Innovative Ideas for Managing Reference Burnout in Marketing

Kevin Swecker · 2025-08-01 20:56:51.743885+00

Wondering if anyone has done anything innovative for references. Reference burnout is real. I know some customer marketers have done joint reference calls (with multiple prospects and a customer). I'm wondering if anyone has ever done some type of recorded video for references (less promotional than a testimonial video)? Or if there are other ideas, I'm all ears!

Innovative Ideas for Managing Reference Burnout in Marketing | CMAweekly Customer Marketing and Advocacy Slack

Mary Green
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We’ve definitely had people talk about recorded references, that and group references are common. Let me see if I can find some people to tag.
Mary Green
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Maria Braune, Laurie Timms, Jeanne Nitschke (Talbot), Kaily Baskett might have some ideas to share.
Joel (Salesforce)
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Wouldn’t that be the exact use case for UserEvidence?
Mary Green
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I think UserEvidence could help you identify people for becoming references and maybe do a short video but I think that is more similar to a case study (in short form) where the reference video would be less flashy and all about their experience with the company and where they are today, like a walk through their journey. That sounds very similar, Evan Huck can weigh in when he’s on.
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Gabi Sayah
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a few ways to avoid reference burnout:
Invite more customers to become references
Ask them how many reference calls they are willing to do
Track reference calls and make sure references aren't burnt-out
Send a small reward after each reference calls. Usually will be enough to make customers want to help you again
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Mary Green
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I think keeping advocates engaged is a good way to move past reference fatigue as well. LET ME KNOW if you want to chat more about that Kevin Swecker
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Andru Creighton
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to tack onto Gabi Sayah, connecting the right customer to the right prospects for a genuine and mutually beneficial conversation feels much less like a ‘to-do’ and more like running into an old colleague. Burnout comes from those asks being a chore. I do tend to lean a bit of the other direction when it comes to rewards because they can make the ask seem very transactional and the folks you want to hop on those calls shouldn’t necessarily be doing it for the treat. Every business and use case is different when it comes to the reward aspect.
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Bree Bunzel
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Adding in Emily G. for visibility 🙂
Joel (Salesforce)
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Love the POV from Andru Creighton that it should feel like they’re genuinely connecting with an old friend or peer, not a chore 👏 👏 👏
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Kaily Baskett
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Hi Kevin Swecker recorded references are an effective way to scale reference programs with content. Not only are they available to be shared 24/7, meaning they can be shared earlier in the sales cycle than a traditional 1-on-1 call can occur (which means they can help eliminate questions, fears, and doubts of buyers earlier in the sales cycle), but they also enable you to have full confidence that you won’t set up a call with a client having a bad day. Recorded references can result in the concept of “reference deflection”, which has been shown in to reduce the need for 1-on-1 reference calls by 60%. As opposed to sending clients a 30 min recording of a client answering the questions that typically arise during reference calls, I recommend create assets in a snackable format for the buyer. I’m happy to discuss best practices and ways to achieve if this is helpful. Fee free to DM me and I’m happy to provide resources or answer any questions you may have. Thanks.
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Evan Huck
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the one thing I'll add - sometimes sales people ask for a "reference" - b/c it's the only term they know. but they might not necessarily need a traditional 1:1 phone reference, they might just be asking "hey this prospect asked to see some references from people we've worked with in their industry, size, use-case, etc," and so that rep needs to show strong evidence that their company has delivered value for that segment of prospect. There are lots of way to accomplish that (statistical evidence, collections of case studies/testimonials, videos, etc). Of course sometimes they may actually need a live reference, but if you can use content to stave off some reference calls (esp for smaller deals), that is one way to reduce reference fatigue (and save them for the big opps you really need them on)
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Alexie Glover
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Big fan of reference deflection! Content should be used 90% of the time. A reference should be a formality when the prospect is already close to signing. Sales people often request references to help handle objections and this leads the conversations to be of less value to the customer because they aren't talking about higher-level topics such as the partnership, industry strategies, etc. Then you're able to really matchmake your reference calls and curate meaningful conversations, reducing burnout. That said - this approach takes a lot of enablement with your sales organization and a lot of trust building. For many organizations this is the goal they are constantly striving for, not yet the reality!
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Joel (Salesforce)
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Following this post — Beyond case studies, logo walls, & quotes/testimonials, what are other types of Customer-first content that folks are producing/investing in to reduce the number of reference calls that need to be completed for your company?
Laurie Timms
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Short videos work well. Like the Vocal Video kind.
Laurie Timms
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And as another point of reference (pun intended), we never used references for RFPs and we set a limit on the revenue amount required before we’d use a live customer reference.
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