A business can say it provides excellent service. A good case study shows what that looks like.
You don’t need a dramatic transformation or a famous client. A straightforward account of a real job can help a potential customer understand the problem you solve, how you work and what they can expect.
Here’s how to put one together without turning it into a major writing project.
Choose a job your ideal customer will recognise
Think about the type of work you’d like more of. Has your business recently completed a project with a common challenge or a useful outcome?
A bookkeeper might choose a client whose monthly reporting was taking too much time. A builder could describe how an awkward space was made more practical. A service business might explain how it handled a tight deadline.
The job doesn’t have to be your biggest. It should help the right customer think, “That sounds like my situation.”
Gather four pieces of information
Before you write, jot down:
The situation: What did the customer need?
The challenge: What made this job more than a routine purchase?
The work: What did your business actually do?
The result: What changed for the customer?
Be specific where you can. “We redesigned the booking page so customers could find appointment types more easily” tells readers more than “We delivered an innovative digital solution.”
Use numbers only when you can verify them and have permission to share them. A clear description of the result is still valuable when there are no figures.
Ask for permission before using customer details
Check what the customer is comfortable having published. They may be happy for you to name their business and use photos, or they may prefer an anonymous description.
It’s worth asking separately about their name, images, a testimonial and any results you plan to mention. Keep a record of what they approved.
If you can’t identify the customer, the story can still be useful: “An Auckland retail business came to us because…”
Write it like a story, not an advertisement
Try this simple structure:
The problem: “The customer was getting enquiries, but each quote required several calls to clarify the job.”
What we did: “We changed the enquiry form to ask for the property location, photos and preferred timeframe.”
The result: “The team now receives the basic details with the initial enquiry and can decide on the next step more quickly.”
Finish with one useful point for the reader. In this example, it might be that a better form can save time for both the customer and the business.
Use the story in more than one place
A completed case study can become a page on your website, a short social post, a customer email or a point you refer to when answering a similar enquiry. Link people to the full story when they want more detail.
Start with one recent job. Ask the person who handled it to talk you through what happened, take a few notes and write in plain language. You may find you have several strong stories already sitting in your day-to-day work.
Brightside can help turn those stories into case studies and website content that show customers what working with your business is really like.
