Customer References Trim the Sales Cycle
Customer case studies pull major weight among your marketing and sales materials. But they are just one way that a customer can serve as a reference for a business.
Customer stories fall under the bigger umbrella of customer reference activities, which can involve anything from taking a phone call from a prospect, speaking to an analyst or agreeing to a press release.
Smart companies manage their customer references, and even smarter ones manage them well to ensure every reference is maximized – without overusing precious customer contacts.
But it’s a hard sell at most companies to add reference management.
What’s the payoff of a well-functioning reference program? Good metrics can be hard to come by.
A webinar put on by Gartner last week featured impressive stats:
Buyers trust references most
In Gartner surveys, the #1 thing that buyers said influence their preference to purchase is references from the IT provider. (The survey focused on technology purchases.)
Why? Because it reduces risk, according to those surveyed. If another company like them has done it, then they can reasonably expect to achieve similar results.
Moreoever, they are 2.5 times more likely to buy from a provider that can quantify the value proposition. That means creating materials – like case studies – that demonstrate the return on investment of a solution.
References get customers to buy sooner
Gartner referenced the CIO Insight survey results that indicated prospects buy 25% faster when a relevant reference is provided.
References are so valuable that a strong one can actually shorten the sales cycle.
What’s the monetary value?
Even more impressive is just how much references mean to buyers – so much that sales reps may be able to bypass other steps in the process.
Gartner told the story of an IT provider that offers pre-sales assessments, which can cost up to $30,000 each.
However, “skillful use of customer references actually reduced the need for these assessments by a third, saving the company almost 200,000 last year while accelerating the sales cycle.”
It’s not easy to make the case for true reference management, but these stats should go a long way.
Customer Presented on Your Behalf? Do More with a Live Case Study
This week, two PowerPoint presentations came my way.
My clients’ happy customers had actually presented these decks in live case studies (either in person or on a webinar). How fantastic is that – a customer willing to talk to an audience about success with your products and services?
That’s about as good as it gets.
Smart marketing teams know the next step: Turn that live presentation into something that you can re-use again and again.
Here are 4 tips for taking next steps with a customer’s live case study presentation.
1. Ask for permission upfront
You would think that standing on a podium and publicly discussing success with a specific solution makes a written story a shoe-in.
Not true. A written story, posted on the web, leaves a searchable and lasting trail of evidence about what your customer said. This scares some customers. They’re worried you’re the next Enron and they just don’t want to risk a public endorsement.
You need to ask for specific permission for a separate written story, and the customer will want to review it most likely.
While your contact may be fine with turning the presentation into written or video assets, the company may not agree. BEFORE you record that presentation or webinar, or write it, ask for official permission.
If you can record it, ask HOW you can use the recording. Some might just give you permission to share it internally among sales reps, while others will let you post it on your website, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
2. PowerPoint is not enough for written
Even if you don’t plan to use the recording with external audiences, or don’t have permission to do so, a recording is valuable.
A PowerPoint presentation provides the visuals and highlights but it’s never the full story. The presenter adds that.
What’s missing from PowerPoints? Detail, explanation, complete sentences for quotes, and most critically, emotion.
Customer case studies are stories. Without real customer comments and emotion, you lose much of its storytelling power.
Personally, I always have more questions, usually lots more, when I receive a PowerPoint.
So, get it recorded somehow. If you don’t want to release the video to a writer, then get a transcript.
3. Interview the customer
For a couple of reasons, you may need to interview the customer further:
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The customer’s presentation didn’t include some of the information that usually goes into a case study. Maybe the customer doesn’t go into why they chose your solution – a very insightful piece for prospective customers.
- Or, you did not get a recording.
Ask the customer if they are willing to fill in some of the gaps that the slide deck misses.
4. Got permission? Use it!
When you get specific permission to use these assets, make them work for you. Don’t shelf that rich information.
Post video, edited down perhaps, on demand on your website. Send the video link to prospects, Tweet about it, and distribute it on social media video sharing sites.
