Don’t ask for testimonials after a project, do this…
Here’s a standard agency play:
Ask at the end of every project for a case study to put on your site.
But there’s 2 problems with that plan and they are stopping you getting great case studies with juicy testimonials.
- Don’t start with this being something just for your site to help your business
- Don’t wait to the end to ask
This article outlines what to do instead.
Make the it valuable to them
Remember my previous article about how not to get you proposals ghosted?
When you chase for an update it’s only valuable to you so you don’t get a reply.
That can happen with requests for case studies too.
If the existence of the case study is only valuable to you then you are asking for a favour. Something above and beyond the agreement you made when you decided to work together.
Even nice people don’t have time for things that aren’t of any use to them. They already aren’t doing lots of things that they should be.
So make it valuable:
- Increase their sales by making their business look good
- Get their department more budget by showing the return on investment they got
- Increase their status personally by letting them own the success with a testimonial
Let’s break those down:
Making their business look good to their potential customers
This works brilliantly for projects which provide direct benefit to the customer such as redesigning or rebranding a product. Anything that shows a business invests into quality that the customer will experience.
Internal work like improving the culture or wellbeing of staff would also help their brand so you can shout about that too.
Your case study is a deep dive into how they are investing in these things and serves as a promotion for their product.
Smaller businesses and start ups will take all the promotion you can give them.
Where this won’t work as well is with larger businesses. They have a marketing machine already.
It also doesn’t work as well for projects focused on your client’s bottom line. Something like improving your landing page conversion isn’t that exciting to a customer. Even if you are very ethical and the product is great, it’s still parting them from their money.
And you may have noticed that in sales it’s best not to focus on that.
Making their department look good
What does work for bigger companies is an internal success story .
If you’ve ever worked somewhere big, or if your agency is above 10 people you’ll know that internal communication changes. In order for other people in the business to know what’s happening you have to make a noise.
Here’s where you can help.
People want to show what a great job they and their department are doing. At a minimum they want to justify the budget they just spent on you.
Like any good content your case study should be a message that’s able to take multiple forms.
In this case you are creating a show and tell. Rather than a blog post this could be a presentation co-delivered by you and your client to the rest of their business.
I’ve done a few of these. One format is a lunch and learn where people bring their sandwiches and listen to a talk on the great work you did.
Don’t eat your own sandwiches during it. Focus instead on showcasing the work and importantly the outcome it’s had. Then follow up with the people that saw it and see what you can do in their department.
Making them look good personally to their colleagues, managers and industry
People like being associated with success. And because you do great work and prove the value of it, reflecting in your glory makes a person look good.
We did several projects where, in retrospect, this was one of the reasons we were hired. High profile redesigns that created a buzz (followed by our client moving on to bigger and better things).
While understanding the project’s business goals is essential, it’s equally important to know what personal outcomes your client sponsor wants too.
Normally, they want to look good and raise their profile but there might be something more specific than that. A particular award they want to win or person they want to notice them.
Build enough trust then ask them. Share your own personal goals and then listen.
Normalise the process
As your reputation grows and clients seek you out specifically, there’s another way to make case studies valuable to them.
Make it a condition of working with you.
You are a growing business that provides a lot of value. You are affordable because you don’t spend millions on marketing. You win clients by doing great work and shouting about it.
This is your business model and it’s what they are signing up for.
Remember that at the beginning of a project the client is looking to take your lead. It’s your chance to say that there will be a case study because it’s valuable to both of you.
Pitch it with the same effort you’d pitch anything else.
Then follow through and start creating it in kick-off. Starting once the project is over is starting too late.
Exercise: 2 part testimonial
Here’s an exercise to get you listening to your client champion early by running an exercise around what an imaginary future case study will say.
In the kick-off, get the client to write the first part of a testimonial as a way of setting a goal. They should say what they need to happen and how it will be achieved.
Format: Our business needs to by .
For example
- Our business needs to increase leads by improving the copy on our landing pages
- Our business needs to stay ahead of the competition by improving the UX of our product
- Our business needs to launch successfully by rapidly developing an MVP and learning.
At the end of the project, you are simply going to add your agency’s name (Agency X in this example) to it and flip it to the past tense.
Our business needed to by . Agency X delivered!
You can pair this with something from your side. Put in your own quote with more detail on how you are going to achieve it.
Format: We knew Business X needed to so we .
This has two benefits:
- It materially helps the project by forcing everyone to get clarity on the goal
- It normalises the existence of a case study and testimonial early on
Get it (or something like it) on your kick-off agenda for your next project.
Keep momentum during the project
Throughout the project, bring the developing case study into your catchups and gather assets that tell the story (or multiple stories) of the work.
🏅 You’ll end up with a client who expects and welcomes a case study and provides a public testimonial
🏅 The actual case study will be drafted and ready to smarten up and publish
🏅 You’ll have an internal show-and-tell ready for your client, helping you build visibility within their organisation and grow the account.
If you’re wearing all the hats then the work you are doing has to win more work. Amazing case studies aren’t a nice to have. Put the above into practice and stop making them an afterthought.