The Customer Reference Handbook

Promoting your program internally is an important key to success. It helps establish credibility, maintain awareness, and encourage participation in your program by internal stakeholders. Broad corporate visibility also helps emphasize your program’s executive mandate, making it easier to secure the support you’ll need from managers in other areas of the business.

So how does one do internal marketing? Well, it’s not so different from any other type of marketing: You define your message and use various communication channels to reach your audience. Some ways to do this include:
 
Give your program a brand
One of the most important elements is naming your program. Doing so gives others a way to describe it internally and to customers where appropriate. Give your program a logo and imagery that reinforces how you want it to be perceived. Use language that suggests the positive impact customer references have on your business and the importance of the customers that participate. Once defined, apply your branding to all the internal materials your program creates.
 
Spread the word early and often
Look for opportunities to use existing communication vehicles, like an internal newsletter or an employee portal, to highlight the program. If your company has brown bag lunch sessions, use them to get your messages across. Internal company events or quarterly kick-offs can be good times to share your message as well.

Design campaigns that are fun and engaging
Use your creativity to come up with promotions, internal events, and contests that can be used to spark interest and drive the actions you need from your internal stakeholders. Recognize and reward participants as a way to reinforce and further promote your program. We’ve seen inventive campaigns tap into the energy of American Idol or the Tour de France. Use your imagination to create internal buzz for your program.
 
Create references for your reference program
You already know that references are a potent form of marketing. Take advantage of that power by creating references for the effectiveness of customer references. This means identifying stakeholders who have achieved positive results and sharing their message internally. Even a newly minted program can do this, by finding a few deals in which the sales rep – and possibly the sales executive – can be encouraged to highlight the importance of a referenceable customer in the deal.

Your goal with internal marketing is to establish and maintain awareness of your program, have it assigned the appropriate credibility, and drive the behaviors you need to be successful.

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