Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset [Paperback]

Casey Hibbard (Author), Susan Mary Malone (Editor), Malone Editorial (Editor), Joe Montgomery (Illustrator), Wednesday Design (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2009

Shorten your sales cycle. Open doors to bigger accounts. Land major media coverage. Get it all with a few good stories from your happiest customers. The first book on capturing and using customer stories to grow your business or cause, Stories That Sell introduces a proven process for leveraging your current successes into new sales. Learn Success- Story MarketingTM best practices from author Casey Hibbard, leading expert on creating and managing customer stories, with insight from organizations such as Sage Software, SAP, Toyota, Kronos, Amdocs, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and dozens of other businesses, independent consultants, and nonprofits. Profit from the one marketing tool prospects believe most! Learn how to: Uncover your most satisfied, successful customers and get them to say "yes!" to sharing their stories publicly Move success stories smoothly through the Seven-Step Customer Story System, from choosing to using stories Conduct interviews that bring out details most important to your potential customers increased sales, employee retention, website traffic, and more Use customer stories to achieve your sales, marketing and PR goals faster Apply storytelling techniques that attract buyers and move them to act Avoid common roadblocks that can derail a customer story Repurpose a single success story in dozens of different ways

Editorial Reviews

Review

How do you feel when someone says: I want tell you about my product? Ready to run away in horror, right? What about when someone says Let me tell you a story? Now that s interesting! Casey Hibbard is an expert in Success-Story Marketing and her terrific book Stories that Sell will help you reach people in the best way possible, through customer storytelling. --David Meerman Scott, Bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR

People are often bored or put off by facts, but they never tire of hearing stories. That's why selling with stories is so effective and that's why this book tells a crucial truth to salespeople. --Jay Conrad Levinson, The Father of Guerrilla Marketing, Author, Guerrilla Marketing series of books

In the age of The Jaded Customer, companies that can speak to prospects credibly and authentically will thrive. In this timely, engaging and comprehensive book - and new standard on the subject - case-study maven Casey Hibbard hasn't held back a single how-to detail for turning satisfied customers' stories into a company's most powerful selling tool. Perfect for both companies seeking a competitive edge in the marketplace and writers looking to expand their professional offering. --Peter Bowerman, Author, The Well-Fed Writer titles

About the Author

Casey Hibbard, founder and president of Compelling Cases, Inc., has helped dozens of companies create more than 450 customer stories over the past decade. She has produced and managed success stories for companies such as Macrovision, Jobfox, USA.NET, IHS, and Vocus. Casey is featured in numerous books, articles, and teleclasses. She consults with organizations one-on-one and conducts online customer-story classes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: AIM Publishers; First edition (January 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061518300X
• ISBN-13: 978-0615183008
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Advice Delivered in a Constructive Format, April 3, 2009

By 

Sarah Mitchell "Global Copywriter" (Fremantle, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset (Paperback)

I bought this book after seeing a presentation Casey Hibbard made for the Copywriting Summit 2008 on-line seminar. I was a bit reluctant because it seems like I've been laying out a lot of cash while in start-up mode for my own business. Since I had decided my niche would be white papers and case studies, I thought I'd better do it.

I'm waiting for the final sign-off on my first case study. The feedback, to date, has been extremely positive. I used Casey's 7-Step Customer-Story System the whole way. My book looks like it's been taken on a camping trip; that's how much I used it. I found it an invaluable source of information with practical hints, tips and advice. I haven't met Casey but I honestly felt like she was sitting right beside me as I progressed my story from start to finish.

If I had to pick one thing that really improved my own game, the chapter about interviewing would be it. I've done loads of interviews in my life so I didn't expect much from that chapter. Her sample questions were so comprehensive I've got enough information to write several articles on the customer.

If you're looking for help writing case studies or customer-success stories this is the book to buy.

Sarah Mitchell
Copywriter/Consultant

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific, in-depth, clear guide for managing a customer story program, March 2, 2009

By 

Janice King "Author, "Copywriting That Se... (www.writinghightech.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset (Paperback)

Like the author, I have written hundreds of success stories and case studies, often managing the process for my clients. Based on this experience, I found Hibbard's explanations and ideas both accurate and relevant, especially for people who manage customer reference programs.

If you are just starting to write or publish success stories, you will find this book a complete guide. If you already have extensive experience as a reference manager, you will still find new ideas for audiences, content, uses, and the development process. Although the content for writers is good, it assumes that you have some experience in copywriting or corporate communications. And if you are a corporate marketer, you will get a better understanding of the full spectrum and potential of customer stories.

A few minor drawbacks of the book: I would have liked a chapter on podcasts and video stories, since these are becoming increasingly popular as supplements to or replacements for documents. The role of success stories in social media marketing is a key emerging activity that is only briefly covered here. Also, the author has a somewhat wordy writing style, which creates repetitiveness on some topics and distracts from material that could have been more succinctly presented in tables or checklists.

But markup the text and use sticky notes to flag useful pages and you will find this book to be a good learning tool and reference for future projects.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Effective Advice on Case Study Marketing, April 1, 2010

By 

C. Ryan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales & Marketing Asset (Paperback)

Casey Hibbard has written an outstanding book on a very important subject: How to use the power of compelling customer case studies to engage with larger accounts, shorten the sales cycle and generate revenue. The book is full of actionable advice that can be used by beginners and long time marketers. The many case studies from large and small organizations are especially helpful as is the list of questions that companies can use to elicit the right information from their customers.

Casey obviously knows how to get customers to share their stories and explains how to push the right buttons to motivate them to cooperate. Most importantly, the book is very well written, and covers everything you need to know to be successful in customer case study marketing. If you want to take maximum advantage of you customer relationships, I highly recommend this book.

Christopher Ryan, Author:
How to Create an Unstoppable Marketing and Sales Machine: An Introduction to Fusion Marketing