A guest post by Jamie Diamond

Do you lead an intergalactic customer reference program for a Fortune 500 company, or maybe you’re the one-stop-shop, all things customer reference at a start-up?

Regardless of your title or company name, all customer reference folks are trying to accomplish more results in less time and with “creative” budgets and limited staff. Based loosely on the book, The 4- Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss, the following tips are for reference pros desiring to become RELENTLESSLY EFFICIENT.

STOP DROP and ELIMINATE

Yes, I said stop, which is the opposite of doing. Take a step back and really look at all of your daily and weekly customer reference chores, meetings and routine habits. Put on your “Busy Work Binoculars” and be honest, what things do you do or commit to that grind the clock rather than spitting out a public or private customer reference to help the company grow (IFDH - INSERT FAVORITE DELIVERABLE HERE)?

Your reference program hopefully has a process - make it the most efficient one possible.  Are five groups and 12 people involved in getting a customer logo approved for public use? Do you take on non-essential tasks that distract you from producing IFDH in mass?  Every meeting, every spreadsheet, every email, every drive-bye co-worker task-ask is SUSPECT.

Everything is negotiable if the best interest of your company is on the line; cutting the fat is smart and justifiable. Just make sure you pitch the boss on why you’ll be more productive and increase results.

THE PHONE - IT STILL WORKS

I’m not sure when it happened, but one day we all started to rely solely on email, IM and texting for communicating, but I’m here to reel you all back in - USE THE PHONE.

Has this ever happened to you? You’ve sent an email request. It’s next week and you’ve heard nothing back, so you reply to the email asking again, but this time you use different words. Still nothing. Soon you have what looks like a serial chain letter except you are the only one typing.

As soon as your brain processes the fact that you’ve been ignored or stood-up, dial the person’s phone number and talk to them. It’s amazing what level of productivity fireworks occur when your voices meet instead of someone easily shuffling/ignoring your email into the cyber circular file. If you do this just once a day, that’s 365 times an average of six pointless, non-replied-to follow-up emails per day, thus eliminating hundreds of thousands of carpal tunnel-causing keystrokes.

Yes, phone calls are old-school and seem very manual and counter-intuitive, but they also put a stop to endless email strings that we sadly think, “OH, they are sure to reply to this one. I used better words this time and sent it at the ideal time between brunch and lunch to catch their attention.”

TOOLS CAN BE HELPFUL OR HURTFUL

We all have our favorite tools of the trade. Some are obvious, some got re-tweeted and hashtagged to us from heaven. The same relentless efficiency rules apply to tools as well. Do you use your tools or do your tools use you?  The following are tools I use as well as tools I find SUSPECT (if I’ve marked your favorite tool as suspect...EXACTLY/GREAT/PERFECT...I’d love to hear how you use it to be efficient and productive. (F for favorite, S for suspect).

F Gmail - If you use Gmail or you have a Gmail-based corporate system, you know what I mean. If you don’t, I implore you to simply try it out and get that other system off your hard-drive, plus, you’ll be able to say you deployed a cloud solution - pretty cool.

F Call Recording/Transcribing - No clue how I lived without these two gems - record and transcribe every “important” customer call and leverage the mp3 and the transcript for about 1,000,000 uses inside/outside your company. There are tons of these services. Choose yours based on price/service/simplicity – Intercall and Verbalink are two I’ve had success with.

F/S Customer Tracker - Is your dirty little secret that you use an Excel document to keep track of your customers and your to-do items?  It’s ok, let’s hug and cry it out, we’ve all been there. Whatever tool or system you do use, make sure you’re only using the features and functions that get stuff done.

S CRM Systems - If you’re in marketing and you use the sales people’s version of Salesforce, stop the madness. Or, if you have a heavy CRM system that interlocks the entire company from the CEO to the janitor, please make sure it doesn’t make you set parameters every 10 seconds or have 100 pull-down menus and costs $5K to speak to customer service for a “custom view.”

To sum it all up, sure, I’ve detailed some efficiency tips to get more IFDH results, but you’ve got to want to make even small changes to routines and existing processes. It can be like pulling off the proverbial band aid – sometimes a quick yank and everything is back to normal in a flash. Happy yanking!

About the Author

Jamie Diamond has been pitching the press and doing start-up PR since the invention of WebTV. He owns and operates what he says is the only customer reference focused PR agency on the planet, Diamond PR, Inc. Mr. Diamond is also co-founder of what PR Week could have described as the most simple “un-CRM” customer reference tool CustomerWinHQ.
 

