Case Study Copywriters: Where’s Your Cheat Sheet?
Customer case studies just aren’t like other marketing projects.
With a brochure, data sheet or white paper, marketing managers can usually mark the calendar for when to begin.
But as much as they target a certain number of case studies or success stories a month or quarter, starting still depends on if and when the customer is ready.
And sometimes that’s a LONG time to wait.
For freelance case study copywriters serving these marketing managers, those lags present another challenge: memory loss.
If you haven’t written for a client in a few months, the details may be fuzzy – especially if you work with multiple clients (or really technical products) like many writers.
In fact, I often need to re-orient a little to a client’s products and services.
Years ago I came up with a way to help myself out in these situations.
Every time I engage with a new client, I create a "Cheat Sheet" that’s just for me.
It includes all the main details I need to get back on track quickly after a pause in projects with a particular client.
Create your Cheat Sheet from the beginning, which also helps you focus your study of a new client’s products and services.
What goes on it?
Look for answers to questions such as…
- How does the company refer to its products and services? What names and industry terms do they use?
- What do the featured solutions do?
- Who uses them?
- When?
- What problems do they solve?
- What are the main business benefits that users can expect?
- What preferences do they have that are specific to them?
(I.e. maybe they prefer to capitalize business titles versus lowercase)
Take the little bit of extra time to create this every time you work with a new client. When you need a refresher, everything you need is on one sheet.
Selling More to Current Fans with Case Studies
You’ve probably heard most of these stats before. Current customers are significantly more valuable than new customers.
- Acquiring a new customer costs 5 to 10 times more than retaining one.
- A 5 percent increase in retention yields profit increases of 25 to 100 percent.
- Repeat customers spend 67 percent more, on average.
- Twenty percent of customers account for 80 percent of total revenues.
Think about it. These customers already know your products and services well, and are (hopefully) very pleased. It’s a fan base that’s receptive to hearing from you – especially when you talk about solutions to their problems.
Yet how often are companies using customer success stories to upsell solutions to already happy customers?
Consider this…
A CRM software company created a customer case study featuring the success of one branch of a major nationwide mortgage company. The branch had become the number-one location in the country due largely to productivity with this software.
Using a story on that branch, the software company got in the door with the leadership at national headquarters. That led to talks to take the software to more branches nationwide.
It’s just one example of leveraging a customer story to expand business with a current customer.
Here are various ways that businesses can use customer success stories to grow sales with existing customers:
- Up-sell or cross-sell different products and services to the same customer
- Feature one division of a company and then share that with other divisions in the same company or organization
- Highlight the success of one location of a company to share with other locations
If you’re only using your best stories to attract and sell to prospects, then you’re not getting your full return on investment on a case study.
Can you share any great stories of using case studies to sell more to current customers?
3 Tips for Finding Your Next Case Study Customer
Several times a week, an appeal for funds from a charity (or alma mater) arrives in my mailbox or inbox. The same organizations contact me over and over.
It’s annoying, but if they don’t ask for contributions, they usually don’t get them.
That’s just how it works. We have too much going through our heads. If you’re in an asking position, you have to be in the audience’s line of sight often if you hope to get a response.
The same goes for the quest for case study or success story candidates and reference customers. Marketing and reference managers are constantly looking for stellar customers to include in reference activities.
You have to remind teams inside your company and out – employees, partners and customers – what you need.
1. To start, make sure your wish list is current and specific.
Evaluate your inventory of references and case studies to ID what you need most. Maybe that’s financial services companies using your new Product M, or education industry customers that have recently migrated to your SaaS offering.
The point is, always know what you need.
2. Then, take your requests to all your communication channels that touch employees, partners and customers:
- Sales meetings
- One-on-one meetings
- Employee newsletters or intranet
- Partner/reseller newsletters and online communities
- Customer newsletters
- Social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter
- Partner events
3. Next, make it easy to submit a candidate or themselves. Ideally, direct everyone to a short online form to collect a few key details.
Then a marketing or reference manager can follow up to pre-qual the candidate.
Just remember, be specific and make it easy – and you should up your response rates.
What has worked for you in getting case study candidates?
86,552 Views of a Single Case Study
For those who doubt the draw of a customer case study online, here’s your proof.
One Microsoft case study, posted online just four months ago, has racked up 86,552 total views.
Listed among its most viewed case studies, the Outback Steakhouse case study describes how the restaurant chain used a Microsoft solution for a Facebook campaign.
Other cases in the "Most Viewed" tab have more than 50,000 views. (On each online case study, Microsoft actually lists the number of total views.)
That many eyeballs should be a clear case to companies that case studies and success stories shouldn’t just be online somewhere; but they should be prominently displayed and easy to find.
Here are a few tips for organizing your case studies online for maximum exposure:
Tease them on the home page
How-to stories about other companies’ success with your solution is a top draw for prospects.
Feature a case study somewhere on your home page or devote a space to scrolling teasers for several case studies.
Include them with product information
Anywhere that you talk about specific solutions, feature a case study right there that shows that product or service in action.
Make them easy to find!
Allow site visitors to search or browse case studies by industry, product or other categories that might matter to them, such as business need.
Check out Microsoft’s page for ideas.
Include a Retweet button
Make it easy to share your content on social networking sites like Twitter. Include a Retweet button or other social media sharing icons.
The most important rule: Don’t let valuable customer stories go to waste! Leverage that content anytime and anywhere that you talk about the value of your products and services.
Share your own examples of companies that organize their stories well online.
Today’s Prospects Evaluate You on These 4 Criteria
Sales isn’t what it used to be. Prospects are more overwhelmed than ever before.
They’re pulled in a dozen different directions at any time, challenging them to actually get anything done.
They don’t have time to listen to a sales pitch, even if they know they need to make a change.
That’s the basis for Jill Konrath’s new book, SNAP Selling.
Since reading Jill’s first book, Selling to Big Companies, I’ve been a fan. I even interviewed her for my book, Stories That Sell.
Unlike many sales gurus, she focuses on buyers’ mindsets and how to work within them.
In SNAP Selling, Jill introduces four factors that need to be at the forefront of sales reps’ mind when working with crazy-busy people – those with "Frazzled Customer Syndrome."
Today’s prospects evaulate you on these four criteria, which Konrath calls SNAP Factors:
Simple: Your ability to eliminate complexity and effort from your prospect’s decision-making process will improve your chances for sales success.
iNvaluable: In a world of copycat products and services, the value you personally bring to the relationship becomes essential.
Aligned: You must stay relevant to your client at all times; they don’t have time for anything else.
Priority: With an ever-changing business environment, you can’t afford to have your prospect deem your services non-urgent.
For more on how to leverage these factors in various stages of the sales cycle, check out SNAP Selling.
Download two chapters and new sales tools here.
(P.S – I’m not an affilate for Jill; just a big fan.)
Order from this site and get TWO bonuses!
Companion ebooks to Stories that Sell!
Get the most out of Stories that Sell with The Marketer's Toolkit AND The Writer's Toolkit. These additional resources provide proven tips to help you succeed with success stories.
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