Tracking References for Opportunities

You can track information concerning the existing accounts you want to use as a reference for the new opportunity on the opportunity's References tab. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Opportunities record, if not already opened.
2. Select the References tab.
3. Click the New icon in the toolbar to open a new References record.
4. Enter the current customer who will provide the reference in the Company field. This field links to the Companies service.
5. Enter the contact person for the reference in the Contact field. This field links to the Persons service.
6. Select the Reference Type for the opportunity. This field links to the Reference Types service (see About the Referral Types Form).
7. Specify the Reference Level for the opportunity from the drop-down list. This field describes how the reference check is conducted. Standard options include Site Visit, Phone Call, and Other.
8. Enter the date when the existing customer was asked to act as a reference for the opportunity in the Date Approached field. This field defaults to today's date.
9. If the reference check has already occurred, enter the date when the reference was contacted by the prospect in the Date Contacted.
10. Enter the name of the employee who contacted the existing customer to ask permission to use the customer as a reference in the Employee Contact field. This field links to the Employees service.
11. Select the Status for the reference check from the drop-down list. Available options include Planned, In Progress, Completed, and Cancelled.
12. Select the Expected Reference Grade from the drop-down list.
    • This field tracks the tone of the reference the sales person or employee contact expects the prospect to receive from the customer. This can be compared against the actual results of the reference check when available.
    • Standard options include Very Positive, Positive, Neutral, Negative, and Very Negative.
      
      
13. If the reference check has already occurred, select the Reference Grade from the dropdown list. This is an evaluation of the overall response given to the prospect by the customer reference.
    • This field includes the same standard options as the Expected Reference Grade field: Very Positive, Positive, Neutral, Negative, and Very Negative.
      
      
14. If the reference check has already occurred, enter the time in hours spent by the reference person speaking to the prospect in the Time Spent By Reference field.
15. Enter additional information about the reference check in the Description field as applicable.
    
    
16. Click OK to save and close the References record.
17. Follow the above steps to add additional references as needed.
    • Alternatively, you can click OK and New in Step 16 to save the current sub-type record and open a new References record in one step.
      
      
18. Save the Opportunities record.