Great customer stories are prized content, but they can be hard to get. The customer’s legal team may not sign-off. Or the write-ups fall flat by speaking only to the business impact for the vendor, versus telling the tale from the customer’s point of view. But case studies don’t have to be illusive.
With a little out of the box thinking to broaden your approach, you can create compelling content even when you may not have a willing customer to testify on your behalf. The key is drilling down into the detail and looking up and across your wins.
The two key ingredients in a compelling customer story
#1 Compelling event
There are two important elements when telling customer stories. The first thing to understand is – what was the compelling event that triggered the customer to make a purchase. When anyone buys a product or service, it’s important to understand “why now”. This insight will not only help you (the vendor) understand circumstances that may help identify and predict buys from other customers but sharing the “why now” also speaks to those prospects who may related to your customer’s situation and connect to your story. The “why now” may be technical or business-driven. It may be to correct a problem, mitigate risk, or position the customer for growth – maybe they’re expanding their market, their own product or service offering, or driving efficiencies in their business.
#2 Unique business value
The second critical factor to understand is the unique business value you offer. Simply put – why did the customer choose you? They could have gone with a competitor with a like solution or another vendor who offers a different approach. Dig deep here and don’t assume you won because of a relationship with a person or lost because of the price. And if that is the answer, inquire what about the relationship won the deal. For example:
- Maybe there’s a long-standing history of doing business with your company. Great! Talk about the track record.
- Maybe the commercial terms of your proposal were key. Taxes, duties, payment terms, warranty length, and so on can make a big difference.
- Maybe the pricing detail is… in the detail! Perhaps your solution struck the right note between saving OPEX for CAPEX or vice versa. What was the significance of this to the customer?
- Or maybe your solution was the better mousetrap. Was there a feature or function of your product that helped your proposal stand out? This, too, is fantastic information to understand to ensure that as you continue to promote the product, you can focus on what is truly different.
Ask the question after the question for richer content
Like in primary school, prepare a list of who, what, where, when, and why questions about your win. Take it a step further and ask second questions, such as:
- Besides “what did they buy”, ask “what did they ask for”, “what was important to them (aka their decision criteria)
- In addition to “where” they were going to use your products, ask “why there” and find out what is unique about that location or application to their business
- Besides “when” they ordered the product, was there a hard date driving the when that aligned with an internal goal, an external event, or something else
- As well as “who” purchased your products, who did they work with from your company ahead of and after the purchase? This can help showcase the depth of bench and support from our organization
We could go on and on and on. But what happens when you don’t have a willing customer but desperately need some customer stories to establish credibility and show prospects what it’s like to work with you? We have some thoughts about this, too.
Thinking out of the box to create customer stories
Many times, business and sales leaders have customer stories in mind they want to tell, but they hit a dead end when the customer doesn’t come through with permission to use their name and story. Don’t give up! There are other ways to story tell. Here are a few:
Tip #1) Instead of telling one customer story, look across your customer data for trends. What are you selling to whom? Is there a group of wins that could be talked about to demonstrate scale and expertise? For example, maybe you’ve sold a lot of product X to industry Y. Why do you think this is? From here, you could talk about the kind of customer and application in a specific but general way.
Tip #2) Look outside of your product line for the headline. Maybe you can capitalize on a newsworthy event and write a story around it. For example, perhaps you sold something that was in support of a global event. Maybe a business or community was preparing for a grand opening or public event. Speak to why the event is the headliner versus the customer or your product. The product is the supporting cast.
Tip #3) Celebrate the creativity in how people are using your product or services. Instead of focusing on the customer, focus on how they’re thinking differently, using products differently, and demonstrate how you adapt and support a new application or new business or technical requirement.
Stretch your customer stories out
Creating great experience-rich content – the kind that generative AI cannot produce – is gold. Don’t think and act singularly about what it can do for you. Whether you start by thinking “case study” or “press release”, do it all! After gathering your thoughts, consider telling that story in several ways. This includes and is not limited to:
- Press release
- Case study
- Slide in a presentation
- Speaking / presentation pitch at an industry conference
- Blog or Vlog
- Article in a trade journal
- Supplemental material for an investor conference or annual report
- Social media posts
- Email or newsletter content
- Website content
Keep developing great customer stories and don’t be paralyzed by customer approval walls. This is what truly makes connections with one another. Compelling content doesn’t just position us with new sales opportunities but brings our brands to life by showing more about who we are and how we look at the world and support our customers.
For more information that will help you create killer content, read more from and reach out to Wild Plum.