Customer References
Once used primarily as supporting credentials in the closing stages of the buying process, customer references have now moved right into the front line. It’s easy to understand why. Numerous research projects have investigated how content influences buyers’ decision-making; they’ve found that the testimony of peers is frequently cited as highly influential.
What makes a good reference story?
To tell an engaging and persuasive story means doing more than merely reporting the facts — although statistics that make the benefits tangible will always be sought after. We need to give context to make the story relevant to readers and we need to develop the characters so that they seem plausible and three-dimensional. This process starts with the interview and techniques that put individuals at ease and help them to express themselves. The interviewer needs a strong sense of how to evolve the questioning to follow the thread that is interesting but that’s also closely aligned with the messaging we want to convey. Only when all of this information is captured — in note form or as video — can the storytelling begin. And often this is as much about cutting as creating, to provide a clean narrative with strong take-away implications for the reader.
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Download our new ebook: ‘Your guide to supporting the sales process with an effective customer reference programme’ |
Our experience with customer reference programmes:
Colt Technology Services
If you don’t need a story in English, why spend time and money creating an English version? Colt applies this principle in earnest: collaborating with our writers and editors, based in several European countries, to create local stories. “It’s genuine localisation, which gives us a better quality story that’s on message, consistently, in each European language.” says Colt’s Customer Marketing Programmes Manager. Our writers interview in the native language and draft case studies in those languages or English, depending on who will be reviewing the piece. Customers get a good, professional experience, with the convenience of being able to express themselves in their own language.
Avid
Over the past year, we’ve been conducting interviews with music and film-industry professionals in order to tell the story of how Avid helps them realise their creative vision. One of Avid’s revolutionary products is VENUE, a live sound system that delivers amazing sound quality, reliability, efficiency, and ease of use, and on the strength of this product, Avid recently won the contract to provide the FOH console for the European tour of Elvis Presley in Concert (yes that’s right, Elvis!).
Lumesse (formerly StepStone)
We help Lumesse (formerly StepStone Solutions) to spread the word about the benefits of their specialised software solutions. Businesses around the world use Lumesse talent management solutions to manage the employee lifecycle more consistently and cost-effectively; we’ve worked with Lumesse to improve the process of gaining insight into how customers achieve their goals through better talent management — and to capture this in the stories we tell.
Xerox
Customers and salespeople impart considerable insight when talking to our interviewers. It’s always seemed a shame to let this juicy content go to waste. How much better to capture it, expand on it and deliver it back in the form of coaching materials that can help sales replicate best practice and improve performance. We help Xerox do this with internal-facing case studies.
Sepura
Sepura’s solutions are used by emergency services and utilities around the world. There’s always a human angle to the stories we tell whether formatted for a press release or longer feature, and each one deepens the sense of community and shared experiences that Sepura wants to build.
Verizon
Without care, technical case studies can become mired in jargon and risk becoming meaningless to any reader not familiar with the situation. Focusing on business benefits is better, in that it shows results, but this still doesn’t make for a compelling story. What’s needed is the context so the reader understands how to apply the story to their own environment and challenges. This is the approach we take with Verizon’s stories to deliver case studies that support the sales process.
CSC
Case study showcase. When CSC launched its new customer centre in the Gherkin, London — a great venue for running seminars and other client meetings—they wanted visitors to be able to really ‘experience’ some of their success stories. We proposed a set of sector-specific interactive kiosks — which CSC, and customers alike, loved. Despite the challenge of getting to grips with CSC’s recently launched new branding — this was the first customer-facing project — we met the demanding schedule. In just three weeks we wrote, designed and produced six kiosk designs, a corporate movie, six sector overviews and 26 flash-animated case studies.
If you would like to discuss your reference stories or your customer reference programme with HN Marketing, give us a call on +44 1628 622187.
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Download our new ebook: ‘Your guide to supporting the sales process with an effective customer reference programme’ |
