Several people have suggested that we develop case studies to use on our website, or in other PR material. How do we start? What should we ask? We’re in professional services. The alternative to any professional service is DIY. It sounds scary but some people look after their own legal matters [even in court!] and do their own marketing too! On a personal note I would rather not extract or fill my own teeth - but some people will! The purpose of a case study is to demonstrate why a potential client should use you instead of someone else – or DIY. The best way to approach a case study is to do this over the telephone. We usually get someone who has not been involved with the project to make the call – that way any potential bias is removed. Typically the questions we ask follow this pattern: Introduction questions – to get the respondent feeling comfortable, none of these are too difficult:
Then we explore the motivation which helps us in our future marketing activities:
We like to know something about our competitors, so we ask:
We re-visit the initial aims and explore the added value we have delivered:
These questions also give us some specific measurements to see exactly how effective our work has been. We can then use these case studies, with real evidence to present to potential clients.
Labels: case studies, case study, marketing professional services, new product launch