My Process for Creating Great Customer Success Stories

 

Producing great stories for great companies requires a vigorous six-step process:

 

1. Consultation – I meet with you (representing the company) to understand your vision for the project and to discuss its basic elements, including key ideas, intended length, best format for delivery, and potential customer to be interviewed.

 

2. Research – I do my homework by gathering information about the company, the product and/or service, and the audience, and then I develop a plan for the interview(s), including a questionnaire.

 

3. Interview – Depending on the project, I either conduct one interview (with the customer) or two (with the customer and with the key contact from the company). I sit with people and listen carefully to their story. I try to make these experiences as casual, relational, and conversational as possible.

 

4. Writing – I craft a story with engaging quotes and dramatic tension. The story traces how the customer’s challenge was met by the company’s solution, and highlights the results in a clear before-and-after narrative. The story merges the customer’s experience with the reciprocal involvement of the company, showing how their shared experience brought about the effective result.

 

5. Review – I submit the first draft of the story to the customer and to the company, usually the key contact or the owner, partner, or marketing director. I invite feedback, input, discussion, and questions. This review process takes as long as is necessary to secure approval from each party concerned. I never publish until everyone is fully satisfied with the direction and details of the story.

 

6. Delivery – The primary outcome of my process is a well-crafted story, but I will help you to deliver that story into whatever format we have discussed, whether posting to your website, social media, email or print. This stage always involves careful collaboration, whether with graphic designers, photographers, web masters, social media managers, or printers. 

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