“If it was easy, everyone would do it.”

I’m not sure who said that, but file it under quotes that are wise, but still hard to accept. It’s absolutely true for freelancing. It’s not an easy road, but it gets easier over time. Like many things, the beginning is the hardest.

If you’ve ever started an exercise routine, you know it’s rough at the start. You’re out of shape and out of the habit of working out. It can feel like torture. But you get stronger and more disciplined and it feels so much easier – and you start to notice the payoff. Freelancing is no different.

Know this: If I can do it, you can do it. When I started, I didn’t have any special edge. I had writing skills, but I didn’t have a sales bone in my body. At the time, there were a few helpful books on the topic (Bob Bly and Peter Bowerman), but much of what I learned came from experience.

Fifteen years after going solo, I'm in a much better place. Unfortunately I learned nearly everything below the hard way:

1.      Always be marketing. Even when business is good. It can be hard to find the time but keep doing it. Build in some regular marketing in your schedule. Otherwise your pipeline dries up and you’ll hit more “famine” periods.

2.      Prospects rarely need you when you contact them. Just because you reach out to a prospect that seems perfect, that doesn’t mean they need your help now. But they might need you down the road. A “no” often means “not right now.”

3.      People forget about you if you don’t contact them regularly. Regular contact gets business.

4.      Raise rates regularly. Employees get regular raises for cost of living increases, and so should you. When you start a client at a certain rate, don’t keep them there forever. Establish a schedule – such as annually – for increasing rates. And then simply let clients know when you start a new project what the new rate is and that you’re raising your rates to account for normal inflation.

5.      You know more than most clients – about writing projects. You’re a professional writer. Your clients are not. They know their subject matter but rely on you for writing expertise. Be confident in your abilities.

6.      Be willing to take less-than-ideal projects early on. As with anything, you have to put in your time to build your income and experience. You can specialize from the beginning but don’t be TOO narrow at first. Don’t be too choosey early on either.

7.      Clients can take a while to pay. Know that clients can take a while to pay. Set your terms, such as “net 30,” but know clients do what they want. Include a penalty on the bottom of your invoices that says you charge a 1.5% late fee (or other fee) each month that the payment is late. Then send friendly reminder invoices when an invoice is past due.

8.      Don’t panic if a project seems too hard at first. Ask questions, get information, take notes, record interviews, and again, ask questions! They can’t expect you to be a subject matter expert on their products and services but you can learn quickly.

9.      Be detail oriented. Care about everything you deliver to a client.

10.   There’s plenty of work to go around. This is true, though it may not feel like it now. There are lots of writers out there but there are more companies that need help. Capitalize on the type of writing and subject matter you do best and those companies will be drawn to you.

11.   Freelancing is up and down. Everyone calls at once and stops calling at once! You can’t control your workload, unfortunately. Be ready for the feast when it comes, and then use the famine times to market yourself, and get organized and ready for the next feast.

12.   Use downtime to write – for yourself. During slower times, you should always amp up your marketing and sales efforts. Do what you do best, writing. Write articles, guest blog posts, etc. to get your name out there.

13.   Be disciplined. Set a marketing and writing schedule and stick to it.

14.   Paychecks are fixed (i.e. limited) but there's no limit with freelancing. It’s tough to think about it this way when coming off a paycheck, but being on 100% commission actually gives you the potential to earn more. And you give yourself raises with rate increases.

15.   People perceive you as less qualified if you charge too little. If a product like a cell phone or computer is a lot less than another one, don’t you wonder why? We assume that less expensive usually means less quality. Clients have the same reaction.

16.   Confidence sells. State your rates and be confident you’re worth what you charge.

17.   Set goals and check in on them regularly. Along with the discipline tip above, it’s more important than ever to set goals. By when will you finish your buzz piece? How much money do you want to make per month? How many projects do you need to get there?

18.   Referrals are not automatic sales. When a contact or client sends a potential client your way, don’t assume it’s a sale. Follow the same process with the same professionalism you always do. You still need to impress.

19.   You can’t control parts of the case study project. You can’t control how much time clients take to review a story or the time for end customer review and approval. Invoice after the first draft is delivered but stay engaged and committed to the project for as long as it takes to complete, even well after you’ve been paid.

