge and make sure it's acted upon.

About the Summit on Customer Engagement
Going into its fifth year, the Summit on Customer Engagement is the world's oldest and most respected conference on customer references and customer advocacy, drawing major corporations from around the world.

Keynoters at the 2013 Summit include:

• Chuck Ball, Senior Vice President of Health Systems, AmerisourceBergen
• Sean Geehan, Author, The B2B Executive Playbook
• Lisa Arthur, Chief Marketing Officer, Aprimo, and
• Katharyn White, Vice President, Marketing, IBM Global Business Services

"We also have a select group of accomplished, innovative sponsors at the Summit," says Lee. "We're delighted we've just added MRM Reference Consulting to the group, which includes Big Sky Communications, Boulder Logic, inEvidence, Influitive, Mainstay Salire, Point of Reference, TechValidate and first-time sponsor Zuberance. These firms share their broad experience working with reference and advocacy programs in a collaborative, no-sales environment."

About Bill Lee
Lee is the foremost authority in the world on customer advocacy and engagement. Forbes Online columnist Dorie Clark called his book, The Hidden Wealth of Customers (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012), "one of the most insightful business books I've read this year." His firms, Customer Reference Forum and Lee Consulting Group, provide educational, research and consulting services on customer strategy, advocacy and community building.

For information about Bill Lee:
http://www.customerreferenceforum.com/about_leadership.php

For information about the 2013 Summit on Customer Engagement: http://www.customerreferenceforum.com/event2013

For information about Customer Reference Forum: http://www.customerreferenceforum.com/index.php

SOURCE Bill Lee