Let Your Client Success Stories Speak for your Business
Good stories are the reason we keep favourite books on our home shelves and wait in anticipation for season two or three of a good show.
Whether your business is in home renovation, the beauty industry, or anything in between, your business stories have the potential to drive sales and attract new clients. Publishing customer success stories on your website, blog, social media is like your business’ guest book—they are the reason you do what you do.
A customer success story has a similar outline to the traditional case study, however is less dry and factual. It leaves more room for empathy, emotion and your brand voice. It’s also a way to keep your content fresh and top-of-mind.
To write a success story, start with the following steps:
Get permission from the client and customer stories for which you are most proud. You might find the right clients by expanding on an already existing testimonial by gathering more intel with an interview or follow-up. If it has been a few months or a year since you engaged with the client, it’s a great opportunity to reveal the long-term effects of your product or service.
Describe the Background —For a B2B client, what kind of business is your client in? How long have they been around for, what is their offering? What is changing for them? For B2C, what is some background on the person’s life? What is something about their lifestyle or demographic that allows the audience to relate?
Reveal the Challenge. Why did the client come to you in the first place? What was their desire, need, or pain? Explain past experiences and the reason a challenge might remain a challenge.
Be the Solution. How did your service or product improve the situation, or solve a problem for the client? This is a good time to reveal where there might have been further challenges before a solution was a success.
Share Results. What was the expected outcome of your client’s interaction with your business? If there is a “happy accident”—something unplanned that comes of the solution, even better!
Project software company, Project Open, suggests ensuring your success stories contain a theme and differentiating details. “You may provide an example, layout a bit of general business theory about the theme, explain design considerations and alternative approaches, and why these alternatives where not chosen.”
Another great place to find a skeleton to work from is this success story template .
Incorporate relevant SEO search terms to ensure your story is found by existing, as well as potential clients. It’s an easy way to maintain website ranking in your industry and be found by new potential clients.
Try a creative delivery. Don’t hold back when it comes to ways of presenting your story. —Maybe it’s not written. Try using video, photos, or audio platforms to deliver the story.
Why invest time in a success story? Customers rely on reviews to choose who they are going to do business with. Success stories allow you to tell the bigger story. In the case of a review, you are also relying on clients to put in their time and decide what information to report. Conversion of a discerning customer often relies on the details of the story—new clients want to envision their own experience before buy in.
Sources
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/322048
http://www.project-open.com/en/howto-success-story
https://www.skeletonproductions.com/insights/customer-success-story-template