Henry Stimpson’s PR and Marketing Tips
Fall 2010

Succeeding with Customer Success Stories

Would you rather read a story with drama and human interest? Or do you prefer to hunker down with the all-too-typical press release:

NOPLACEVILLE--Megatron Industries, the world's leading supplier of fault-redundant, best-of-breed chip-driven capacitors, today announced the availability of ChipTronic 3.125, which opens new horizons in advanced capacitors. "We're very excited about this new technology," said Joe Blow, CEO.*

A close contest? Didn't think so.

Everyone loves a story, and that's why customer success stories—when written with flair—can be so compelling. A good one combines the dramatic elements—tension, human interest—of any good story with sound business and technical detail. It answers the question: "Wow, how did you do that?"

The "that" can be boosting sales, cutting costs, improving efficiency—you name it, as long as it's tangible.

There's a real art to setting up and writing customer stories. And while it's a challenge to produce one or two good stories, it's a greater challenge to have a real program—a series of stories so that salespeople and marketers always have fresh goods in their hands. But with the right strategy and tactics, you can have a great program.

Our affiliate Jeff Pike has just created a handy six-page guide called Six Steps for Building a Thriving Success-Story Program. It, well, tells a good story, with enough detail to offer real guidance while staying succinct.

If you'd like a copy in PDF, just shoot me an email.

*If your organization's press releases read like this, it's time to fix them. Contact me.




copyright Stimpson Communications

Henry@StimpsonCommunications.com
508-647-0705


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