3 Steps to Getting Customer Case Studies

The big problem my readers repeatedly face is the lack of action in turning customers into advocates or even customers into case studies, testimonials, or references. The reason for this is interesting regarding the UK versus the US. In the US, SaaS companies appear far ahead in being comfortable engaging customers and getting advocacy.

There may be a cultural difference between the confidence to ask the question and UK SaaS companies being more timid, terrified of upsetting the customer, and scared of asking because it always seems to be a bad time. UK companies never appear to have US companies' enthusiasm in engaging and turning the customer into a partner that drives a shared vision. I believe in the UK, we think of it too much like a linear ask—that it's just us asking for something, and we don't think hard enough about how to engage and get incremental advocacy, is what I like to call it. Let's call it that. The key phrase here is what we need to build, which is incremental advocacy. Write that down.

You can create all the most sophisticated go-to-market motions in the world, the most sophisticated channels you can think about, and strategies throughout the funnel, but at the end of the day, if you break it down in simplistic terms, the easiest way to drive expansion, retention, or even acquisition from advocacy is through your current customers. Purely having a marketing strategy based on that is simple and actionable, but we get far too lost in the complexity of building sophisticated marketing programs.

Here is a simpler marketing model:

I would not do what I did several years ago. I'd flip the thinking on your "audience" or "customer" - not about channels and tactics but five steps to build out the strategy. 

Here is where I would focus:

1. Figure out how to build the audience

2. Figure out how to engage the audience

3. Figure out how to convert the audience

4. Figure out how to nurture the audience

5. Figure out how to sell more to the audience

But week in and week out, I see companies struggling to even think about solving this problem. It becomes one of those ongoing issues where we know that it's essential, but no one ever takes accountability for owning it or creating a system and process to develop and grow it.

From the marketing side, we get far too consumed in day-to-day activities. Engaging customers and executing a system of customer advocacy is far down the bottom of the list.

Still, you need to flip the mindset that it should be at the top of the list because it impacts everything—even when you think of going narrow or niching down into different markets. You can only do that if you have look-alike accounts you can reference and leverage. Because when you sell to anyone, what they're interested in is what you've done for someone similar to them or in a similar context to them that is one or two steps ahead of them—not 10 steps—and that's why customers are so vital in how you build out your marketing and your go-to-market model.

Many try to solve this problem by asking the customer for a case study. And lo and behold, it doesn't work because there's no value exchange in asking the customer for a case study. At the same time, the customer has their agenda, own issues, known challenges, and the perception that a case study is time-consuming, a bit of hassle, and also not much in it for them.

It's very one-sided, and most—80% of people—try to solve the problem of customer advocacy by having no system in place but randomly asking customers for a case study. And it is random because what happens is now and again, every quarter or every six months, someone says to the head of marketing or the CEO," We need more customer references to close the deal. We need customer references for investors. We need case studies." And then there's a short-term project where you list your customers, and you go and ask them for a case study. Your hit rate is minimal, under probably 10%; because of all the reasons I mentioned earlier, there's no system for incremental advocacy and engagement with the customer where you take them up the advocacy ladder.

The ladder of advocacy will work when you focus on the right timing that will impact their business and their wins. When you do it randomly, you don't know the context of where that individual is. For example, you could finish your financial year, realize you want more case studies, and then go out to your customer base and ask for case studies.

Now, what happens if the day after you ask for a case study, their platform goes down for half a day? Bad timing. It's not a win. It's not good value engagement for that customer at that point.

Or what happens if you, as marketing, ask them for a case study just after you've sent an email announcing price increases again? That's not going to work. The random case study asks will not work. Thirdly, what happens if you ask them right after they've had a challenging call with a customer success rep? Marketing may not have realized the situation.

There's no systematic way you're planning and thinking about customer advocacy, and this is where companies need to be savvier and create a system and framework.

Here's what doesn't work. Random case study requests fail because they're reactive rather than proactive. There is no clear benefit or value exchange for the customer. Poor timing creates friction, can damage the relationship, and ultimately delivers minimal success rates.

Here's how I would do it instead.

You need to create incremental advocacy because social proof is one of the most important factors in the buyer journey. Incremental advocacy means creating incremental, next-step layers based on moments of real value for the customer.

1. For example, right after they've successfully onboarded, don't immediately ask for a complete case study—start small with something simple and low-effort, like a quick G2 review or quick recommendation.
2. Then, six months later, when they see measurable results—like a revenue increase of 20%—you ask for something slightly more significant, such as a case study or co-authored content.
3. Finally, 12-15 months in, once they've consistently experienced ongoing evolutionary value, you can ask for more of an ask—references, detailed case studies, podcast appearances, or event co-speaking. The journey to advocacy is value, engagement, and relationship-driven.

Always consider what's in it for them. A real example from my experience: we had a CIO of a large pharmaceutical company, and even though it was a small project within a more significant transformation, we built incremental advocacy from day one, in parallel with understanding he wanted to develop his brand. Over time, even years after the project ended, he remained a strong advocate, providing excellent value through content, referrals, and references. Why? Because we implemented an incremental engagement system.

This Week's Tangible Prompt for Investors & CEOs

Actions for investors:

• Ask your portfolio companies explicitly what transparent system you have to create incremental advocacy from your customers. "Don't accept that it's not possible to get case studies. Ensure they articulate a structured, simple approach based on timing, customer success, and mutual benefit.

Actions for CEOs:

• Immediately ask your CRO and CMO, "Do we have a simple, ongoing system to turn happy customers into advocates?" Is it possible to embed an incremental advocacy system based on automated touchpoints with product value and/or manually through customer success and sales? Ensure incremental advocacy is prioritized consistently—not occasionally.

Genuine customer advocacy stories will significantly outperform complicated marketing programs. This approach simplifies marketing, accelerates growth, and makes your go-to-market model predictable and effective.

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