I saw how we were doing things before ReferenceEdge; I was not blind to that: spreadsheets, the AEs hoarding information. We needed a tool to complete the job and actually scale the program, because anyone can have a few references in their back pocket. But at the scale we want, to be able to have a reference for every vertical at every size, it’s important that we have a tool that can support that. So, we went with ReferenceEdge. 

I'm in ReferenceEdge all the time; it’s literally the first thing I open when I get to work and leave it open all day. I’ve probably clicked every single button I think you can hit in there.

I refresh my dashboard probably 15 times a day to follow deals and see any updates. And my CRMs are working in it every day and I encourage my AEs to do the same.

ReferenceEdge is clean. I hate clutter on my screen. I like to be able to click things that say exactly what I'm looking for, and open a report, and be able to know exactly what's going on. 

Honestly, and realistically, I think it helps me with making sure my references aren't overused in each vertical, because I can track exactly how many times they've been used. We never want to burn anyone out.

The organizational aspect of ReferenceEdge is by far one of my favorite things, the ability to track every single movement as far as the reference program, and even the advocacy program. It allows me to track anything in there, as far as content and to see what accounts are healthy, and to ensure all our reference data is updated and accurate.

Obviously, one of the biggest measurements of success is revenue influenced, and that's what I track in ReferenceEdge. 

I really do love also being able to follow the pipeline of where a reference is used, tracking it through the sales cycle. And to be able to follow up after the deal closes… I always ask: Can I get some feedback on the reference? Can you tell me how that went? Those are important things to know as you're scaling a program. 

It really is very beneficial for me to be able to track the entire pipeline, as well as continue to follow up with not just the AEs, but the customers. It allows me to be very versatile in my approach.

I think it comes down to me taking it seriously, and it being taken seriously at a leadership level. If it's not taken seriously at a high level, then why would anyone take it seriously in general? 

And I am blessed in the fact that my leadership took it so seriously, that I was hired specifically for this role, and so I think it really does come down to working hard on it, being able to understand that it's not going to be an instant overnight success. You're going to have to go chase things, you're going to have to go find people that you didn't think existed in the world, and you're really going to have to get the buy-in from your leadership. That is key.

I definitely think that the CRM team was the initial push that we needed, and then I was actually able to come in and work on more of a strategic level, 

But on the flip side, I often use customers that asked for a reference, and once they're implemented and up and running, I ask them to join the program.

Everything is in ReferenceEdge. Every single thing about our reference program is in there, all the content, one-pagers, all of our references, strategies, everything. 

Without ReferenceEdge, I would be in shambles. I would be struggling through spreadsheets all day. 

I said to a colleague the other day, “I cannot stress enough how good ReferenceEdge has been to me. Without it, it'd just be a chaotic mess, and it would be impossible to scale a program.”

Well, efficiency falls on me, because obviously I am a one-man band here as far as getting nominations and approving requests. 

We do have the option of peer-to-peer, but I prefer to touch requests myself to ensure I know exactly what's going on at any given time. Every single morning, the first thing I do is open up ReferenceEdge, refresh my dashboard, and check for any new nominations or any new requests.

As far as sustainability, I think it comes down to making sure advocates are not getting overused, making sure you're using the right people for the right references, you know? I'm not going to send a banker over to a non-profit just because they might be looking at a similar product, that doesn't make a ton of sense. I want to make sure I'm connecting people with people that they can have a meaningful conversation with. I don't want it to purely be, oh, Nextiva's great. I want them to know a little bit about each other's world, so that they can have an intelligent conversation and make sure we are the right fit for that program.

I think a lot of it is losing sight of the big picture on where customer advocacy actually does help every single person in the building. It not only influences revenue, it also drives new traffic, drives new leads, allows for content to be published for a social media team, etc.

Another common misconception is people not thinking customer advocacy is a big deal. They kind of think it's just hop on a call and answer a couple questions for a customer, when it's not. I think that a lot of companies have this idea that it's not something they need to hone into and don't need to lean on, and again, that's kind of where Nextiva has completely flipped the script. They honed in on it. They made sure it was something that was important. 

And companies like Salesforce have some amazing reference programs, and that's kind of one of the reasons I think that we've been successful is because I've learned so much from their reference program. 

Advocates are giving valuable insight, they're using their time, you know, sometimes they're compensated, sometimes they're not, but that’s not the point regardless. I think that people think that it's just a quick phone call saying, yep, Nextiva's great, their service is awesome. No, some of these questions are very in-depth and technical. Some of these people are CIOs so I need to put them in touch with someone who can speak their language and be able to convey that this is the right product for them.