How to design and write case studies to help you win new business

As you engage with prospective clients, it helps immensely to have case studies as part of your sales kit. How to design and write case studies that are effective? Case studies achieve three important goals, while engaging with prospects

• Supports the services you are offering with real life examples of how clients have benefited
• Demonstrates your thinking/approach to solve client problems
• Highlights your expertise and industry knowledge

Case studies, in a way are far more powerful than services flyers, as they provide a client view point to the services offered. Having said so, case studies need to be carefully planned to be totally effective. Here are a few pointers to build case studies to help you win new business.

Tell a real story

Your prospects don’t want to hear about your service capabilities in the form of a case study. They are looking for a story that they can relate to. Based on your target market, identify the story and the client that you want to cover in the case study.

Don’t be overly critical

Many times, while writing case studies, organizations often showcase their clients in a pretty bad light and then talk about how they made things better. Do remember that clients will not like to see themselves portrayed in bad light, in any collateral form. Be constructive about the solutions that you have provided.

Customer citations make great impact

Prospective customers are interested to hear about experiences from your current customers. Customer citations, inserted strategically to promote your brand help communicate your values.

Keep it business-Centric

While writing case studies, people tend to cover a lot of topics and get into micro issues. It is best to focus on business metrics and demonstrate how you were able to create a difference to the key business metrics.

Keep it visually appealing

It is far easier to relate to images than read lots of text. The design layout should be smartly managed so that you can communicate your key values effectively. Also the design layout should do justice to your brand, logo and corporate colors.

Plan promotions of your case study

Several organizations create case studies and just feature it on their website. It is necessary for you to create the right promotion plan for your case study, so that it can reach your target audience and start influencing their decision about working with you. You can also plan social promotions on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and any other relevant platforms.

The bottom line is that well-crafted, thoughtful case studies can influence to a prospective client\’s decision to work with you. How to design and write case studies is not just about writing these case studies but about making an integrated plan related to these case studies. Make sure you get it right! Ways you can ensure that marketing is supporting the Sales Process