Customer Successes – Help Buyers Decide FASTER
All week, I’ve been mulling over a few purchase decisions – comparing specs, prices and especially reading online reviews from other buyers that have gone before me.
Not the impulsive type, my research was going well until one of the purchases on my list hit a wall – NO customer reviews or success stories.
If you’re like me, you’ve grown very accustomed to having real feedback from other buyers on anything from a $10 book to a $20,000 car. A lot is riding on each purchase: a big investment of time in the first case and a chunk of change and safety for the latter.
We’ve come to rely on these "Citizen Marketers" (coined by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba) as our compass for making decisions. Without it, we can feel lost in the woods.
So what’s really going on when a buyer can’t get her hands on other customer experiences?
We make decisions more slowly – or not at all
This week I’m investigating new video cameras and hotels for a spring vacation. Sites like Amazon.com, TripAdvisor, and stories/testimonials on actual websites of hotels and bed and breakfasts have all pushed me closer to buying.
With that rich information, I am MUCH closer to making a decision.
Yet for a business product I’m considering, no such customer feedback is available. So instead, I put off that decision for now.
We buy less confidently
What’s really behind it? I’m just not confident enough in the business product to move ahead. Maybe it’s a fabulous product, but I’m going to need more than the company’s sales copy to help me decide.
I don’t think I’m alone. Buyers today are very accustomed to having that level of information to support their purchases.
Think about it. Are your buyers hesitating without customer feedback? What can you do to change that?
Whether it’s suggesting happy customers post on review sites or capturing the details in case studies or success stories, HELP prospective customers buy faster and more confidently.
And now, I have a few purchases to make…
What was the last significant purchase you made, and how influential was real customer feedback?
Next week: The differences between review sites and vendor-produced case studies and success stories.
Customer Stories…Make a Tractor Interesting?
Most of us – for better or worse – have had a fast-food hamburger. It usually arrives in paper, often drippy and with an already soggy bun. The burger gets the job done, but not memorably.
Compare that to eating the hamburger at an upscale restaurant. The menu talks about "grass-fed" beef, "artisanal" bread and maybe a house-made aioli mayonnaise. Then, someone slides it gingerly in front of you on a modern square plate with toppings on the side that look fresh from the farmer’s market.
They’re completely different experiences – and all in the presentation.
Customer case studies and success stories are just as subject to packaging and presentation. You can lay out just the facts, or you can tell a STORY.
Volvo Construction Equipment gets it. They know they’re not just selling construction equipment. In the story below, they’re selling better, cheaper road maintenance.
The packaging: an intriguing, well-written customer success story. Volvo tells the tale of a rural Alabama county’s plight after receiving 12 inches of rain in a single day.
What does Volvo do right?
Feature-story format – The tale takes the form of an engaging feature story like you’d see in a magazine. It doesn’t go traditional by blocking text into Challenge-Solution-Results sections.
Strong writing – The writing is specific and sets the scene about the toll of the heavy rain.
Authentic quotes – The quotes sound genuinely spoken by the guys in the field using the equipment, which adds authenticity with the audience.
Clear results – Volvo highlights measurable and anecdotal results.
If Volvo can make a tractor sound interesting, then there’s hope for whatever your product or service is.
Whatever you’re selling, you can wrap your customer’s story in cheap paper or present it elegantly.
THIS is How to Organize Case Studies Online
In sales and marketing, it’s the ultimate question. How do you get the right information in front of a prospect at the right time?
It’s especially tricky now that customers self-direct their learning online.
As you grow your stable of customer case studies and success stories, organize them so that a prospect can find exactly the type of story of interest to him.
That usually means sorting – and enabling search of – your stories by industry, type of solution, product and maybe geographic location.
Here are a couple of examples.
Major software company SAS organizes its customer successes by industry, solution, technology, country, alphabetically, and with a "Search All" capability. If they have a particular case study, the searcher will find it with this thorough approach.
Oracle organizes theirs in a similar way, by applications, technology, services, industry and alphabetical.
Both companies also feature a few of their best stories on the search page for quicker access.
Such a search function may be too much for organizations with a handful of case studies. If so, create a list of your stories by headline and include a few descriptive words about industry, product, type of solution, location or anything else relevant to your audience.
