Casey Hibbard

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE  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 th... (more)

The Resume Is Dead: The (Story) Bio Is King

Note from Casey Hibbard: While I’m out on maternity leave until the end of July, this blog will feature a summer guest blogger series with content from experts in marketing, organizational storytelling and writing. By Michael Margolis Gone are the days of “Just the facts, M’am.” Instead we’re all trying to suss each other out in the relationship economy. Do I share something in common with you? How do we relate to each other? Are you relevant to my work? We're exchanging stories all the time to determine if we belong in the same tribe. That’s why the resume is on the out, and t... (more)

25 Ways to Use Customer Success Stories to Grow Your Business

A customer story is one of the most versatile and powerful types of promotional content any organization can create. Here are the top 25 ways you can use case studies or success stories - or summaries of them - to establish or reinforce credibility, educate audiences, and validate products, services and organizations. Note: "Customer stories" refers to customer case studies or success stories. Web sites - Tease and link to customer stories right from the home page, and include customer stories with all relevant product and service pages. Newsletters - Run customer stories in new... (more)

Can a Case Study Help You KEEP a Customer?

Compelling customer case studies and success stories do many things... Close a sale Land PR Generate leads Upsell to existing customers Train new sales reps and employees Can we add to the list, help you keep an existing customer that is considering moving to another product or service? And, here's the kicker. The case study would be on the customer that is thinking of leaving. Wait, if the customer is happy enough to be featured in a case study, then why are they at risk? Business dynamics can be complicated, and many customers don't fully realize the impact a product or service... (more)

Will Customers Nominate Themselves as Stories?

If asked, will customers submit themselves as possible case study or success story candidates?  From consumer-products companies to B2B to nonprofit organizations, many now actively solicit stories with self-service “Share Your Story” links on their Web sites. Apple created a link for this soon after the release of its wildly popular iPhone. FileMaker software includes a link to “Tell us your story.” Girl Scouts of the USA asks former members to share their experiences for its alumnae program. And Toyota Motor Sales gather owners' stories and gets usage permission through an o... (more)