20.   Don’t take lack of response personally. Just because someone doesn’t get back to you after you talk or send a proposal doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. People get busy, go on vacation, or other priorities come up. Follow up every so often.

21.   Everyone calls the day before you leave or while you’re on vacation (including the week of Christmas/New Year’s). You’ll notice the pattern once you’ve been freelancing for a while.

22.   Be a partner, not a sales person. Prospects don’t want to be sold. They want someone who will partner with them to achieve their goals. Always be thinking about how you can be that partner.

23.   Don’t be scared by clients with technical subject matter, especially if the end audience is business decision-makers. You don’t have to understand the bits and bytes behind technology if you’re only writing about the business impact and benefits. Ask your client about the audience before making decisions about projects.

24.   Partner with other writers. Find other writers that don’t write the same things or serve the same audience as you. Get to know each other’s strengths and refer leads back and forth. I do this with all types of writers.

25.   You are your own boss. When you feel like you have the freedom, don’t work with clients that are disrespectful of you or your time. It’s not worth it. There are better clients out there.

Happy Freelancing!

Want to add customer case studies to your menu of freelance writing services?

Get mad skills by spring in this new course for emerging case study writers: The Case Study Writer’s Mad Skills Crash Course. In this 7- week online course, learn from-the-trenches tips from Casey Hibbard. Armed with skills and best practices, you can confidently approach clients and win more projects – helping you break into this lucrative field. Grab early-bird pricing until Feb. 28.

Learn more.

Have you ever tried to drive in an unfamiliar place - especially at night - and just couldn't get your bearings? Even if you have a map or trusty smart phone, you can still get lost in new territory.

Pull over, stop and take the time to study the map more thoroughly.

Just as in driving, writing for a new client and brand-new subject matter can be equally disorienting. How do you make sure you're headed in the right direction?

Pull over, stop and take the time to study your new client's subject matter thoroughly.

To deliver effective case studies, you have to understand the subject matter. If you know your client’s solutions well, you’ll be a more valuable asset:

• Reduce edit rounds with your client, saving them time
• Create stories that get better results
• Boost the chances that clients will call you again

Here’s the step-by-step on how to study a new client’s products and services:

1. Ask your client which solutions will be featured in the case studies.

2. Study any relevant product datasheets, brochures, press releases, white papers, existing case studies, demos, videos and any other materials. If they don't exist or aren't current, interview people at your client's company.

3. Go back to your client contacts with any questions. Don't be afraid to ask these questions! Your client contacts probably had the same questions when they began working for the company.

4. As you study, look for answers to questions such as…

• What product names and industry terms does the company use?
• Do product names have trademarks or registered marks to include?
• What do the products, services or solutions do?
• Who uses them?
• What problems do they solve?
• What are the main business benefits that users can expect?

5. Create a cheat sheet with answers to these questions that you can refer back to. If you don't write for a client for a month or two, you may need to refresh your memory.

6. Look up terms and acronyms you don’t know in search engines or www.Wikipedia.org.

7. Also as you go, start a draft of your customer interview questions for these solutions, if an interview questionnaire doesn't already exist.

Each time you write about a new product, service or solution, you're again in new territory. Always take time out to get to know your surroundings so you confidently go in the right direction!

Want to add customer case studies to your menu of freelance writing services?

Get mad skills by spring in this new course for emerging case study writers: The Case Study Writer’s Mad Skills Crash Course. In this 7- week online course, learn from-the-trenches tips from Casey Hibbard. Armed with skills and best practices, you can confidently approach clients and win more projects – helping you break into this lucrative field. Grab early-bird pricing until Feb. 28.

Learn more.

A Free Webinar

6 Traits of Case Studies that Compel and Sell: How Writers Can Deliver Stories That Sell

Customer case studies are a hot area for freelance writers. LOTS of organizations are capturing the success stories of their happy customers - and turning to freelance writers to help them do so.

It's fun work that's never the same, and it's lucrative. The typical 2-page case study commands $1000-$1500, on average.

As a writer, how can you deliver case studies that resonate with the audience - and sell for your clients?

In an upcoming, 1-hour, free webinar on Feb. 6, pick up a few tips for making your case studies effective for your clients. With stronger stories, you can command high rates and keep clients coming back.

