If you’re tired of chasing down customer references by hand and wasting hours on awkward email threads, this guide is for you. Maybe you’ve got a sales team that’s sick of waiting on marketing to “find someone who’ll talk,” or you’re in customer success and know your best advocates are slipping through the cracks. Either way, you’re here because you want a system that just works—without endless admin or yet another tool nobody actually uses.
Let’s walk through how to automate customer reference requests using Deeto workflows. I’ll show you what works, what’s mostly hype, and where to watch out for time-wasters. No silver bullets here—just a practical, honest approach to getting more customer references with way less pain.
Why Automate Customer Reference Requests in the First Place?
Before we jump into the "how," let’s get real for a moment. Manual customer reference requests are:
- Slow and easy to forget
- Awkward for everyone involved
- Prone to errors (wrong contact, bad timing, duplicate asks)
- Hard to track
If you automate this process, you:
- Waste less time on back-and-forth
- Make life easier for your customers and your team
- Actually get more (and fresher) references
- Reduce the risk of overusing your best advocates
But—automation only helps if you set it up thoughtfully. Otherwise, it’s just a faster way to annoy people. That’s where Deeto comes in.
Step 1: Map Out Your Reference Request Process (Yes, Before You Touch Deeto)
Don’t skip this. Most automation flops because people try to automate a messy process.
Ask yourself:
- Who needs references? (Sales? Partnerships? Customer success?)
- When do they need them? (Deal stage? Renewal time?)
- What info do they need? (Industry, use case, location?)
- Who are your best reference customers? (Willing, articulate, not burned out)
Jot this down. Even a napkin sketch is enough. The point is to avoid "garbage in, garbage out" when you start building in Deeto.
Pro tip: Talk to your sales folks and CSMs. They’ll tell you where the process breaks down.
Step 2: Get Your Deeto Environment Ready
Assuming you’ve already signed up with Deeto, log in and poke around. If not, get an account and make sure you have the right permissions (usually admin or workflow creator). Don’t overthink this—Deeto’s onboarding is pretty straightforward.
Set up your customer database:
- Import your customer list (CSV, CRM integration, or manual entry)
- Tag customers by relevant criteria (industry, product, region, etc.)
- Mark who’s already an approved reference
Watch out for: - Bad data in your import—dirty lists will haunt you later - Customers who’ve opted out or had bad experiences—don’t add them as references
Step 3: Define Your Reference Request Triggers
Here’s where the automation magic (or mess) happens. A “trigger” tells Deeto when to start a reference request workflow.
Common triggers:
- CRM events: Opportunity reaches a certain stage (e.g., “Negotiation”)
- Manual requests: Sales rep clicks “Need reference” in Deeto
- Time-based: Every six months, check for new potential advocates
Set up your triggers based on your process, not what sounds fancy.
What works: - Integrating with your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.)—saves a ton of manual work - Keeping triggers simple at first; you can always add complexity later
What doesn’t: - Over-triggering—nobody wants to be asked for a reference three times in a month - Relying only on manual triggers—defeats half the point of automation
Step 4: Build Your Deeto Reference Workflow
Now, let’s set up the actual workflow. In Deeto, this is usually a visual, step-by-step builder. Don’t worry, it’s not code-heavy.
A basic reference request workflow might look like:
- Trigger fires (e.g., deal hits “Negotiation”)
- Reference candidates filtered by tags (must match industry, not recently used, etc.)
- Internal approval—manager reviews list, confirms who to contact
- Automated outreach—Deeto sends a personalized email to the customer, asking if they’re open to a call
- Customer responds (yes/no/more info)
- Confirmation sent to requester (sales rep gets a Slack/email update)
- Tracking & follow-up—Deeto logs outcome in CRM, sets cooldown period for that reference
Pro tips: - Personalize the outreach text, but keep it honest. Overly “marketing” language gets ignored. - Use cooldown rules so you don’t burn out your best customers. - Start simple. Add fancy conditional steps later if you need them.
What to ignore: Don’t bury your workflow in “nice to have” steps like NPS checks or five layers of approvals. The more gates you add, the slower and less effective the process becomes.
Step 5: Test the Workflow—With Real Users
Don’t just test it yourself. Rope in a couple of sales reps, CSMs, and—if possible—one or two friendly customers.
- Run through the workflow end to end.
- Watch for points where people get confused or blocked.
- Check if the emails land in spam, look weird, or sound robotic.
Things that usually break here: - Data mismatches (wrong customer, wrong contact info) - Overly generic or impersonal emails - Approval steps that stall out because someone’s on vacation
Fix these before you roll out company-wide. Automation multiplies mistakes as fast as it multiplies wins.
Step 6: Roll Out and Train Your Team (Briefly)
Don’t make this a “project.” You need a 15-minute training, not a daylong workshop.
- Show the team where to trigger a reference request and what happens next
- Make it clear who’s responsible for approvals (if you have them)
- Set expectations: “Don’t go rogue—use the workflow”
Keep it simple: The more intuitive the process, the more your team will actually use it.
Step 7: Monitor, Tweak, and Don’t Settle
Automation isn’t “set it and forget it.” Check in after a couple of weeks:
- Are reference requests going out smoothly?
- Are customers responding positively?
- Any bottlenecks or grumbles from the team?
Look at the data in Deeto: Are you getting more references, or just more noise? Are the same customers being asked too often?
What works: Small, regular tweaks. For example, adjusting filters if you’re not getting the right match, or shortening your outreach emails.
What doesn’t: Ignoring complaints because “the workflow is live now.” If people hate it, they’ll find ways around it—or just stop using it.
Honest Pitfalls and Myths About Customer Reference Automation
Let’s kill a few common myths:
-
Myth: Automation means you never have to talk to customers again.
Reality: You still need to keep relationships warm. Automation just handles the awkward admin. -
Myth: More reference requests = more reference wins.
Reality: Quality > quantity. Over-asking annoys your best customers. -
Myth: Fancy personalization AI makes all the difference.
Reality: Most customers can spot a form email from a mile away. A simple, honest note works better.
Practical Tips for Keeping Your Automation Useful
- Regularly update your list of referenceable customers (drop folks who’ve left or had a bad experience)
- Rotate requests so you don’t burn out your best advocates
- Keep your outreach concise, respectful, and honest about the ask
- Track outcomes—who says yes, who ignores, who opts out
If you start seeing more “no”s or opt-outs, slow down and check your cadence.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate as You Learn
Automating customer reference requests with Deeto isn’t magic, but it can save you a ton of hassle if you set it up thoughtfully. Don’t get lost in endless options or try to automate every edge case. Start with the basics, involve your team, and fix what breaks.
Most importantly—remember that automation should make life easier for your customers and your team. If it’s not doing both, keep tweaking until it does. Less admin, more real connections—that’s the goal.
Now, go build your workflow. And don’t be afraid to keep it simple.