The Customer Reference Funnel

THE B2B CUSTOMER REFERENCE FUNNEL CUSTOMERS ?? WHY A FUNNEL? AN INFOGRAPHIC BY O TechValidate We often think of the sales process as a funnel, but it's also useful to apply this metaphor to B2B customer referencing. Most customers will not participate in traditional referencing activities at all, and there is attrition at each increasing level of commitment. Reference Type % of the Customer Base How Easy Are They to Get? How TechValidate Contributes Silent Satisfied Customers Customers who are happy with your product, but can't/won't participate in named referencing activities (can't get legal approvals, don't have time, etc.) 60-80% of customers who would act as an anonymized reference can't participate in named-referencing activities, due to the time involved, for legal reasons, or to protect sensitivie information. 90% N/A TechValidate automatically collects and publishes content from your customers, multiplying the total volume of customer evidence by 3-10x. Occasional Named References Customers who are willing & able to go on the record about your product but can't invest a lot of time in referencing activities. TechValidate software automatically identifies and categorizes customers who are willing to participate in named-referencing activities. This saves time and increases the number of named references available, 7% HARD 50-75% of customers who will act as a light-duty named reference won't participate (at least not for long) in more time-consuming referencing activities. Frequent Named References Customers who are happy to do in-depth case studies, participate 2.5% DIFFICULT in webinars, or act as occasional phone/email references. Super Customer Advocates Rare customers that never get tired of singing your praises. They'll Even your heavy-duty customer advocates have their limits as to what activities they'll participate in, and how frequently you can call on them VERY 0.5% speak at events on your behalf, do frequent phone references, etc. DIFFICULT These are customers that by definition aren't accessible to traditional customer referencing programs. Sources: TechValidate survey of 126 B2B Organizations, plus interviews with TechValidate clients. Learn more: http://www.techvalidate.com/2011_b2b_content_marketing_survey Learn more: http://www.techvalidate.com TechValidate