76. How to Write a Case Study that Sells your Service (3 Steps)
swipe me
Creating more sales assets was one of the first things I focused on at LITTA.
While LITTA has 13,000+ 4.9 star Trustpilot reviews from consumers, they’re not that impactful when selling to businesses.
When I joined, all they had was a 5-page generic brochure.
I needed more sales assets for prospecting. I focused on getting social proof from our business clients using two methods.
Surveys - getting feedback and testimonials from existing clients
Case studies - a story outlining how LITTA’s service was the solution that helped transform a client’s most significant problem into a successful result.
Don’t sleep on case studies.
They’re powerful evidence to show how your business has helped other clients. Case studies show that your product or service really works.
They add massive value to your sales and marketing activities.
This post will explain the steps I used to create LITTA’s first case study.
In today’s email:
Step 1 - Preparing for the case study
Step 2 - Finding the right client(s)
Step 3 - Publishing the case study
THE BIG IDEA
Step 1 - Preparing for the case study
I created a Google Doc with a simple case study campaign outline.
Case study questions
I used the B/D/A format for my questions (swiped from this blog post) post.
I divided the questions into three sections - Before, During and After - using LITTA.
Before questions help to identify the challenge the client is facing and how they’re trying to solve them.
During questions, ask about the process of solving that challenge.
After questions are all about the results and what they mean to the client.
I created this list of B/D/A questions and a Google Form to capture the answers during my call with the client.
Case study template
I also applied the B/D/A format to the structure of the case study.
This case study template is broken down into three sections
Challenge - what challenges/problems was the client-facing before working with LITTA
Solution - how and why did they decide to work with LITTA
Results - what benefits have they experienced since working with LITTA
Using this structure made it easy to apply the answers I received to the sections in the case study.
Step 2 - Finding the right client(s)
I’d reviewed LITTA’s existing clients as part of an idea client profile exercise.
As a result, I identified two criteria that a client had to meet to qualify as a case study candidate:
They need to operate in one of LITTA’s target markets and
They spent more than £10,000 with LITTA in the last 12 months.
Fifteen clients meet these criteria.
Next, I asked LITTA’s COO to introduce me to the clients on the list.
After the client confirmed they were happy to participate, I sent this follow-up to arrange a date for our call.
To help prepare for the call, I sent these case study questions in advance.
All that was left was hosting the interview. I did this over Google Meet and completed this Google Form with the answers.
A tool I use now (and I wish I had then) is Otter.ai - an AI meeting assistant. It takes meeting notes, transcribes calls and creates automated summaries. The perfect companion for all video calls.
Step 3 - Publishing the case study
Now, the tricky part is writing the case study. I had to turn all of my notes into an easy-to-follow narrative.
Everything up to now and took less than an hour to do.
Writing the case study took me 10 hours over three days. I prepared by reviewing the blog posts on this website.
I also used these case study examples as a guide.
Once the first draft was ready, I sent it to the client for approval.
After a handful of minor changes, the final draft was approved.
The last step was working with a designer to make the case study POP. This is how it looks.
You can download the case study from my LinkedIn profile (let’s connect while you’re there).
I hope it inspires you to create the first (or next) case study for your business.
Thanks for reading!
Matt @ The Growth Lab
Forwarded this email?
Subscribe here:
Thanks for subscribing to The Growth Lab.