The past few weeks have been crazy with reference requests…”I need 15 references for…”, “the deal won’t close without a xxxxxx reference”, “the RFP needs 4 references”. It was just enough for me to pull my hair out. As soon as I would complete a request, one or two more would hit my inbox. I kind of hit the point where the last thing I wanted to think about was talking to a customer and asking them if I could use them.
But then on Thursday, that all changed. I got a call from one of my favorite customers. I had convinced myself that he was calling me directly to get references for a new project he was working on, but he wasn’t. He just called to say hi and to see how I was doing.
It was then that I realized the beauty and the joy of running a reference program – the connections you make with your customers. Mike had no idea what that call meant to me as it helped me put things back in perspective. I love working with customers and helping my PR team, AR team and sales teams out by giving them great customers.
So thank you Mike for the call!
Thanks for reminding everyone in the customer success business why we are here… I shared this with all our members at http://www.customerreferenceprogram.org/ and look forward to hearing more!
Thanks Gary.