I recently read this article in the New York Times called “Verizon: How Much Do You Charge Now?” by David Pogue and it doesn’t bode well for any company.  Customer loyalty is based on treating customers well and consistent hidden charges doesn’t help build it. 

In an extremely competitive market, do companies need to keep charges likes this to make them profitable?  Is it justified? What do you think?

#crlp Let your customers help you sell your products.  If they’re happy with what you’re giving them, they will be your best sales people.

For those starting a customer reference program or those who have been tasked to take over a reference program and have no idea what to do, “The Customer Reference Handbook” is a must read.  Written by Boulder Logic and Big Sky Communications , it’s a great practical approach to those who are new to the field of customer references.

Although there is no one way to run a reference program, this is a great handbook on how to get started – and that’s usually the hardest part. I could have used this handbook 10 plus years ago when I started my first program from scratch.

For those who have started the program and have experience, it’s probably not the best read for you, but there’s never anything bad about a refresher course.

Stay tuned for my comments via blog post on some of the 14 essays in this handbook.

Do you have other tips for running a program or how not to run a customer reference program?

#crlp When you tell a customer you’re going to do something, do it.

I recently finished the book “Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time” by Keith Ferrazzi. Surprisingly, it was brought to my attention by a stay at home mom friend of mine. I can’t remember how she found out about it, but she’s an avid reader too, so who knows.

The book goes through how to build relationships and how one can lead to many others. More than anything, I learned that you never want to take advantage of a customer and tick them off from the reference perspective. I’m not sure about yours, but the network security industry is tight knit and people know each other and move around. I can expect that if something blows up with a customer, there’s a good chance other customers/prospects will find out about it. And likewise, if there’s a great article written about a customer or a customer is extremely impressed with my company, others will find out about it too. Does word of mouth marketing come to mind?

In the book Ferrazzi makes the point that no one is a self made man/woman. I couldn’t agree more. When I’m done with a press release/case study or a customer has a great article appear, I send out a note to the Sales team to let them know of the success. And without a doubt, I thank the Sales person for keeping the customer happy. I would love to be able to take full credit for the success of the reference program, but it’s simply not true. Yes, I am responsible for it, but if the Sales team was ticking off the customers every day, I wouldn’t have happy customers to write about. So, do yourself a favor and give credit to those who deserve it. Thank those who make your job easier!  In the long run, it’ll make your job even easier.

Also make sure that you are letting your customer know how they will benefit from your interaction.  As a vendor, I have to remember that 1) my customers are working with many vendors 2) being a reference for me isn’t the top priority for my customer and 3) my customers want to succeed.  I need to help them.  There’s nothing better to help the career of my customer than getting them into a top tier publication or giving them something to show to their management to prove that they’ve saved the company $XXX.  Show your customers what’s in it for them because if you don’t another vendor will!

One of my favorite quotes from the book is “Loyalty may be the forgotten virtue of the modern age, but it remains the hallmark of any strong relationship and a value many companies are working hard to bring into their day-to-day practices.” Need I say more? 

Keep your customers happy, treat them well and respect them and your relationship with them. I love it when I leave a company and my previous customers still keep in contact. It’s then that I know I did my job well. 

How do you build your relationships with your customers?

Ferrazzi’s follow up book “Who’s Got Your Back?” might be on version 2 of my “Dear Santa, I Want Books for Christmas!” If you have books you want me to add to the list, let me know!

Happy Halloween!

#crlp Respect your customers and their time.

#crlp If a customer doesn’t get back to you quickly it might not mean they don’t like your product – it might mean they’re just busy with other things.

#crlp A customer generally has more than one vendor they’re working with which also means more than one company to do references for.

In June I wrote a post called “A Little Self Serving” about how I was raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my Unlce Jerry who passed away last November from cancer. Instead of the typical marathon or triathlon, this time it was for a regatta.  My team was able to train with the amazing, talented and funny crew over at Club Nautique in Sausalito.  These guys are awesome!  (if you’re thinking of learning to sail, check them out.  Club Nautique has a location in Sausalito and Alameda.) Well, the regatta was this past weekend and I’m happy to say we survived and did well.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma is a nationwide and great organization which helps find a cure for blood related cancer.  One part of their program is Team in Training which trains you for an endurance event (triathlon, marathon, century ride, Ironman, hike, regatta…) in return for you commiting to raise money.  I’ve been part of the program for just over 9 years now and have raised close to $30,000 for the cause.  It’s fun and you can find out more about the LLS and TNT by clicking on these links.

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Team in Training

Below is the letter I sent out this week to my family and friends.

——

This past weekend was the Leukemia Cup Regatta in the San Francisco Bay and what an amazing weekend it was.  Saturday started off with a formal cocktail and dinner reception at the San Francisco Yacht Club and was filled with lots of hoity toity-ness.  But, it was a beautiful setting.  Tom Perkins introduced Al Gore who was the keynote speaker for the night and had everyone in stitches. (Does that give you an idea of the amount of money in the room? I don’t think they would have allowed me in if they saw me drive up in my Honda Civic)

Sunday was the actual regatta with 110 boats racing. With so many boats starting at different times yet all congregating around the start point, it was like 101 at 5:30pm on a weekday. There were a few times when I was sure that a few boats were going to hit each other, but fortunately I didn’t see any collisions.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and having so many boats on the water was picturesque.  The spinnakers of the big boats were out and it was just beautiful.

After racing for 3 ½ hours, getting stuck with absolutely no wind for about 45 minutes on the east side of Angel Island, getting close enough to other boats where a beer could (and was) passed, water coming in and some laugher, our little 25 foot “Swellbound” came in third place for our division. My little crew of the 5 of us did awesome. We were very excited that it was over and that we had done so well.  I finally began to understand why and how sailing could be fun.

As you all know, I wasn’t a fan of sailing this summer.  I’m more the wine and cheese type of sailor or power boats rather than the boat on its side with water coming into it, type of sailor. But, I was able to enjoy myself this weekend and never really got scared and never thought of jumping overboard to swim to shore (that’s a first!).  At one point when the boat was on its side with water coming in, a friend of mine was sure that I was going to be white faced and panicking but I turned to her and said “I think I’m going to end up with a tan line with all my honorees names.”

If it wasn’t for the honorees and the amazing support of you all, I would have quit after the first weekend of sailing.  But, as I wrote on my leg because it was my mantra throughout the summer “Chemo is harder!”

The San Francisco Leukemia Cup Regatta raised more than double any other regatta in the country with a preliminary number of $680,000 raised!!!!! And, you all were $4,000 of that number so thank you!

Thank you all for your continued and continued and continued support of me and my crazy endeavors and for making a difference in the lives of cancer patients.

GO TEAM!

Love,
Maeve

#crlp Set realistic expectations with your customers.