How to get your customer success story program rolling...



  1. Start with a plan. Ask the sales force to pick pet customers. Compile a list of as many names as the target number of case histories. Categorize them by their name recognition, the product they use, their geographical location, and their line of business. Pick them b the most appropriate characteristics.
  2. Regardless of what the sales or marketing department says, your first contact should be with the customer's [public relations department. These are the people who can tell you immediately if a story will get approved or not, what the approval channel is, and whether or not photos are available. Getting them on your side at the onset will help grease the skids for a fast approval.
  3. Get an initial briefing from your sales contact. The information will not always be right, but it will get you heading in the right direction.
  4. Don't do your interviews on a conference call or on a speakerphone. The quality of the sound is lousy, people talk over each other, and people will be less open with you when a colleague is sharing the line. This is often done in the name of efficiency, in practice, it generally is the least efficient. If more than one person needs to be interviewed, do the interviews serially.
  5. Don't be afraid to make follow-up phone calls for more information. People love to talk about a program that they are involved in, so if you're not being pesty, the chances are good that they'll be happy to talk to someone interested in their work.
  6. If it's possible, let the customer's PR department handle the approvals. They're sensitive to what will and what won't be approved, and they know the inside ways to get things approved in a hurry. And they are usually happy to help.
  7. Set the approval cycle up this way: First you, then your management, then the customer. The copy that the customer approves should be what the world sees. Think twice about making changes to the customer's side of the story after the story has been approved, unless there are errors of fact.
  8. Send your customer contact and the customer's PR department copies of the final deliverable. Watch the clips, and send them copies of any pickup the story gets.
  9. Keep the pipeline full. When a story is done, or if it gets killed, replace it with two or three new leads. Keep talking with the sales force to find out who's buying your product and how it's being used.
  10. Consider farming customer stories out. They soon get pushed to the bottom of internal priority lists, and are not likely to get done consistently. Outside consultants have a motivation to complete the projects: your check.