Put yourself in the searcher’s chair and make it as easy as possible.
Have you seen any great examples of how companies organize their stories online?
Writers: How to Referee Style Rules
During the NFL playoffs, referees’ calls can ultimately decide a win or loss.
Their job is to know the rules and make sure that players follow them. But sometimes their calls inspire boos from the coaches, players and fans.
Freelance copwriters are not unlike referees.
On a project, writers are often in the role of referee – enforcing STYLE rules.
Depending on the types of projects you work on, anywhere from two to maybe 8 people may be reviewing your thoughtfully written copy.
There’s at least one marketing manager, if not more, and perhaps a PR or sales person. Then there’s maybe a product manager.
If you work on customer case studies, an additional three to four people at the customer’s organization may review your story.
Chances are, there will be differences of opinion about whether "website" is one word or two, whether titles should be capitalized or whether a comma goes before the last "and."
To solve these differences – and maintain consistency across all communications – you need a set of rules.
And if you’re the writer, be the editorial style referee.
But how do you do so diplomatically?
Throw the book at ‘em
Newspapers and magazines have long followed style guidelines, whether Associated Press style, Chicago Manual of Style or their own versions. Companies need such guidelines as well for all their communications.
Freelance writers should usually follow the style of the companies they write for, unless those companies have no specific style guidelines.
If the organization doesn’t have its own editorial guidelines, bring your own style. When you send first drafts to your contacts, let them know that you follow style X.
When questions come up during the editing process, simply refer to the specific style guidelines as your reasoning for doing something like leaving out that extra comma before the last "and" in a sentence.
Company-created style
Several companies I’ve written for over the years have had their own style guidelines. They set down in writing exactly how they want certain aspects of their copy to go.
In many cases, their style is a hyrbrid. They mostly follow a standard style guide but have modifications for their communications.
Learn and follow those guidelines closely.
Earn your stripes
As you merge edits from multiple reviewers, make sure that the copy follows the established style. If someone makes changes that conflict with those rules, just let them know you follow company style.
It’s like saying, these are the rules we play by on our turf.
It can be hard to be a ref, but it’s part of the writer’s job.
Have you ever been boo-ed for refereeing edits?
Where the Pros Reveal Their White Paper Marketing Secrets
Today’s corporate executives don’t want a sales pitch. They want valuable content that helps them solve their business problems.
White papers – a sibling to the customer case study – do just that.
A September 2009 survey by Eccolo Media backs that up. In the study, which polled 501 executives involved in B2B technology purchases, 84% rated white papers as moderately to extremely influential in purchasing decisions.
If you’re a marketer who is under the gun to produce quality leads in 2010, you’ll want to check out the upcoming White Paper Success Summit 2010, put on by my friend Michael Stelzner, author of Writing White Papers.
The completely virtual 2010 Summit starts Tuesday, February 2 and runs through Wednesday, February 24.
Tomorrow, Jan. 21, is actually the last day to get the summit at the early-bird rate.
In addition to himself, Mike has brought together an all-star team of white paper experts, including Bob Bly (The White Paper Marketing Handbook), Brian Carroll (Lead Generation for the Complex Sale), Jonathan Kantor (Crafting White Paper 2.0), Roger C. Parker (White Paper Design That Sells), Joe Pulizzi (Get Content, Get Customers), John Jantsch (Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide), Jill Konrath (Selling to Big Companies), Ardath Albee (eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale) and Gordon Graham, to mention just a few.
"Without costly ads or fancy designs, white papers are saving businesses by establishing thought leadership, attracting steady streams of quality leads and helping businesses close deals," says Stelzner. "Once a white paper is done, it can continue to reliably deliver leads for months or years to come."
No need to book pricey hotel reservations, pack a bag and trudge off to the airport to attend this conference. You can relax and enjoy the online Summit from a comfortable chair in your home or office. The sessions are spread over an entire month so you can fit them into your schedule.
Learn how to generate a steady stream of leads with white papers.
Get more information or register for the Summit.
(Disclaimer: I am an affiliate for this event, but I only promote events that I truly believe are valuable to my audience – and this is one of the best.)
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