To say that the tech media are crying out for good customer stories seems a bit obvious. However, I was at an event a couple of weeks ago and a journalist was lamenting the fact that the quality of the case studies he receives are oftentimes poor.

It seems so easy and yet how can you avoid the pitfalls dividing a bad from great customer story. In my mind a good customer story should:

1.   Be interesting – again, it seems in your face slappingly obvious, but never forget that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a big brand. The customer should be doing something significantly new, exciting or innovative to spark a journalist’s interest. Ask yourself, would I (my colleagues, my neighbour, my mum) REALLY be interested in reading about this and there’s your answer.

2.   Focus on the challenge and how the solution helped solve it – whilst understanding the technology is important, readers are generally more interested in how it’s helped the customer do something better, improve the way it works. Don’t talk about the technology for technology’s sake.

3.   Include quantifiable results – how much money did it enable the customer to save, how much less admin are they now able to do, what percentage improvements in productivity have they been able to make? Without measureable results, a case study falls flat.

One of our clients OpTier, a business transaction management specialist, has recently been able to secure a fantastic customer story with Deutsche Bank. Okay, yes, it’s a big customer name, but OpTier has was able to secure coverage in Computing, Banking Technology and Financial Sector Technology, amongst others. The Banker, arguably the most widely read of the financial sector publications, also wants a customer interview. Not a bad, start for a company who launched into the UK just two weeks ago.