«Return to Blog List Right #5 of Case Studies that Compel & Sell – Right Results
Customer case studies play several roles – credibility, education, and last but not least, validation.
Prospects need to see the specific value that a product or service delivered. Ideally, that’s measurable.
But for a case study to be effective with the intended audience, you have to present metrics in a way that matters to them.
1. First, identify what metrics mean the most to your prospects. Ask some of your current customers.
Once you understand this, craft your interview questions to elicit these specific metrics. Ask before-and-after questions to help customers measure improvements.
2. Decide how to present metrics
Dollar amounts do not carry the same value for all prospects. For example, an annual cost-savings of $30,000 is likely very significant for a small business. But those numbers probably don’t impress a midsize to larger organization.
If you’re trying to keep case studies versatile for multiple audiences, then it makes sense to represent return on investment (ROI) data in more universal terms.
Instead of $30,000 in annual savings, instead we could say the company reduced its staffing costs by 15 percent.
3. Negotiate with customers
You may have a specific way that you’d like to represent ROI, but your customer isn’t comfortable with that. Discuss with the featured customer how they are willing to show their results. That might be in dollar amounts, in percentages or in factors of (twice as, one-third of…).
As with many aspects of a customer case study, it’s all about balancing the information you need to deliver to your audience with what your customer is willing to share.
