«Return to Blog List Another Idea for Getting No-Go Customers off the Fence
It’s been 15 years since I wrote my first case study. And year after year since then, I hear the same challenge from organizations as the main reason they don’t create more case studies.
“We can’t get customers to agree to do them!”
You may be a customer’s best, most beloved vendor, but for various reasons, the customer just can’t or won’t say yes…
- Larger organizations often have policies against endorsing vendors
- Some don’t want to reveal competitive secrets
- Others simply don’t want to spare the time
The truth is, you have to sell the idea to the customer. With nearly anything – and especially with harried business people – it’s still about WIIFM (what’s in it for me?).
WIIFM
But you have to know who you’re selling to and tailor the benefits accordingly:
1 – The company
At the company level, organizations that say yes might be motivated by the positive publicity, a chance to showcase their best practices, the prestige of showing they work with an esteemed brand or hot technology, among others.
2 – Individuals
But many case studies move forward because of greater motivations of the individuals involved. Maybe the person who chose the vendor and led the successful project internally wants to showcase his or her professional accomplishments. They want to document that in a case study, speaking opportunity or award entry. Or they might be moved by activities in tandem with a case study such as the chance to network with peers on your customer advisory board.
For both companies and individuals, monetary motivators are questionable. Most references – if not hindered by a corporate policy against participating – are willing to be featured or serve as a reference without monetary incentives.
You want true customer advocates to be featured – not because they get a discount on software or services.
Donate to Their Charity of Choice
But there’s another option that may motivate both companies and individuals. What about appealing to their sense of altruism? How about donating to the company’s or individual’s charity of choice as a thank-you for sharing their story?
I recently met Ryan Sorley of DoubleCheck Research. His company conducts win-loss interviews for organizations. Essentially, he uncovers why an organization chose – or didn’t choose – to buy a product or service. Ryan isn’t creating customer case studies, but in gaining the interviews he needs, the challenge is similar; participation is voluntary.
For every interview he does, Ryan makes a donation to the contact’s charity of choice. He has many to choose from so individuals can select the one they feel most strongly about. Not every person he contacts says yes, but it does contribute to a pretty high rate of success in getting win-loss interviews.
Customer case studies are similar. A charitable donation on the customer’s behalf may not sway the most ardent dissenters but it can possibly get a few off the fence – and appeal to their desire to do good.
