A case study is the most persuasive sales document a service business can own, and most are written in a way that persuades nobody.
The usual mistake
They are written from the inside. Our approach, our process, our expertise. The customer appears as a backdrop.
The reader is not evaluating your process. They are trying to work out whether their own situation could end differently.
The shape that works
- The situation before. Specific and recognisable. What was going wrong and what it was costing.
- What was tried. Including what did not work. This is the part that makes it believable.
- What changed. Briefly. Not a full methodology.
- The result. A number if you have one, an honest description if you do not.
- Their words. One or two sentences from the customer, unedited.
Most of the value is in the first section. A reader who recognises themselves in the opening paragraph will read the rest.
Keep it short
One page. Two at most. Long case studies get saved for later and later never comes.
Name the industry, even if not the customer
Some clients prefer not to be named. "A textile trader in Surat with fourteen staff" is nearly as useful as the name, and far more useful than "a client".
Get one per type of work
Three good case studies covering your three main services beat ten covering the same one. The point is that a reader finds the version that looks like them.
Write it while it is fresh
Within a fortnight of finishing. Six months later the details have blurred, the numbers are approximate, and it shows.
Leave a Comment