While on assignment for Providence Life Services, I had the opportunity to interview Bernie Wiersum, a resident of Saratoga Grove Assisted Living and Retirement Community in Downers Grove, Illinois. A delightful man, he gave me permission to write up his interview into a testimonial that the Saratoga Grove marketing team could share with prospects. (Download the one-page PDF here.) I also snapped the above photo, which won Bronze from the National Mature Media Awards. (They titled it, “Happy to Be Here.”)
Many businesses have found case studies like Bernie’s to be an effective marketing tool—either in the hands of sales/marketing staff, or in printed advertisements, or sprinkled throughout their websites and Facebook pages. Saratoga Grove specifically chose residents who had overcome common objections to moving—cost, location, not being “ready,” downsizing, and, in Bernie’s case, accepting the fact that you need help now. I interviewed a series of these residents in order to create a library of testimonials the marketers could draw from as needed.
Part of your sales force
In essence, these satisfied customers become part of your sales force, answering objections more authentically than your paid staff can—because they are in the same situation as your prospects, and because they have no ulterior motive for sharing their story. Satisfied customers can help reinforce the trust your sales staff are trying to build.
If you have satisfied customers, and you’d like to turn their experiences into case studies or testimonials, contact LifeLines. The typical process involves supplying me with names and phone numbers of the people you choose, so I can call them to set up a phone or email interview. After the interview is complete, I write up the story and send it to you and the interviewee for review and input. Usually no more than two rounds of revisions are needed before everyone is delighted.
And if additional evidence is needed to convince you of the value of case studies, let me know and I can send you some from my own satisfied customers!
(In case you missed last week’s post, Providence Life Services also won a National Mature Media Award for an ad campaign I worked on for them. See An advertising case study.)