Last week we held our second Catalysis Customer Reference Brainshare event. The topic was how to get sales and other stakeholders more engaged with the reference programme and we had a lively discussion.
One question for debate was how – and indeed, if – reference programme managers should incentivise their sales team to provide references. It’s a perennial question but one to which there is no simple answer.
When asked this question, my response is always ‘it depends’. No, I’m not being lazy – it really does.
Incentives might work well in the short term (eg, ‘We need customers for a Gartner Magic Quadrant update and will give you an iPad if you can get us a suitable one that’s willing to participate by next Friday’). However, in the longer term I’m dubious.
We’ve seen clients offer incentive programmes to build their pipeline before and the result is often either a lukewarm response, or a flood of unqualified or unsuitable leads – for which everyone expects their reward.
Knowing what to offer as an incentive is tricky too. It’s a very fortunate Customer Reference Programme (CRP) manager whose budget will stretch to offering iPads to every sales rep, and financial or points-based incentives need to be significant for a commission-driven salesperson to see them as worth their time.
I would argue that there are other ways to do it. For example, everyone likes a public pat on the back and salespeople are by no means an exception. An email to the team highlighting an individual’s great work in supporting a reference, quarterly awards, or even a short ‘video’ of them talking about their reference success with the head of sales can all be appealing goals. Introducing a bit of healthy competition can work wonders.
Ultimately the CRP is there to support the salesforce. Showing them that you take this role seriously and are working in their best interest can sometimes be all that it takes to get them on side. Ask them regularly what they want out of your programme and provide updates on how you’re working to meet these needs. And say thank you for a good reference. The more they feel like part of the process, the more engaged they will feel.
All these points (and more) fed into the discussion this week. There really is a lot to consider and that’s why each organisation needs to examine its own business scope, salesforce culture and CRP budget before defining what sort of incentive programme could work for them.
What engagement strategies have worked in your CRP? We’d be keen to hear about your views on the benefits and drawbacks of incentives programmes.