Advice from Experts: Getting approval to create case studies

Having your own case study can be a powerful sales tool and can drive new business for your company. But how do you get your customer to agree to publish a case study? We talked to three  PODi members about how they get approval. Below is a brief summary of their suggestions. Click here to read the full, detailed article.

Negotiate Early
Bill Nicholson, Director of Professional Services at e-Integrity, recommends beginning discussions early about writing a case study. In their proposals e-Integrity asks clients to cooperate with co-marketing efforts including serving as a reference and potentially publishing a case study.

Rab Govil, President of PODi, also suggests using a case study as a negotiation point in the contract stage. If a client requests a special price or service consideration you can ask them to agree to have a case study written about the program and include that provision  in the contract.

Make Your Customer Look Good
Christopher Wright, Director of Sales and Marketing at MSP Digital Direct says that he offers case studies to his contacts as a way for them to personally get recognition. Wright says that a case study can be used by a Director of Marketing to highlight his or his department’s success to superiors and peers.

Christopher DeSantis, President of RI Communications Group, says there are two main benefits for a customer to agree to a case study.

1. Personal satisfaction and growth for the program driver. DeSantis shared that his customers have included their PODi Best Practices Award recognition on their resumes.
2. Recognition for the company. Case studies highlight the originating customer as an industry leader. It is an excellent way for them to separate themselves from the competition. And who doesn’t want to differentiate themselves?

Know What Success Looks Like
Another point from both Nicholson and Wright is that it is important in the early planning stages of the program to know what metrics the customer will be measuring and what they will consider a success. When you can prove the success of the campaign your customer will be more willing to support your effort to write a case study about it.

Be a Strategic Partner
Ultimately a strong relationship with your customer is key to getting approval for a case study. Make sure that you are viewed as valued partner in the communication solution, not just the company that puts ink on paper.

Overcoming Objections
One of the most commonly heard objections to a case study is that a customer does not want their competition to see what they are doing. DeSantis shared that while this may have been a legitimate objection in the early days of digital print, he feels it is no longer a valid point. In today’s communication age if any company (including your customer’s competition) does not know about relevant marketing and the potential of one-to-one communications then they are not an industry leader.

Once you get approval to have a case study written be sure you submit it for PODi’s case study collection. Simply give us the details of your success story and we'll turn it into a polished case study. Service providers tell us that having their story published by a recognized industry association gives added credibility to their case study. The deadline for submissions is June 30th. Go to www.podi.org/casestudy/bpsubmission now to begin your submission.

Read the full "Getting approval to create case studies" article.