Last week, I did an interview with a guy who helps people become best-selling authors.
He knows creating case studies of successful clients would help him stand out, generate interest, and close sales.
But he said he was stuck. Because he wasn’t sure who to do a case study about.
Figuring that out is a bit like playing a game of “Guess Who”.
You want to start with a bunch of great options. Then narrow it down until you get the best candidate.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve helped a few clients with this. Here’s what we did:
First, we sent out an email that sent all past customers to a landing page.
The landing page was filled with questions for them to answer that would help us identify who was a good fit based on 1. Demographic information 2. Their struggle/where they were before joining the program 3. Their results.
The early questions were stuff like age, gender, married vs. single, etc. This would help us find people who matched our target demographic. (If you’re demographic is 40-year-old women, you don’t want to do a case study from some 25-year-old guy. That may be valuable later since you probably do have other dudes who are buying. But first you want to do one on your main avatar because it will resonate with the most people. From there, you can expand and cover other “sub-avatars.”)
It’s important to have those simple, multiple choice questions FIRST. It gives your customers momentum. So they’re more likely to finish the survey. (If you start with an open-ended question it’s more likely people will go “Ahhh I don’t know” then close out the page.)
We also said that anyone who filled out the survey would be put in a raffle to win a $50 Amazon gift card. It’d be even stronger if we straight up gave everyone who answered $20 or whatever. When possible, people a real, compelling reason to reply. Not just the “it’d really help us out!” stuff.
Next, we asked what obstacle almost kept them from joining.
This gives us a better sense of where they were before they joined the course. So we can start to get a feel for the transformation they had.
We asked a few other questions after that. But the most important were these two:
1. What results did you get from the program?
2. Give us an example of how those results made your life better?
This is obvious because you want someone who had great results. But there’s something in that second question that’s really important.
Surveys often lead to vague answers like: “My life is so much better!”
That doesn’t help. We want something TANGIBLE.
That’s why asking for an example is critical. (You could also ask “What is different about your life since getting those results?”)
Framing the question that way leads people to give more concrete answers. To talk about how their day-to-day life improved. As opposed to the vague, useless responses.
For example, we had one woman say that the program saved her marriage and helped her earn 70% more income from her business.
Ding ding ding!
THAT is the response we’re looking for.
After doing this, you’ll have a bunch of bitching new testimonials you can use. (Your last question on that landing page should be a yes or no: “Can we use your replies in our marketing?”)
But what we want is the best case study candidate.
So flip through the replies and cross out those people who:
1. Don’t match your demographic
2. Didn’t have a dramatic transformation (Their results are weak, vague, or they started with an advantage your average reader doesn’t have. For example, if you’re helping people become best-sellers. you’re better off sharing a story of a complete nobody who became a best seller as opposed to a professional writer with a following, popular podcast, and several books already in stores. Or on Amazon since bookstores don’t exist anymore.)
Once you’ve eliminated the less-good stories you’re left with someone like Robert.
If Robert can do it, so can you!
So you shoot him an email. (Make sure that email comes from the main person/guru/ceo — not just some assistant or person inside the company. They’re more likely to reply if it comes from the main person they know/follow.)
Get his story, and use it to inspire roughly one zillion people.
Thus endeth the lesson.
Got any questions about how to find case study people/who to use? Write them below and I’ll see if I can help.