• WHEN: May 14-16, 2012
• WHERE: Hotel Marlowe, Cambridge, MA (Greater Boston Area)
• AGENDA: http://crp-consulting.com/international-crp-community/event-may-2012/agenda
• REGISTRATION: http://crp-consulting.com/international-crp-community/event-may-2012/register

The event will have participants from the United States, Sweden, Germany, UK, Italy and more. Companies already planning to attend the event include: Siemens, Intel, VMWare, Cisco, Microsoft, NetApp, EMC, Fieldglass, Actuate, Kronos, travelbasys, Catalysis and others.

In addition, several of our customers will be giving presentations that you won’t want to miss:

• “What the C-Suite Thinks About Your Reference Program” – Rhett Livengood, Intel
• Presentation Title TBD – Cynthia Hester, VMWare
• “Customer Testimonials in a Mobile World” – Jim Mooney, RO|Innovation & Steve Stewart, Computer Associates
• “Workshop: Communicating Program Effectiveness to Leadership” – Rhett Livengood, Intel & Amir Hartman, Mainstay Salire
• “How to Build a Customer Reference Program” – Kara Manfredi, EMC

The attendance fee for this two day event, including the social & evening events, is $1,000. However, there’s still an opportunity to take advantage of the Early Bird Registration price. If you register before March 31, 2012, you can save $150 on your ticket. Please use the promotion code: Event2012 to take advantage of this discount. Group discounts are also available. See the event registration page for more details.

We hope to see you there!

One reason our customers applaud this CRM integration feature is because it helps the sales team use ReferenceView in-stride with the way they do business on a daily basis. Since sales can search and access customer references directly from the Opportunities and Contacts tabs in Salesforce.com, they don’t have to leave the CRM to request or use a customer reference. Customers said this feature also has helped increase adoption of the customer reference program among the sales team, and provided a better ROI for using reference management technology…useful for garnering executive support.

These customer reference managers also told me the Salesforce.com integration has greatly streamlined the request fulfillment process for them, because sales reps provide all information up front through the Salesforce.com interface. So, there’s less back-and-forth required between them and the sales reps, and requests can get filled faster.

I had a great time chatting with my customers and thank them for sharing their feedback with me. It’s always great to hear that we’ve helped them solve major pain points with our technology solutions.

I often speak to companies with customer reference programs that think they can use Salesforce.com as their sole customer reference management technology. As an AppExchange partner, I understand that Salesforce.com has some great capabilities, but the truth is Salesforce.com is (and will always be) a customer relationship management platform – not a customer reference system. Download our article, “Why Your CRM Isn’t a Fit for Customer Reference Management” to learn why using Salesforce.com alone is not a sufficient solution when it comes to customer reference management.

It is also why RO|Innovation has developed a mobile app…and has seen its success at tradeshows, like the one I mentioned above. Instead of handing a prospect a brochure at your booth, getting their name down on your clipboard, and wondering if they’ll actually read the brochure after they leave your site…we’ve created a better option.

Now, using your iPad or iPhone, you can capture the prospect’s contact info in your contact library or database, show them a quick demo on the iPad while they’re standing there with you, and then email them your brochure with a personalized note before they leave. Plus, because our app integrates with the tracking capabilities of our desktop software, you will be alerted via email if and when that prospect actually views the collateral you sent them…instantly helping you determine if they’re a qualified lead.

The RO|Mobile suite of solutions allows tradeshow managers and other company participants at an event to increase the ROI of attending such events. Our mobile solutions let your key tradeshow stakeholders leverage customer video testimonials, demos, and other marketing and sales collateral in a more effective way. It also:

• Makes your company appear more “with it” by using cool tech tools in front of potential customers
• Helps you go green (because you didn’t have to print out a billion flyers for the show)
• Saves money on printing and shipping collateral to your booth
• Makes it easy to determine which leads are active and interested, and which ones were just kicking the tires

We invite you to check out the short video demo of our mobile app and download our “RO|Mobile for Tradeshows” data sheet. As always, feel free to contact us to learn more and get your specific questions answered.

