What options do clients have when choosing whether a product or service is right for them? 

 

Let’s take a look at the different options clients have available to them, and assess whether they are in fact feasible or not.

 

Imagine if finding a good dentist required trying a whole bunch of dentistries out to find out which one is best. The problem from a client’s perspective is that that would be costly and really time consuming.

 

Another thing you could do is directly observe each dentist (after you convince them to let you) by doing what they do to the point where you’re comfortable and know how they work. But that is obviously not feasible either.

 

Another thing you could do to choose the right dentist is to look at their advertising. But the problem with that is you cannot always trust advertisements. They tend to be very hyped and filled with a lot of attempts to persuade you. 

 

Case studies solve this problem by creating a quick and easy way for your customers to collect lots of knowledge that is easy to remember. They provide proof that you can do what they do by sharing how you have helped somebody else. And when they are told even reasonably well, they give prospects to imagine what it would be like to work with you, which actually gets them one step closer to work with you.

 

People are less likely to argue and challenge the integrity of a case study than they are with advertisements, especially if you back them up with a testimonial from that customer. As far as trust is concerned, that seals the deal for most other customers interested in knowing how you can work with them.

 

Amazon has tapped into this well in promotion of their AWS Cloud service. The homepage shows the logos of some big client names like Pfizer, Netflix, Dow Jones to name a few. Some of the case studies are in text, detailing what their challenge was, why they chose Amazon’s AWS, and the benefits they experienced after having made that decision.

 

Some of the client case studies are shown in video, with the client talking about their before and after experiences, but in an engaging format. Any prospect looking at this would surely feel comfortable knowing others have worked successfully with Amazon AWS.

 

So when it comes to assessing the options you have that build credibility and are easy for your prospects to understand, sharing case studies of how you have helped others is the right way to go.

 

* Ahmed Al Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions in Bahrain.