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by Gordon Graham, Editor, SoftwareCEO
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We put these questions to two seasoned case study writers:
Steve Slaunwhiteand
Casey Hibbard.
They generously shared these 16 pragmatic tips on how to plan, writeand publish case studies for maximum impact.
These tips are arranged in order, from planning to research to writing to publishing
a case study for best possible results.
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Your best source of case study subjects will likely be your sales force.
But how do you get their attention?
Just like you get their attention for anything else: cash.
"One software company I work with offers pretty good cash incentivesand they get a fair number
of ideas submitted," says Hibbard. "And then if the story winds up getting published,
the sales rep get $1,000."
She suggests choosing a few key opportunities to ask sales for case study leads, like around
sales meetings or during a traditionally slow quarter. That may work better than nagging them
all year round.
We know at least one software firm that offers a $1,000 discount on their license to any customer
who agrees to be featured in a case study.
Another approach is to appeal to the client's own need for promotion.
"People are busyand you've got to sell the idea. Say, 'If you're willing to share your story,
you're going to be featured in all these placesand get a lot of exposure.'"
For a company at the right stage in their own growth, that kind of free publicity can be worthwhile.
Once you have a case study lead, handle it carefully.
Someone from marketing should call and tactfully confirm that they agreed to be interviewed.
Explain the processand where you will likely want to publish the story.
You may want to pre-interview them to make sure they have a solid story to tell.
Whatever you do, keep their entire time commitment down to an hour or two.
As for approvals, Hibbard recommends a simple approval form for subjects to sign.
"If you flesh out the process at the beginning, that can really help," she says.
"Ask, 'Who is going to approve this and sign off?' Talk to the legal teamand show them,
'This is the release form, this is a sample we did for another company, this is how it's going
to be used. '"
All that preparation can help when it comes time for the company to sign the release.
To sum up: Pre-qualify your leads. Explain the process. Get their permission nowand approval later.
A case study without a customer name is about as believable as an urban myth that happened to
a "friend's roommate who knows this guy."
If you have plenty of leads and one won't agree to let you use their name, move on to the next.
"It significantly diminishes a case study's worth if you can't name the customer," says Hibbard.
"It's important to have a few big names to drop.
"But if you can't get them, go after the smaller companies that you can name. A smaller company is more likely to want the exposure."
As far as structuring the story itself, the classic case study format is Problem and Solution.
Before and After. Then and Now.
Before, a terrible darkness had fallen over the land. Then, we found your wonderful software.
After, peace and prosperity once more flowed across the realm.
Sounds corny, but this is the underlying mythos of every case study.
Slaunwhite has a useful article at his site that lists eight key parts of a case study:
• The customer
• The challenge
• The problem
• The journey
• The discovery
• The solution
• The implementation
• The results
"This is a tried-and-true formula, a logical sequence that works very well," he says.
Slaunwhite points to the discovery and the implementation as the two elements most often overlooked
in case studies.
One key part of the story is how any problems were handled.
"There is no perfect implementation of any complex product like enterprise software,"
says Slaunwhite. "There is always some turbulence. I constantly ask, 'What problems developed?
How were they solved?'
"It's like getting your house renovated," he says. "It's never perfect.
But how are the issues resolved? Those are important ingredients of a successful case study
because they really make the story believable."
Of course, everyone wants to see the bottom line. But not all numbers are created equal.
"The customer may say, 'I cut shipment preparation time in our warehouse by 70 percent,
because this software does our shipping labels for us. And if a study hasn't been done,
I ask, 'How was that estimated?'" says Slaunwhite.
"Sometimes they'll say, 'Well, we used to have three full-time staff thereand now I only have one,
and the other two are on to something else.'
"So that makes it more concrete. I always try to nail them down.
"You may not always get analytical results. But if you keep asking questions, you will usually get some specifics that make it
believable to someone reading it."
Sometimes a key result that emerges from a case study interview is that your software
makes someone look good.
"This is an important point in good B2B copywriting," says Slaunwhite. "There are business
benefits you have to talk about, but there are personal benefits as well.
Your software may cut costs 20 percent, but it also makes the CIO look like a hero."
He says personal benefits are sometimes ignored in case studies, but they shouldn't be.
"When it comes right down to it, it's individual people who make buying decisions; not groups,
not committees, not companies, but individual people," he says. "So you definitely have to
balance business benefits with personal benefits."
