Whether you sell products or provide services, you supply solutions to problems. Plumbers fix broken pipes. Electricians sort out your wiring. I am sure you know what I mean.
So you write on your business blog that you fix problems and provide solutions. How can you convince future clients you really know what you are doing? How can you sell your expertise?
Show them with a case study
Case studies can show future clients how you sorted out a situation, beginning to end. A customer came to you seeking help and with your involvement the problem was fixed. Doesn’t matter if it was your advice or technical knowledge or a product you had. You brought about a successful resolution.
Wikipedia has a page all about case studies from a more technical view point. ‘Made by Many’ website has a posting about a case study regarding Amnesty International, Case study: Amnesty UK ‘Campaigning with Social Media’.
How to approach a case study.
You need to have the cooperation of the client you help that forms the case study itself. You can think of this as a super-duper testimonial but the main topic of conversation is you or your business.
Make sure the client is happy to have his problems discussed. Not everyone will want it out in the open. If you are a web developer helping a business sell more with a blog and Facebook then they will most likely be cooperative.
Keep notes and documentation of what you did. Which services did you supply and which products were used. How did they help?
Cover the main points of how you were involved but we are not writing a book here. Keep it succinct and to the point but avoid sounding boring. Readers want to know what you did but not the nitty-gritty. A few more tips can be found on Top tips to write a persuasive case study By Debbie Weil.
What the case study is really for
As I said at the top, you want to show how your expertise solves problems. You are demonstrating your knowledge by using a real life example. The case study should show that the client had a need that you could satisfy.
You can almost consider it as a piece of marketing. But instead of the usual ‘buy this’ message you are actually showing the product or your services in action.
As a page on your website, the case study will reassure visitors and help turn them in to clients. Give it a static page on your blog and feature it in the site menu. Or perhaps (or as well as) a brief description and a link to the page in one of the sites side bars.
