Strategizing Client References
Selling an intangible product such as enterprise software is different from selling something the buyer can touch and feel. Demos are used to prove the viability of the application, but a demo occurs within a very controlled environment and isn’t always representative of a production environment. So how can the customer truly validate the solution and the company?
While many use product and company reviews to get an impartial view of the product, the fact is that many reviews have been bought or incented in some way, so they can’t automatically be believed at face value. Therefore, the most practical way to corroborate the software vendor’s claims is through customer references.
These references are the crown jewel of software companies and they are fiercely protected, as while satisfied customers are generally glad to help another company with a daunting decision, they are leery about being overused. One common exception is when the prospective customer is a competitor to the customer providing the reference.
The key to delivering the most impactful references is to understand the prospective customer’s questions (even getting the questions written) and match the prospective customer with an existing customer who had similar challenges. Additionally, it is valuable for the person making the call to speak with his/her functional counterpart (e.g., CFO to CFO).
The timing associated with when to leverage references is also important; for example, supplying references too early will likely cause the need for more references later, as the prospective customer may not be far enough along in the evaluation process to properly leverage the reference. Ideally, references should be given as the final step before final negotiations occur.
In the end, the strategy should be to name drop similar companies that have embraced the solution early in the sales process for credibility purposes and specific references late for final validation.
If you have questions regarding how to leverage references, either ask Virtual Dave or send an email to dave@moicpartners.com
