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?
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?
How to Repackage Precious Case Study Content
Picking up from my last post commenting on Hubspot's "27 Marketing Lessons B2B Marketers Should Know," here's another tip from Hubspot that ties directly with customer case studies:
"Content is precious. Repackage existing content into different formats, such as blog posts, podcasts and webinars to drive more leads."
You can easily repackage customer case studies and success stories into valuable, reusable content throughout your sales and marketing communications.
Here are just a few ways:
1. Blogs
An estimated 77% of active web users read blogs. They've proven to be powerful drivers of search engine traffic.
Even better, those following your blog are interested in your particular topic, giving you the perfect target audience.
Share your best customer stories on your blog - either in full or linked back to the full story on your website.
Focus on the customer's experience and path to success, not just tooting your own horn.
And finally, be sure to get the customer's permission before you publish anything with their name on it.
2. Contributed articles
For editors, it's all about the compelling story. They're constantly looking for ideas and contributed articles that tell stories their audiences want to hear.
Many websites and publications take contributed articles.
Try submitting a story about your new product and see how that goes. Then try submitting a story about how a specific customer has succeeded with your product, and it changes things.
With just a little editing, you can turn a customer case study into a contributed article, preferably by-lined by your customer.
Just make sure it focuses on best practices and approaches without heavily talking up your product or service.
3. Press releases
The same thing goes for press releases as above.
When you announce news, such as a new product offering, pull an anecdote into your press release that ties the news to a customer's success.
Ideally, you have some beta customers with early experiences of your solution that you can share.
A customer example makes a dry release much more interesting.
4. Industry awards
I'm big on awards these days - after seeing some Fortune 500 companies jump at the chance to tell their stories for awards opportunities.
Why? We all like to be recognized for our efforts. Your customers are no different.
If they're doing cool, best practices things, and your solution helps with that, find relevant awards programs and ask their permission to submit them.
You might be surprised how on board they get for an awards submission when they might not publish their story as a case study.
If your customer wins, their story gets natural publicity through the awards process.
Also, once you have all the juicy details, ask if you can make that public on your website.
5. Newsletters
Feature a different customer success in each newsletter or e-zine that goes to customers, prospects and even employees.
Show all your audiences how you help customers solve their problems.
It will likely be the most read part of your newsletter.
But that's not all. Check out 25 Ways to Build Trust (and Sales!) with Customer Success Stories.
Customer Success Stories Show You Solve Problems for Customers
Last week, the Hubspot blog ran a story with lessons from the MarketingProfs B2B Forum, "27 Marketing Lessons B2B Marketers Should Know."
I picked up some fresh new tips and important reminders.
You can accomplish several of the lessons with the help of customer case studies and success stories.
Here's one of the lessons and how customer stories tie in...
"Solve problems for customers, and leverage marketing to demonstrate these solutions."
Isn't that why you're in business, to solve problems for customers, no matter what you sell?
Yet, often it's not clear to potential customers if and how you can solve their problems - despite all you might invest in web and brochure copy.
You have to SHOW prospects...
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The types of problems you solve
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For whom you solve problems
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How you solve those problems
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And the end result of solving those problems
The best way? With examples of your happy customers' successes.
Ultimately, prospects believe your satisfied customers more than they believe you. Always integrate that voice into your marketing.
Watch this space for more ways to use customer stories to achieve some of Hubspot's B2B lessons.
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.
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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