# 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.