Learn more or register now

People seem SO articulate on television, right? (News flash: We’re not including Honey Boo Boo here.) Flip on the Amazing Race, Real Housewives, or the Voice - and you rarely see any of the characters stumble, stutter, or slur. In fact, they keep us on the edge of our seats with their riveting sound bites.

Truth – these people are rarely this articulate in real life. I produce reality television and corporate videos, and can vouch most humans have trouble spouting out a complete sentence on camera, much less an emotional one! No one at home sees the gazillion of hours the producer spends asking the interviewees questions, redirecting them, or begging them to “say that again with a smile on your face.”

The “reality” of reality television is this - capturing killer bites that promote your product, solution, or service TAKES WORK. Not to mention patience.

But given a little practice – anyone can elicit uber-happy sound bites from satisfied customers on camera.

Here are some guidelines before interviewing your satisfied customers:

1. Your Prep Work: Before conducting an interview, write out open-ended questions that help draw out the customer’s story. If you’ve already got a written case study on the customer, then you’ve got a head start. Share with the customer your general topics, but don’t get too specific before the interview. Focus on the words “how” and “why.” How did the widget increase your sales growth? Why would you recommend this widget to another business?

2. The Set-Up: Do not allow the interviewees to hold any notes or memorize a string of boring facts. If they do, they will sound like an awful actor in one of those cheesy furniture or used-car commercials. It’s ok to let them briefly look at a few bullet points, but then they must put their cheat sheet away.

Also, always interview people standing or sitting on a stool or a straight back chair. You want the interviewees on the edge of their seats so they are active with their hands and facial expressions. Avoid interviewing anyone sitting on a couch or a chair that resembles a Lazy-Boy. Before you know it, they’ll start to lean back and hunch over and lose energy. You’ll fall asleep – and worse – so will your future viewers!

3. The Verbiage Technique: Don’t be afraid to lead the customers into their answers, or put a few words in their mouths to get the “sound bite machine” rolling. (After all, this is business, not a Ken Burns documentary.) For example, if you need a strong bite promoting a particular product, ask the customer to repeat a few words and then “fill in the blank.” For example, “Our company would have been lost without this service because it….fill in the blank.” Before you know it, your interviewees will be pros as repeating back your question and answering with flair and substance.

4. Types of Sound Bites: Stick with emotional content sound bites versus complicated factual bites. In other words, keep the decimal points, mega-stats, and percentages for the written version of the case study if possible. If you want to include numeric or “over-the-top nerd language,” focus on one key fact per sound bite. Remember – your customers can only cram so much information in one breath. Also, remember to ask customers how the solution made them feel about their company. Excited? Positive? Life-changing? Innovative? Get creative!

5. Face-Time: Your customers must smile. This point is critical especially while interviewing techies, business execs, or anyone who looks stiff on camera! If they look frozen in person, trust me, they’ll look 10 times more rigid on camera. Do not be afraid to ask them to repeat what they just said with a smile. Viewers instantly remember a facial expression or emotion first – not what a person is saying.

Bottom line – if you feel at ease interviewing customers, they come across on camera as relaxed and confident. Your energy sets the mood during the interview! So smile, be prepared, crack a few jokes – and thank the “powers-that-be” you’re not working on the set of Honey Boo Boo or Jersey Shore.

About the Author

Lisa Weber is a seasoned freelance writer and producer with experience in corporate videos, reality television, and broadcast news (former television reporter).  She has interviewed 100s of people  – from the “average Joe” to the high-maintenance politician. She also authors a humorous dating blog titled www.myflirty30s.com. Learn more about Lisa at http://shootcolorado.org/lisa_weber.

Time and again, I've posted on the effectiveness of customer case studies. But now, there's more evidence that they not only work, but also that they're one of the least expensive content marketing options out there.

In a 2011 survey by TechValidate, 126 B2B marketing and sales professionals weighed in on their challenges and strategies for content marketing. Case studies were included in multiple questions, and emerged as leaders on several fronts. The only downside of case studies, as indicated by the survey, is the time to create them.

The highlights:

Question: How does the source of marketing content affect its effectiveness? How effective are the following types of content in convincing prospects of your value proposition?

Response: 94% said content sourced from existing customers is either extremely effective or very effective, with case studies topping content written in house and third-party analyst content.

Question: What are the three most costly content assets to create?

Response: Third-party white papers, business/thought leadership white papers and customer videos were overwhelmingly described as being most costly to create. Case studies (written) came in next to last, with sales presentations as the only piece of collateral that was considered less costly.

