Everybody loves a good story.

Have you ever noticed how people perk up and pay attention when you utter those magic words, “Let me tell you a story”? Whether is a child on Grandpa’s knee or a crowd listening to your presentation, they are “all ears” at the prospect of a story.

How do you use a story to generate leads?

Give them a case study.

“Case study” is an odd-ball name for a success story about your customer using your product or service to solve a nagging problem. They aren’t hard to write. They are as easy as writing an article for your company newsletter and they are not long. Most run two to four pages.

How to write an effective case study

The first thing you need is a happy customer. Take some time and talk to her about she solved her problem using your product or service. A small tape recorder is great for “taking notes”, by the way.

During your discussion, you want to cover these topics:

• What was the problem she was trying to solve?
• What did she try to do before she found your product?
• How did she find out about your product or service?
• Why was your product the ideal solution?
• What experiences did she have implementing your product (good and bad)?
• What results has she experienced (be specific and use hard numbers)?

Write up your notes, quoting her often. Introduce her at the beginning and let her tell the story. Make sure it is her story as the heroine using your product or service to slay her dragon of a problem. Get her approval to ensure you quoted her correctly.

One last thing, make absolutely sure that you tell the reader how to contact you for more information.

What to do with your new case study

Enclose it with your sales letter. It is a great testimonial.

Pass it out with (or instead of) your brochure. When your voice is talking about your product, the reader is skeptical, but when someone else’s voice is talking about your product it must be true.

Call it an article and get it published in your industry’s trade pub. Or publish it in your company newsletter.

Put it in the body of a press release and send it to your local media.

Use your imagination. If you come up with an interesting twist, let me know.