I Built A Reference Program That Negated The Need For References

• Monday, March 9, 2026
• 12-1PM ET

Cache Walker

Director of Customer Marketing, Trellix

Register to join us

Your reference program shouldn’t exist to manage reference calls. It should exist to make them unnecessary.

Because according to our survey of 800+ B2B buyers, sellers, and marketers… references aren’t the only thing moving the needle.

78% of buyers

say the most important factor when evaluating new software is proof that the vendor has delivered success for customers like them

Only 38% of buyers

rank 1:1 customer references among the most trustworthy types of evidence

26% of deals fail

for customer-evidence-related reasons (ROI not proven, lack of references, or no clear differentiation)

In this webinar:

Most of us spend our careers chasing requests, finding the perfect customer for every sales call, burning out advocates, and never catching up with demand. But, a little tough love reality check for us: within 2-3 years, buyers won’t pick up the phone anyway. They’ll pull what they need from chat-based searches, review sites, and self-service content you don’t control. The shift is already happening. Our programs either adapt now or become obsolete.

You’ll walk away knowing how to:

Build for deflection, not fulfillment The goal isn’t a bigger reference pool to tap. It’s creating so much accessible, relevant proof that sales stops asking for calls in the first place.

Use reference willingness as your early warning system Learn how to spot at-risk accounts before they churn.

Feed the machines that shape your reputation Proactively populate AI tools with customer proof to make sure you show up in the way you want to.

Design workflows that scale without burning out advocates Build a system where evidence flows automatically and reference calls become the exception, not the expectation.