Building the Perfect Case Study

This gem is from positioning guru Philip Morgan. Answer Philip’s questions below to build the perfect case study:

Who were the “characters” in this story, both on your end and the client end?
What business problem did you solve?
What pain was the business problem causing your client?
What was your client’s overall mood around this problem? Fearful? Anxious? Cautiously optimistic? etc.
What would have happened if the client wasn’t able to solve this problem with your help?
What makes this particular problem either unique or common to other clients you want to work with?
What did you do to solve the problem?
What was unique about your solution (both technically and in terms of customer service)?
What pitfalls did you avoid in executing your solution? What financial loss do you believe you saved your client in the process?
What benefits did the client receive from your solution/working with you? In particular, were there financial upsides?
How did you improve your client’s business position or outcomes?
Please directly quote or paraphrase anything the client said that describes or compliments your work on this project.

For more info on how to do case studies, you can also check out this post from 37Signals and take inspiration from these examples from Thoughtbot.

P.S. You should really buy Philip’s book The Positioning Manual right now - it’s #1 on my “must read” business books list.