Episode 1071: Your case studies aren’t connecting
Case studies are great until they’re not. Most of them tell the buyer what happened, but never what it means for them.
Are your case studies written for you, or for the buyer?
Most businesses will tell you their case studies are written for the buyer. Ask again. Are they, really? When a buyer reads a case study, they’re trying to answer one question. Should I care about this? They can only answer that if they understand what the result actually means for them.
Most case studies never get there. They lay out the information. This happened, then that happened, then this was the result. The facts are all present and correct. But nobody joins the dots for the reader.
The four words that make proof actually work
The words are simple. What that means. Every case study, every testimonial, every result you show a buyer should end with those four words attached to it, spoken or implied. A 30% increase in output means nothing on its own. What that means is your team hits deadlines without hiring anyone new. That’s the sentence that gets read twice.
Without it, you’re leaving the buyer to do the work of connecting your result to their reality. Most buyers won’t bother. They’ll move on to whoever did the work for them.
Communication isn’t the same as connection
Selling is good communication, but it’s really about finding the connection point. A case study can communicate perfectly and still fail to connect, because communication is about getting information across and connection is about making the buyer feel it applies to them.
Bridge that gap and the same case study, the same numbers, the same quote, suddenly does a completely different job.
Go back through your last three case studies. How many of them actually say what the result means for the reader?
Take Action
Pick one case study you currently use and read it as if you’re the buyer, not the writer. After every key result, ask “so what does that mean for me?” out loud. Wherever you can’t answer that instantly, add a sentence that spells it out for the buyer.
See Also
- 83+ ways to justify the price
- What To Say To Sell™
- Social Proof
- The Before/After Effect
- Transformation Statement
- Specific Proof