Write it up and post it online and among your sales assets.
Check out this list for 25 ways to use your customer stories.
What are your experiences getting more out of live presentations?
Radio Interview: The Why and How of Customer Success Stories
This week I was honored to be interviewed by Wayne Hurlbert on his Blog Business Success radio show.
Now on demand, the one-hour interview covers the role of customer success stories in building trust and sales. We also get into the steps to take in creating customer stories, interview tips, and ways to get customers to say yes to being featured.
Hurlbert also reviewed my book, Stories That Sell, on his Blog Business World blog. He says…
For me, the power of the book is how Casey Hibbard demonstrates the power and relative simplicity of customer story telling as an organizational credibility building technique. The author shows the reader step by step, how to utilize stories to transform everyday sales and marketing programs to great ones, that really connect with the customer on a personal level.
Podcast: Case Studies to Build Trust and Sales
How do you make the most of a customer’s success story? What if you can’t name a customer? How do new FTC rules affect case studies?
Get answers to these questions and others on a 25-minute podcast where RainToday.com interviewed Casey Hibbard, "Using Case Studies to Build Trust and Facilitate Sales."
- Ways to use your customer case studies
- How many and how often to create case studies
- What makes a successful case study
- What if you can’t name customers?
- Examples of professional services firms using case studies successfully
- Why you shouldn’t make people register to access cases
- How to ease customer permissions and approvals
- What the new FTC rules mean for endorsements
Listen here. It’s only available to non-members of RainToday.com until Feb. 24.
What’s Better – Customer Feedback or Vendor Success Stories?
As buyers, we need help making decisions. There are just too many options.
My last post revealed my own decision anxiety, multiplied when there are no customer reviews or success stories for me to rely on.
From personal experience, reviews help us make decisions faster and feel more confident about them.
But what’s the difference between customer feedback a la Amazon or eBay compared to vendor-produced case studies and success stories? And how can companies benefit from both?
Customer Reviews
Smart companies today ask you for your feedback. They email you after a purchase requesting that you follow a link and "rate and review" the product or service.
- Feedback is raw, real, unpolished information right from customers.
- Customers are free to share their negative experiences.
- Any grammar errors or typos are still there, adding to the authenticity.
- It’s free-form, so customers talk about what is important to them, usually without any prompting questions.
- As a short review, it only takes a few minutes.
- There may be a shortage of free-form reviews on higher-end solutions (i.e. $1 million ERP software implementation).
- That content isn’t leveraged beyond showing up on review sites.
- Cheap or free for vendors.
Vendor Case Studies & Success Stories
Case studies and success stories, produced by the vendor company, formally capture a customer’s experience.
- Vendors reach out to their most successful customers, so no negative stories.
- Prospective customers see them as more slick or "commercial" than raw feedback.
- Customers agree to share their story formally and publicly.
- Formal interviews draw out specific aspects of the customer’s experience.
- The story format engages readers in a different way, taking the audience through challenge, solution and resolution – allowing prospects to better see themselves in those stories.
- Results are measured – to the extent possible.
- Once approved, the content can be used in various formats – press releases, stand-alone testimonials, award applications, etc.
- Takes more money and time.
In today’s buying climate, you need these customer experiences to help buyers. What do you choose?
Both. Ideally, your prospective customers can find free-form feedback on the web AND review more formalized, comprehensive, measurable stories about customer experiences.
Customers today benefit from both. The first provides more AUTHENTICITY and the second much-desired DETAIL – both critical pieces of a buying decision.
In fact, make both a part of your marketing plan:
- Give happy customers links to online feedback sites.
- Approach those same happy customers about documenting their stories more extensively in print, audio or video.
- Send prospects to sites with customer feedback (hopefully it’s good!) and to stories on your website.
Regardless of what mix you choose, always ensure that you give prospects access to other customers’ experiences. You can help them get past indecision.
What’s your take? What do prospects gain from free-form feedback versus vendor stories?
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