At the recent 2012 Summit on Customer Engagement, there was a distinct energy around social media – people discussing it during presentations, companies sharing examples of how they incorporate it in their reference programs, speculation on the future of social media in customer reference programs…I mean, the buzzing was endless! Because of this topic’s popularity, and the recent dialogue among many of our customers and colleagues in the customer reference field in general, we thought we would share some of our thoughts on social media and how we anticipate it playing out in the customer reference arena.

Why is social media a good fit for customer reference programs?
Social media provides companies with an opportunity to connect with current and potential customers by sharing customer success stories and other collateral through channels they are familiar with and like to use. Social media also allows prospects to connect directly with current customer advocates in a more relaxed and candid atmosphere.

What are some of the benefits of integrating social media in customer reference strategies?

• Increase brand awareness and generate qualified leads
• Promote customer advocates and examples of customer success stories
• Increase connection and interaction with customers and prospects alike
• Increase usage of customer reference assets
• Make your customer reference program known

What are some of the popular social media channels & tools for B2B customer reference programs?
When it comes to leveraging social media in the B2B customer reference space, we feel blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube are the best channels. Additionally, if your company has an online customer forum, this may be another place to leverage fresh customer reference content.
As far as tools and assets go, video testimonials and video references seem to be the most widely used – and most consumed – customer reference asset in the social media space. Although, we are starting to see direct messaging on social media platforms, tweets, discussion threads in online groups and forums, and blog posts featuring customer success stories increasing in usage.

Not sure where to start?
The customer reference experts at RO|Innovation would be happy to discuss ways you can successfully incorporate social media strategies and tactics into your program. Download our social media white paper, or contact us today via our website, LinkedIn, or Twitter to start a conversation.

View our short video guides for an overview of ReferenceView features, including:
•    Reference request & nomination workflows to support best practices
•    Searching, finding and sending customer reference and sales assets in
a centralized library
•    Integration points with CRM platforms like Salesforce.com
•    Spotlight/Microsite functionality to send “packages of assets” to prospects
with prospect activity tracking for appropriate follow up
•    Easy to use dashboards for searching, reporting and quickly gathering information
•    Mobile application demo for iPad and iPhone devices

We hope you enjoy the videos (we think they’re pretty slick), and tell your colleagues about them. Of course, if you’re already looking for a customer reference software solution, we are happy to have a deeper conversation with you about anything you see in these videos…just email us or give us a call today!

Average Length of B2B Sales Cycle

Average B2B Deal Size

It is obvious from these findings that smaller deal sizes typically lead to shorter sales cycles. But we’d argue that the reverse is also true. So…cheer up…it’s not all doom and gloom in 2012, especially if your company is using strategies that help you avoid the fate in the charts above.

Here are a few things you can do to ensure larger deal sizes and shrinking sales cycles at your company:

1. Establish Good Pipeline Processes

The larger the deal size, the more complex the buying process will be. There are more people to convince, more red tape to get through, and more attention to detail required on your end. Organizations that establish and develop well-defined lead generation, qualification, scoring and nurturing processes will be able to successfully navigate the longer buying cycles to get the large deals they strive for. As a bonus, technology tools, such as marketing automation platforms, CRM’s, and sales enablement platforms make managing and automating these processes even easier.

2. Leverage Customer References

In the B2B space, one of the strongest influencers in an organization’s buying decision is what their peers have to say. Thus, companies that play to this reality by employing the credible third party testimony of customer references early and often in the sales cycle have a tendency to speed up their prospect’s decision process and get the bigger deal. Watch this video to see how a customer reference technology tool can help organize and streamline this process in 2012.

3. Utilize Sales Enablement

Organizations can address the challenge of a long, complex sales cycle without resorting to slashing prices by increasing the efficiency of their sales team. Sales enablement tools make it easy and efficient to send the right message and marketing materials to the right prospect at the right time to increase effectiveness of sales activities. When done correctly, this shortens the sales cycle, increases closing percentages and leads to higher overall revenue.

In this economy, there is no magic wand for making revenues soar overnight. However, putting these three strategies in place will set your company up for more success in 2012. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the tasks at hand or overloaded with questions of how to start, don’t be afraid to consult an outside expert. Over the past decade, the team at RO|Innovation has worked with companies of all shapes and sizes to increase deal sizes and speed up the sales cycle with technology solutions tailored for overcoming challenges just like these. Download a case study for examples, or contact us to see a demo of our customer reference and sales enablement solutions.

