The Makings of a Winning Case Study Program
By Casey Hibbard
Most tech companies know the importance of customer success stories, or case studies, to their marketing and PR efforts. But turning out a regular stream of strong case studies and translating them into more sales and enhanced credibility is another story. Often the best stories never reach the ears of marketing, or case study drafts never make it past the customer's legal department. Here are some steps to help ensure your case study program turns out a steady stream of engaging case studies and that you make the most of them in your marketing efforts.
Find your customer success stories
Chances are, within your company, someone knows a compelling story about how your product or service solved a customer's problem and brought a true business benefit. But often, these stories never actually reach the marketing and PR folks who can use them to build more momentum.
Set up a regular system for finding and communicating about your success stories. Sales and account representatives, implementation teams and external resellers are usually in the best position to witness customer successes as they unfold.
Ask for case study suggestions on your company intranet, in your internal newsletter or reseller communications, or in regular meetings with sales and implementation managers. Marketing and PR mangers should remind them about what makes a strong story.
Additionally, your company might consider starting a formal reference program, whereby satisfied customers become references whom prospective customers can call. Then, you always have an internal source of names for satisfied customers.
Strategically select featured customers
Creating a case study program that works for your company starts with choosing the right customers to profile. If your organization is relatively new, even one or two case studies with some ROI details and a fairly strong story can help you make a sale or convince an investor of your viability.
As you add more customers, it's time to take a strategic tack. Look for a few primary factors when weighing whether a customer would make an effective case study: name recognition of the customer; it matches a targeted vertical niche; strong, specific ROI details; and that the featured company doesn't have a policy against publicly endorsing specific products.
Someone with a strong relationship with the client company should approach them with the request for participating in a case study and explain what is involved. If the client agrees, tell them a writer representing your company will be calling to arrange a phone interview. Find out before it's too late whether the company has any PR or legal policies against endorsing products or organizations.
Ask the right questions
Your interview questions should cover every area that's important to your prospects and give them a clear understanding of how your product met the customer's needs. To do that, ask your customer about some of the challenges they face in their industry or company, the issues or needs that led them to look for such a solution, how they went about their selection process, and why your product stood out. You also might want to ask about implementation and, if relevant, about their experience working with your company's representatives, tech support or solutions partners.
Ask specifically about the product's various functionality and how it enhanced the customer's business practices. Try for ROI details by asking how much it saved a person or team on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Or, ask how much a particular activity cost in time or costs before as compared to now.
When writing, match the "tech speak" to your audience. If IT managers are the main decision makers on your product at prospective companies, then your case studies should include a fair amount of technical details—server and database needs, implementation time, integration with other applications, ease of administration, and ease of customizability.
For non-technical individuals, include basic technical specifications and provide layman's explanations on how the product enhanced the company's business processes. Clearly call out ROI and how operations improved.
Increase your chances for approval
When it's time to send your draft to the client for review, manage the process carefully. Graciously thank clients for their time and willingness to be featured. Make sure that the legal release form that you provide customers to sign off on the draft is simple enough that it doesn't cause confusion or raise objection with your customer's legal team. And though sad, but true, sending a thank-you gift during the approval phase can dramatically increase your chances of receiving approval or speed up the process.
Maximize use of case studies
Finally, make the most of your case studies by letting your public relations team pitch them first as fresh stories. Then, feature your best cases in your external newsletter, if you have one. Also, post them on your Web site in a spot that's easy to find and print them as collateral for your sales team. Use quotes from them as testimonials in other marketing materials. Case studies build your credibility with every audience, so take every opportunity to tell your success stories.