"You can get a lot of mileage out of a case study," says Hibbard. "But I rarely see anyone
really leveraging that investment."
"A lot of case studies are not utilized to their full benefit," echoes Slaunwhite.
"Because it's a success story—because everybody loves a good story—it should be used at
every opportunity."
Here are some of the many ways you can publish-and republish-a case study:
As an article submitted to a trade magazine
As a press release
As a mail-out to prospects or recent buyers
As a piece available to sales reps and channel partners
On your website, under a heading such as "Customers," "News," or even "Case Studies"
In your company newsletter or e-zine
As a free giveaway at trade shows
As a testimonial, by pulling out a few short snippets
On a CD as a leave-behind on sales calls
As an example in your next white paper
Converted to PowerPoint slides for your sales force
As a proof point in speeches by your executives.
If they're agreeable, you can also invite your case study customers to speak at your
user conference, to appear in a webinar, or to be interviewed in a podcast or video.
Of course, these versions will be more elaborate and costly than simply writing up their story
in print. But they will gain even more impact by featuring a live person in a richer medium.
The easiest sale is sometimes just rolling out your proven solution to another division
of the same company.
"It's very powerful to use a case study to sell further into an organization," says Hibbard.
"One company I work with has their software installed in one branch of a huge mortgage company with
lots of branches worldwide. It's been a very good success: This one branch was at the top in
terms of revenues and staff efficiency, so we did a case study on that.
"Now my client is taking it to the head office to try to convince them to roll out that software
to all the other branches."
What else could possibly give you such a clear inside track?
You don't need any fancy content management system. A sensible design for your website will do.
Let your structure mirror your plan for developing case studies.
In other words, organize them by product, by market, by sector, or by geography—or maybe by several alternatives—
so that any visitor to your site can quickly find the stories that interest them the most.
"If you can search by industry, by company nameand by product and module used, then the
sales reps can find what they need," says Hibbard.
"If you're going to the trouble of organizing
all your stories for your sales team, you may as well do that for the public as well."
The more work you do for an editor, the more likely they'll be to pick up your story.
"The editors of some niche or trade magazines will sometimes reprint a case study almost
in its entirely, because it's already written in article form," says Slaunwhite.
"If it's well-writtenand it seems impartial, they may use every word of it."
OK, how do you best approach a trade magazine with your latest case study?
"The best way is very simple," he says. "Send a letter or e-mailand enclose the case study
with a short cover letter stating, 'Here's a success story with our product, featuring this
kind of company, which had these kind of problems which were solved by this.'
"In your cover letter, tie in your story with possible themes, such as technology improving
productivity, reducing HR costs, streamlining payroll, or whatever the current themes are.
"If you can get the editorial calendar, you can send that letter at just the right time to
match up with a topic. That seems to work much better than just sending a press release
with the story."
"A case study still works like a charm as a free giveaway," says Slaunwhite.
"Case studies are very valuable in lead generation. I've written tons of e-mails promoting
a particular case study. They get a high click-through rateand do very, very well.
"If someone is interested enough in a product to download a case study, that qualifies them
as a pretty good prospect that should be followed up."
Here's how to pitch a case study to prospects.
"If you're writing an e-mail to promote a case study, a webinar, or a white paper,
focus on the offer, not the software.
"What does the case study reveal? What is the inside information you're going to get from reading it?
Why should you read it now? Why is it important?
"Focus on those things, not the software featured in the case study. A lot of software companies
write a lead-generation e-mail, or letter, or postcard that focuses on the product, not the offer."
In other words: Sell the offerand let the case study sell your software.
That's what it's there for.
With so much riding on your case studies, don't forget your manners.
There are lots of ways to say "thank you" to a client who agrees to do a case study for you.
Here's are some suggestions from Hibbard:
Mail a handwritten note
Have the account manager or sales rep call to thank them personally
Send them some company promo items: a mug, T-shirt, cap, or whatever,
along with your thank-you note
Order them a more elaborate promotional item, like a gift basket.
When the story is done, always send your client a couple of color hard copies.
Consider framing or laminating one so they can hang it in their cubicles and feel like a hero.
"People really like reading stories. If you can make it an interesting story... if you can impress someone with a really compelling story,
it will really help sell your software," says Hibbard.
Copyright © Computing Technology Industry Association, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
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