“Let me talk to them. I’ll have them ready to sign in 20 minutes”

Problem: Unicorns have Big Name Brands

There’s a pretty popular board game called The Logo Game.

The goal is the move your piece around a spiral board; answering questions about logos of well-known brands until you reach the finish line. A celebration of capitalism.

Economic systems aside, the beginning questions are super easy; then it gets tough.

Amounting to 20 minutes of fun, then eventually you have no idea what you’re looking at.

This is usually what happens when you reach into your bucket of references.

Goliaths have the first 20 minutes of recognizable, fun, big-name brands.

You’ve got the unrecognizable, “I’ve never heard of them in my life” brands.

Big logos create a big advantage.

Storytime

Had an awesome deal contact make this progression:

Prospect → Champion → Customer

We had a texting relationship right out of the gate.

I was texting her about a deal I was actively working:

• 30 employees

• Raised $3M

• Have 3 salespeople

• Heavily considering our competitor, even though it was more than they wanted to pay.

My customer’s exact response was:

“Let me talk to them. I’ll have them ready to sign in 20 minutes”

She helped get the deal over the line. Time to formalize and incentivize.

Created a retainer agreement with $50 to Amazon per reference call.

Here’s how it works.

Solution: You have Personal Customer References

References are great for building trust & helping your prospect make the paradigm shift.

They pack an even harder punch when you are the one who sold them.

Build your selective reference list & empower them to help with the following:

• Lay out the details of where your prospect is

• Any problems they are trying to solve

• The use cases that have been discussed.

Then… the crucial step. Make the email Intro & let your reference own it.

Insights & Additional Thoughts

Thought #1

Before you do anything, you need to have a list of great customers you’ve sold & have kept relationships with. If you don’t have any now, start making the list today.

Thought #2

Vet your references & be picky. While you want to have a list of people to call, not everyone is going to be good. This can be a make-or-break conversation, put it in the right hands.

Thought #3

Market Leaders will also bring in customer references. The personal relationship you have with yours will make them stronger. You’re not filling out an internal reference sheet to get someone assigned.

Thought #4

Ignore anyone who says don’t use the same reference more than once. Put them on retainer & award them for their time. Try to have 4-5 based on size & industry.

Thought #5

A lot of Unicorn References come from other Unicorn companies where the red carpet was rolled out. This is great because they may mention how awesome the ‘campaigns services team’ is, but the buyer isn’t getting that in their deal. This happens often.