If you’ve been in a marketing leadership role over the past five years, you’ve probably experienced a shift. Roles have changed. How marketers interface with the business and with our peers is noticeably different. You’re doing more than just building programs that are measurable or tied to sales impact. By day, you fill the role of strategic consultant: partnering with colleagues to identify penetrable markets; finding the most profitable customers; and building product and service offerings that differentiate your company’s solutions and best serve customers. By night you build and quantify marketing programs, prepare business cases for management and oversee a bevy of employees, vendors and contractors.

At Astea International, an executive decision was made to build a program around a database of happy customers. Establishing a robust customer reference program was a top strategic priority, but Astea wanted to market the company effectively and turn marketing into a true strategic partner. How to do it?