Top 4 Reasons Why You Should Keep Your Customer References Up-to-date

Top 4 Reasons Why You Should Keep Your Customer References Up-to-date

Oct 11, 2022 | Keira
The goal of every business is to win sales and close deals. Like all other businesses, the ability of cleaning businesses and cleaning service providers to successfully close deals with prospects depend on the availability of a trustworthy customer reference. References are happy customers willing to accept a proposal to vouch for your cleaning business after a satisfactory business experience with you.

One of the many challenges of cleaning business owners and cleaning service providers is obtaining and retaining customer references. Reaching satisfied customers with your reference proposals is usually the first step needed to secure a customer reference. This can be achieved through email blasting or cold calling. You can also send them a residential or commercial proposal to get things going. 

Thanks to advances in technology, you can now use automated and customizable systems to send proposals to all your satisfied customers anywhere, anytime! TimeConnect is an all-in-one application, platform and website that provides the feature for businesses to create a proposal for cleaning services which can be sent to all satisfied customers whom they've done business with. 

As a cleaning business owner, you can upload a reference to the list every time a satisfied customer accepts to serve as a reference, and by doing so, keep your reference contacts updated. 
Although it is a very strenuous process required for the success of your cleaning business, it could go wrong if not properly checked. 

Imagine the outcome when you're dealing with a list of outdated reference contacts. You don't want to call a reference whose contact is unreachable or unavailable when it is your last push to make the sale. Keeping an updated list of all your customer references is necessary if you want more conversion rates for your cleaning business. 

In this article, we have put together a list of ideas to ensure that you understand the importance of keeping an updated list of all your references. Our goal is to help you build trust in prospects and grow your business successfully. Here's why you should keep your customer references up-to-date.

1.  Build Trust and Long Term Relationship with Happy Customers

Running a successful customer reference program does not end with reference acquisition. Most of the time, customers are willing to act as a reference if they have a relationship with you or someone within your organization. You need to nurture your references by keeping in touch with them through emails, SMS or calls in order to build trust and foster long term relationships. 

The best way to do this is to understand each reference as a unique individual. Try to find out what they do, what their personality traits are, which means of communication is most comfortable for them, and why they'd make a good reference match for your business. All of these details will not only help you keep an updated list, but will also create a connection between you and each reference in your list. 

With an easy-to-use interface, TimeConnect helps you keep track of each reference and provides valuable details needed for building and fostering good customer relationships, trust and increasing the credibility of your business.

2. Avoid Last-minute Delays and Disappointments 

Yay! We've all been there before. What happens when you boast to a prospect how great your product or service is, how you've got some great customer feedback for the service they're interested in, and would like them to speak to your reference to confirm your credibility? They pick the phone, check your reference contact list, and dial one of your references - phone rings, but no one picks up. 

Imagine that all you needed was a little push from THIS reference to close the deal. It might interest you to know that this happens and it matters a lot. With an up-to-date reference list, however, you can avoid last-minute disappointments and close deals faster.

3. Increase the Credibility of Your Business

Part of running a successful business involves outright credibility, trust and consistency. If you want a successful business that'd stand the test of time, then you need to consider building credibility and trustworthiness. Keeping in touch with your customers is a great way to not only build trust, but to also increase the credibility of your business. 

It's very okay to reach out to your customers in order to find out how they're doing. You should also consider letting your references know that all their efforts are appreciated. An up-to-date customer reference list will provide the best details you need in order to reach out to your customers and build credibility with them effectively.

4. Close Deals Faster with Prospects

One of the best reasons why you need an up-to-date customer reference is to be able to close deals faster with new prospects when it's time to make the sale. Every prospect wants to know why they should trust you and buy your service or product. There's no better way to prove your credibility than having a reference confirm it through their own experience. 

That's the magic testimonials, reviews and all other forms of customer feedback do. Having an updated customer reference list helps you keep track of the best and satisfied customers suited to serve as references for a particular prospect.