Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172570 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 253 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780615183008
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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

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

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

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.

Customer Reviews

Practical Advice Delivered in a Constructive Format
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

A terrific, in-depth, clear guide for managing a customer story program
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.

Success Story Marketing for sales success
I have been waiting impatiently for this book to come out ever since I first heard it was in the works last year, because:

* Casey Hibbard is the leading Case Study and Success Story expert.
* Success Stories are great lead generation tools for international sales. They can often be the tipping point you need to get the international sale, simply because stories are so powerful and can translate across cultures.

It took one month for this book to get to me here in France from Amazon.com It was a long wait, and when expectations are high, there is a greater danger of disappointment. This was not the case: no disappointment here. In fact, I got more excited as I read through the book. Stories That Sell spoke to both the writer and the marketer in me.

Stories That Sell goes into detail about the many ways to use the different types of Success Stories - Case Studies, Testimonials and References. Many companies have Customer-Reference Programs to encourage, qualify and track suitable customers. This book gives you ideas on how you can get more Success Stories and in ways suitable for your business.

In addition, Stories Than Sell gives you a road map to help you create your own Success Story Marketing strategy. Casey shows you how to strategically plan your Success Story creation to fit your business (sales) needs. It shows you how to create Success Stories to present a new idea, new product or new benefits.

Stories That Sell is written for both:

* People who write Success Stories
* People who use Success Stories and would like to improve their sales results with better Success Story Marketing

I would like to add that anyone interested in improving their sales should read this book and learn more about Success Story Marketing. This book lives up to its title and shows you how and why Success Stories can become your most powerful sales and marketing asset.

What I Got Out Of It:

I have used Success Stories effectively in previous marketing positions. And yet I discovered things I did not know. I greatly appreciated Casey's advice on how to deal with approval's for Success Stories. After reading this book, I feel that I now have a few more tricks up my sleeve.

As I read through the book, I jotted down ideas for Success Stories for my own business. I came up with 14 new ideas for Success Stories that I had not thought of before... simply because I now have more ideas how to market them and how they can improve sales.

Thank you Casey, for writing this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to facilitate the sales process in national or international markets. And this book is particularly valuable in today's economy where sales are slower.