How to Write Effective Case Studies

By Jody Calkins

Want to turn prospects into paying clients?
If your answer is "Yes," then this book is for you!

When prospects choose to do business with you, they need to feel confident that they are making a buying decision they won't regret. Whether or not your reputation precedes you, your organization can benefit from providing case studies to your prospects.

Case studies will help you convey your organization's specialties and unique capabilities.

Case studies work to bridge the gap for reluctant prospects. They provide some guidelines for how a business relationship with your organization works, they showcase your organization's specialties, and they validate your capabilities to meet or exceed a prospect's expectations.

If prospects don't feel confident that your company can provide the benefits they need, they will likely move to someone else, one of your competitors. 

What You'll Learn:
-How to build prospect confidence and trust
-How to help prospects feel comfortable with the buying decision
-Things you must have for an effective case study
-How to market your services with case studies
-How to handle the expert interview process
-How to help ensure the expert interview runs smoothly
-And more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jody Calkins
• Release date: Oct 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386453758

Jody Calkins

Author of The Hexon Code. Writer of Dystopian Drama. Pilot's Wife. Arborist. Learning Swedish & Turkish. Cat Lover. Book Addict.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Introduction

Creating Confident Customers with Case Studies

Chapter One

The Benefits of Using Case Studies

Chapter Two

The Case Study’s Message

Chapter Three

The Essentials of a Case Study

Chapter Four

To Sell or Not to Sell with Case Studies

Chapter Five

The Needs Assessment for Case Studies

Chapter Six

Developing Case Study Outlines

Chapter Seven

Doing Research for the Case Study

Chapter Eight

How to Interview and Get the Answers You Need to Make Your Case Study a Successful Marketing Tool

Chapter Nine

Writing the Introduction

Chapter Ten

Writing the Core

Chapter Eleven

Writing Tips and Strategies

Chapter Twelve

Formatting Your Case Study

Chapter Thirteen

Marketing with Case Studies

Introduction

Creating Confident Customers with Case Studies

With so many competitors vying for your prospects’ attention, it can be hard to stand apart from the crowd. However, with a bullet-proof marketing plan that works to instill confidence in your prospects and demonstrate your unique capabilities, you put yourself in the forefront to achieving new business.

One of the best ways to gain confidence in your prospects is through case study testimonials, or case studies, so case studies are an important part of that marketing plan. Case studies demonstrate that your clients are happy with your products or services, thus instilling confidence in prospects that your company will meet their own expectations.

But wait a minute! I already have testimonials on my site. Aren’t they enough?

Brief one-liner testimonials are an important part of your marketing strategy; however, case studies get to the heart of your company’s capabilities and do a far better job creating prospect confidence.

The purpose of a case study is to offer a demonstrative view of the benefits a prospect can gain by choosing your company.

What information or materials do our customers need to make a buying decision?

As business professionals selling products and services, whether informational products, coaching programs, or books, we must step into the shoes of the customer. We need to think in terms of the customers' wants, needs, and desires.

When we, as consumers, consider buying a certain product or service, what information do we require most?

We require the information that tells or shows us what that product or service can do for us. Right? That it can help us reach a goal, improve something we want to improve, accomplish something we want to accomplish.

Does it really matter what the product or service is? Not really. We care more about the end result. And we also care about how other people just like us have benefited from a particular product or service, so we can feel confident about making an informed decision, one that we won't regret in the future.

Why do you need to build prospect confidence?

Being successful in business has always been about building meaningful relationships with customers and getting them to feel confident about their buying decisions.

Every business professional wants to make money, sell his products or services, and become known as the one-stop-shop for all of his clients' needs. Maybe his motives are based on greed, or maybe they're based on necessity. The trouble is, if he focuses on money and making the sale, he will end up (or stay) penniless.

And, as a result, those prospects who became customers while he was busy making a sale have no attachment to him whatsoever. They may have liked him at the time, but if he asks them to continue buying from him in the future, they may very well turn to someone else. They may have been offended or turned off by his