While the agenda offers a bit of something for everyone attending, a couple of our customers are making presentations that you won’t want to miss!

Marie Ross, Director of the EMC Customer Reference Group – “Getting a Small Reference Team to Achieve Big Goals”

Learn how EMC is making “doing more with less” into an art form. The firm developed a Hub and Spoke model in 2011, allowing a small reference team to support nine global business units. The key to this model has been buy-in and resource support from the business units, use of agencies, and influencing stakeholders to own sales alignment, centralize requests and set priorities. (Preview here)

Rhett Livengood, Director, WW B2B Customer Engagement, Intel Corporation – “How Customer Engagement Built a New Online B2B Sales Channel at Intel”

Rhett will show how Intel’s B2B customer engagement team, working with sales, built a new B2B online revenue channel for Intel. He’ll show how he and his team transformed the Intel customer reference program, Customer Advocacy Board (CAB), and online marketing and community efforts to successfully integrate into an online sales process and capability. Topics covered will include: e-nurturing, CRM, customer pipeline development and management, building online sales capability and how to integrate with corporate marketing programs and the existing B2B sales force.

You can learn more about the event and register here. See you there!

We will also be hosting a customer appreciation dinner on February 28 for our customers attending this event. We can’t wait to see you!

If you’re a marketing or sales business pro who has recently come into possession of one of these, or even if you’ve owned one for years, you need to know about the brilliant, wonderful and innovative mobile capabilities of RO|Innovation’s suite of products.

RO|Mobile is designed for busy sales and marketing teams that are constantly on-the-go and need access to the right customer reference tools and marketing collateral to influence prospects, no matter where they are. RO|Mobile is also great for teams working trade shows and conferences who need to collect contact info from leads, provide them with collateral, and determine if it is a good qualified lead by the time they return to the office.

Consider the following industry forecasts from Gartner. By 2013:

• More people will be accessing the web from mobile phones than from PCs.
• There will be 1.78 billion PCs in use, outstripped by the 1.82 billion users of smartphones and browser-equipped feature phones.

Clearly, PCs are predicted to take a back seat in the way we do business, so now is the time to get active with mobile. The RO|Mobile suite includes user-friendly mobile device interfaces of the desktop applications you already know and love that work on any mobile device. In addition, there is a mobile app for the iPhone or iPad built specifically for showcasing collateral and customer references when you can’t seem to get a good wi-fi connection. Best of all, the data in these mobile platforms is integrated with your existing RO|ReferenceView or RO|Enablement system so you won’t miss a beat. RO|Mobile includes:

• RO|Mobile ReferenceView
• RO|Mobile Enablement
• RO|Mobile App

Get to know the full mobile suite of solutions at RO|Innovation. Download our RO|Mobile data sheet, or contact a member of our team to learn more!

1. Increased Executive Support – As more companies realize the value and necessity of customer advocacy and customer centricity in today’s marketplace in setting themselves apart and gaining an edge above the competition, we believe executive support for customer reference programs will increase. We expect to see more companies adopting customer reference programs, and encouraging efficient management practices and workflows.
2. Greater Mobile & Social Media Usage – We truly live in a digital age. As such, we expect to see more companies adopting the use of mobile technologies, such as the ReferenceView mobile app, in their daily work processes. We also expect to see greater incorporation of social media in customer reference programs, from recruitment and nomination, to greater peer evangelization, to showcasing customer references in new and innovative ways.
3. More Attention on ROI – Tighter budgets mean it will be more important than ever to prove the value of customer reference programs. Thus we anticipate more companies to track the financial impact of customer references on sales and business performance in 2012. Focus will be on tying wins using references in the sales process to a tangible ROI number. Customer reference technologies can help automate this process and make reporting easier for customer reference managers.

So raise you’re glass…here’s to a safe, happy and prosperous New Year! Cheers!

We are only days away from Santa coming to town. So, in the spirit of being jolly, we hope you will take a few moments and join us for some laughs over these hilarious Santa photos.