Question: Rate the effectiveness of the following types of content for lead generation.

Response: 73% of respondents rated case studies as extremely or very effective in their lead generation efforts.

Question: What are the most time consuming content assets to produce?

Response: Case studies came in second among the answers, with business/thought leadership white papers first. Why? Unfortunately, including customers in edits and approval of named case studies adds an uncertain amount of time to every case study project.

Conclusion...

Give yourself plenty of lead time to get case studies done for any big marketing effort (web launch, trade show...), and you'll find they are a powerful and effective addition to your marketing portfolio.

This past week, I was down with a cold. And while it was tough to work, and even harder to come up with new blog ideas, my radar for customer stories kept on working.

There are a lot of cold remedies out there, and who knows what really works? But in our house, we turn to Cold-EEZE. Not sure if the zinc lozenges actually help reduce cold symptoms, or we just think they do.

But while popping a Cold-EEZE, I discovered a little coaster-size card in the box. 

It's a customer testimonial, and a good one. What makes it good? The testimonial itself - while short - still tells a story.

The customer, a teen girl, describes her problem with good detail, what the remedy was and then the positive outcome. Cold-EEZE saved her prom.

With a storytelling testimonial, we get a visual of the girl, her challenge and the happy result. Most importantly, we feel the emotion of her situation.

It just goes to show that, no matter how short or long your customer success stories, the classic story format and customer emotion drive home the message.

• Develop a new relationship
• Uncover customer needs
• Help a client grow faster
• Repair a problem
• Change a misperception
• Advance or close a sale

Throughout our lives, we rely on relationships to help us get where we want to go.

In middle school, it may start with enlisting a friend for help: "Will you ask so-and-so if he/she likes me?" In a job search, we ask friends to introduce us to professional contacts they know at certain organizations.

Business and personal success largely depends on leveraging those relationships, and it's no different when we ask customers to participate in customer success stories and case studies. The best way to get customers on board for case studies is to tap into those with the closest relationships with the customer. In most cases, that's a sales or account rep who knows the customer well. Over the years, I've seen these contacts have better success than anyone else.

The "Leave-Behind" Doc

As important as it is to identify the contact with the best relationship with a customer, it is also important to give that contact the tools to represent you well.

By providing the sales or account rep with the right information, you can equip them to persuasively approach the customer, just as if they were selling a product or service.

Recently, I created a "leave-behind" document for a client whose process involves engaging sales reps to ask customers about participation. With all the details in a document, the sales rep can email it over and contacts can pass it around to those who need to provide permission, such as C-level executives, or legal and PR contacts.

Here are five parts to include in your "leave-behind" for customers regarding the case study opportunity:

1. What are you asking for?

Start out by clearly describing what you're asking for, whether that's a case study, press release, or being available for reference calls. Describe the opportunity, such as...

"Customer case studies are two-page, written documents (or videos) that highlight you as the customer, your relationship, and the benefits you have experienced with the product/service."

You might also provide a link to a page of current case studies so that customers can see examples.

2. What's involved?

Contacts need to know exactly what's involved and how much of their time it will take. Check out sample copy:

"We typically interview 1-2 primary contacts at your organization. Contacts would participate in a 30-60 minute phone interview with a writer, scheduled at your convenience. After the interview, you have the chance to review, edit and approve the story."

3. How will it be used?

Customers want to know where this information will end up, so be specific.

"When complete, your case study would be featured on our website, and be used for various sales and PR opportunities."

4. What's in it for them?

Just like a sales process, always emphasize what's in it for the customer, and never treat the case study as a favor the customer is doing. Stress that it's a joint promotional opportunity and emphasize benefits that may resonate with the customer. Those motivators might include public promotion or a story the contact can use to champion his or her efforts internally.

"Because of the success you have seen with [insert solution name], we’re interested in engaging with you on joint promotional activities, including a case study. It’s our goal to collaborate with you to ensure that we’re telling your story and the [vendor name] story, including messages you want to communicate to the market."

5. Questions and next steps

At the bottom of your document, provide contact information so that customer contacts can (1) ask questions or (2) take the steps to get going!

As always, keep the document concise and professional so that customers can quickly grasp what you're asking.

When you provide a "leave-behind" document, you empower your sales or account rep with valuable information that helps customers understand the benefits of case studies and speeds the decision-making process - and strengthens relationships all around.