Powerful capabilities make it easier to find and deliver customer references to increase brand awareness and drive new business growth

Upland RO Innovation has launched its all-new Customer Reference Activity Hub to help sales, marketing, and customer success teams find and engage with their most influential customer references so they can boost brand awareness and generate more business.

“The most powerful thing any B2B company can do to stand out and establish credibility in the market is to elevate the genuine voice and experiences of customers,” said Jason Goetz, Product Manager at Upland. “Our Customer Reference Activity Hub provides go-to-market and customer success teams with the distinct advantage they need to build stronger connections with their customers so they can share the best stories, win more deals, and establish trust and a connection amongst industry peers.”

Easily deliver customer references on-demand

Buyers are more aware of the options available to them in the market – especially for B2B software – and need social proof of claims in sales and marketing material. Research has shown that customer references can be a powerful driver of growth and success to influence brand loyalty and purchase decisions. The Forrester blog notes:

“In Forrester’s 2023 B2B Brand And Communications Survey, we asked respondents which sources of information they think buyers trust the most. The survey results suggest that buyers tend to trust those they feel close to — physically, psychologically, and in their circumstances. These include:

• Professional colleagues and peers. Over 90% of survey respondents say that buyers completely or somewhat trust peers in their industry. A further 85% say they trust the customers of vendors in their industry.
• Independent voices. Sources of information that are seen as objective tend to command more trust. Over 80% say that buyers trust industry analysts and about two-thirds think buyers trust business consultants.”

With the RO Innovation Customer Reference Activity Hub, you get one-stop access to find a reference, make a nomination, create a sales win, and monitor and report on the status of all current and planned reference activity.

“We use RO Innovation daily to engage with our customer advocates. The new Customer Reference Activity Hub is incredible because it gives us a quick snapshot of everything we have going on at once,” said Madison Hagan, Customer Advocacy Manager at Veracode. “It really is our hub for all things advocacy and the single source of truth. We couldn’t excel at our jobs without it. We love it!”

Stay reference ready

Additionally, the RO Innovation Customer Reference Activity Hub delivers more personalized experiences for end users. Configuration options allow users to set up their Hub to streamline their day-to-day activity and how they interact with customers. Plus, dashboards and reports can be set up to monitor results on an ongoing basis, such as the impact of references on deal acceleration, win ratios, and revenue.

Upland RO Innovation provides additional benefits, including:

• Improve deal velocity and win rates: Automatically serve up customer references exactly when you need them so you can shorten sales cycles and improve win rates. Connect your best advocates with the right audience based on any criteria, such as region, industry, company size, and use case.
• Capture the right context in your CRM for sales opportunities: Seamless integrations with CRM systems allow you to automatically track the impact of reference activity across your sales funnel, capturing key details at the contact, account, and opportunity.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with references: Ditch frantic emails or messages to colleagues looking for a reference. RO Innovation helps you find the best references for the job based on their preferences – whether it’s a phone reference, in-person or virtual speaker, analyst call, or any other activity. Set and track thresholds and use automation to prevent reference burnout and unauthorized outreach.

Leading enterprise go-to-market teams trust Upland RO Innovation to automatically serve up the best references to increase brand awareness and win deals.​ Visit www.uplandsoftware.com/roinnovation to learn more.

Source: Forrester blog, Who Do B2B Buyers Trust? Ian Bruce, Published May 11, 2023.