As this financial crisis ripples into the broader economy, sales forecasts are going to get trimmed and then hard budget decisions will be upon us. If you are involved in customer reference management, you are actually in a pretty good place. Let me share a few thoughts why, and perhaps give you the confidence to communicate this if you are working in an 
organization that needs understand why customer references are even more important in a down economy.
Preventing deals lost to delay/indecision. When the economy gets tough, buyers have to question evey purchase. Their skepticism of your value proposition increases and opportunities are easily lost to delay/indecision. Effectively connecting buyers with customers can restore confidence in the ROI of your offering in way not possible through other means.
Ability to measure the return on investment. Unlike so many of the ways that marketing dollars are spent, the sales impact of customer references can be easily tracked and measured. When investments are being scrutinized, those that can effectively illustrate their results
A prerequisite to getting new business. While another email campaign or white paper may help move along new opportunities, it isn’t uncommon to find that sharing multiple positive references is a requirement of the due diligence process associating with the deal closing. In a down economy, your prospects less likely to let you skip this steps.
A cost effective endeavor. The activities associated with customer reference management are relatively inexpensive compared with many marketing investments and particularly in light of the business impact as mentioned above. This is good news when budgets are being reviewed.
The work done to build relationships and cultivate a diverse community of customers willing to speak positively about their experiences is a investment that will continue to return value to the business on a consistent basis through good times and bad.
We’re absolutely on the same page regarding customer references and the overwhelming need for them in tough economic conditions. I regularly pitch the Sales Executives on this topic, which seems to be gaining attention and traction due to the simple logic of the matter. Great work here…and I look forward to seeing more soon.
Feel free to check out the new post on Quality Control…not just getting the reference…but ensuring it’s a great story http://customercredentialtalk.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/quality-control-issues/