What it means when a customer is on record
A Proofmap on-record proof is one recorded customer conversation, published only in the words the customer reviewed and approved.
Who controls what
Contributor
The words, and whether they are named.
Vendor
Which approved proofs are published, which of its assets are listed, whether its vendor page is public.
Proofmap
Presentation: order, labels, grouping and layout, by the same rules for every vendor.
For buyers: how to read a proof
Proofmap verifies attribution, approval and current standing, never the business outcome.
Who approved it, and when
Every proof names who approved it and when. The contributor appears as approved: by name, title and company where they chose to be named, or by role alone where they did not. Where their company is named, they speak for it as well.
The proof carries only what the contributor saw and marked as approved: each quote in its original wording, with the short paraphrase, topic and type they approved alongside it. The headline, the summary and the headings are Proofmap's, written from the approved words and marked as Proofmap's; they are never presented as the contributor's.
The dates
- Conducted
- is the date the proof was captured.
- Approved
- is the date the contributor approved it.
- Last confirmed
- appears only after the contributor was asked whether the proof still stands and said yes.
What Proofmap vouches for, and what it does not
When a proof is on record, Proofmap vouches that a specific person approved these words and this portrayal, under their name or anonymously as they chose, for this use, on this date, through the process described on this page, and that the approval still stands.
Proofmap vouches for nothing else. It does not vouch for the business outcome described, does not fact-check the claims, does not score the vendor, and does not rank proofs.
Checking a vendor's citation
A vendor citing a proof gives its address on proofmap.com. Open it: the approved words there are the authority, and each quote carries an id so a cited quote can be found and checked against the proof.
If a vendor's published material does not match what the proof shows, the proof is what to go by.
When a proof is no longer on record
A proof's address keeps answering after the proof leaves. It says only that the proof is no longer on record, gives no reason, and no longer carries the contributor's name.
The contributor may have withdrawn their approval, or the vendor may have taken the proof down; the page does not say which. Either way, nothing from the proof should be cited as on record.
For contributors: what you are asked, and what you control
You are the customer in a recorded conversation a vendor would like to put on record.
What you are asked
You receive a review link. It shows every item that would appear publicly and exactly how the page would read, named or anonymous.
You approve or unapprove each item, choose how you are named, confirm that what you approved reflects your own experience and views, and give one consent covering the vendor's marketing use, publication on Proofmap, and Proofmap's summaries drawn from the approved words. Nothing goes on record until you do, and nothing you leave unapproved appears.
What you control
You control the words and whether you are named. If you choose not to be named, you are shown by role, never by name or company, and nothing on any Proofmap page may make you identifiable. Only you can change that, through a new approval.
The vendor controls whether the proof is published. Proofmap controls how it is presented.
The link is yours to share; only you can approve
You may share the review link with anyone you want to read along. Only you can approve, from the email address the link was sent to; no approval given by phone, by email or on your behalf puts a proof on record.
Approved words lock
Once approved, your words, the paraphrase, topic and type on each quote, your naming choice, and your name, title and company as shown cannot be edited by anyone, Proofmap included, and that holds for typographical errors too. Any change is a new approval.
- The original wording of every approved quote
- The paraphrase, topic and type on each quote
- The approved story
- The naming choice
- The contributor's name, title and company as shown
You can withdraw at any time
You can withdraw your approval at any time from your approval link, with no vendor or Proofmap step in between. The proof then no longer appears, and its address says only that it is no longer on record.
From time to time you may be asked whether your approval still stands. A yes shows on the proof as Last confirmed; a no is a withdrawal.
For vendors: what you control, and what you cannot
You recorded the conversation, and your customer approved what goes on record.
What you control
You control inclusion: which approved proofs you publish, which of your own assets are listed with a proof, and whether your vendor page is public. You can take a published proof down at any time.
Where a proof lists your assets, it lists them as your material citing this conversation; Proofmap claims nothing about their content.
What you cannot do
You cannot reorder, highlight, pin or edit what a customer approved, and you cannot pay for placement. Proofmap controls presentation: order, labels, grouping and layout, by printed rules that apply to every vendor alike.
You cannot put anything up without the contributor's approval, and you cannot change their words; different words mean recording and approving a new conversation.
Being on record is free
Being on record is free and cannot be bought. Some companies also use Proofmap for other services; being on record is free to any company.
Paying Proofmap for other services never changes what goes on record, how it is presented, or how long it stays.
How to cite a proof
Cite a proof by its address on proofmap.com, and quote only the approved words. The statement to put beside a quote reads:
This customer proof is on record with Proofmap. The customer reviewed and approved the words quoted here, and the proof shows who approved them, and when. Check it at proofmap.com/on-record/… Proofmap verifies attribution, approval and current standing, never the business outcome.
How a proof comes to be on record
Standard §2, in five steps. Nothing goes on record any other way.
- Recorded. A vendor records a conversation with its customer.
- Distilled. Proofmap distills quotes from the recording, each shown with its original wording, a short paraphrase, a topic and a type.
- Reviewed. The customer, the contributor, receives a review link showing every item that would appear publicly and exactly how the page would read, named or anonymous.
- Approved. The contributor approves each item, chooses how they are named, confirms that what they approved reflects their own experience and views, and gives one consent. The approval is recorded, and what was approved locks.
- Published. The vendor chooses whether to publish the proof. Its standing is read from the approval every time its page is served, so a withdrawal takes effect at once.