Case Study Outline

Tips from Stories that Sell

Here are four ways to make your success stories more seductive:
1- Feature Only Insanely Smitten Customers
Who eloquently sings your praises? Who already refers you to others? Get those customers on record.
Take the time to pre-qualify customers

2- Capture Passionate Customer Quotes
To get passionate quotes from customers, ask questions that get them talking and sharing their emotions:
- “Describe the situation before and the pains/problems/challenges of that.”
- “Describe how your workday (or whatever) has changed for the better with the new solution.”
- “Can you share an example or anecdote of a time when the solution [insert name] made a difference for you?”

DON’T: Write quotes for customers.
Customers say infinitely more interesting things than what you might manufacture.

3- Tap into Prospects’ Narcissism – Make it ‘About’ Them
If you’re dating, you’re told to keep the other person talking about themselves. The same goes for wooing potential customers.
We all like talking about, hearing about, and reading about ourselves or others like us.

4- Display your Feathers – Those Tantalizing Customer Results
Show customer results – specific and as measurable as possible.
How do you get strong results? Going back to tip #1, choose customers well, in this case those that have only the best results and can share them.
Then, ask before-and-after questions. How much time or money (or whatever) did this require before, and how about now? Present those numbers in ways that put customers at ease. If dollar figures are too revealing, use percentages or factors of (i.e. cut in half, tripled, etc.). Weave them into your headline, highlight them in customer quotes and include them in sidebar summaries.