Customer Reference Programme
Satisfied customers are the most important asset for positive communications. The media is written for end-users; it likes to talk to, and write about, end-users. Likewise, prospects want to read about a vendor’s customers; likes to talk to them and possibly conduct a site visit.
Chameleon PR has a tried and tested customer reference programme that ranges from ad-hoc case studies to a fully managed live database of customers available for reference activity, such as prospect site visits, to support the sales cycle.
Customer reference programme management
The customer reference team must win the immediate trust of internal sales and account management teams, as well as reference customers. All parties need to be handled with great care and respect, with and particular attention paid to creating a ‘win-win’ environment for the customer.
Chameleon minimises the time required from all parties, at the same time as extracting maximum content and value for case studies from all interactions and ensuring a clear audit trail of commitments and approvals.
Potential new customer references are identified through regular contact with sales teams and account managers. A single point of contact is used for each customer reference engagement to aid relationship building. Pre-agreed case study templates are used to capture information and set activities that the customer is prepared to undertake.
After initial materials and activities are completed, the relationship is subtly managed to aid additional activity and to keep track of the customers’ continued willingness to act as a case study reference.
Production of case studies
Customer success stories are produced in a range of case study formats, to pre-agreed word count, length and templates, to maximise return on investment. The most popular written case study formats include
- Customer testimonials
- Contract win press releases for media relations
- Glossy one or two page case studies
- Customer success stories brochure
- Implementation summaries
- Information template for media relations
- Slide decks
Popular digital marketing materials include
- Original photography
- Podcasts
- Video case study for digital and social media use
Popular marketing materials include
- Product, service and programme briefs
- Industry sector briefs
- Technical documentation and white papers
- Newsletter and company report content
Customer success stories play a key role in media relations and usually play a central role in PR and analyst relations. To support the use of case studies as part of a PR campaign, Chameleon secures sign off for multiple use including
- Media interviews
- Analyst relations
- Speaker events
- Award entries
- Marketing materials (such as banners at exhibitions)
- Onsite prospect and media visits and telephone references




