Writing a customer story somebody will read to the end

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

Most customer stories are written for the business rather than the reader. They open with a description of the company, proceed through the services engaged, and conclude with a quotation containing the words delighted and professional. Nobody outside the business finishes them. Very few are read past the first paragraph.

The version that works is structurally different. It begins with a situation the reader recognises, describes what was difficult about it, says what was done and what changed, and stops. It is shorter than expected, it contains numbers where numbers exist, and it sounds like a person rather than a brochure.

The purpose is recognition. A reader should see their own problem in the first two sentences. If they do not, nothing later will rescue it.

1. Writing a customer story somebody will read starts with the problem

The opening.

The first sentence should describe the situation, not the client and not you. Readers are looking for themselves. Give them something to recognise immediately. The client's name belongs further down, if at all.

2. Be specific about what was difficult

The credibility.

Vague problems produce vague stories. The particular obstacle, delay or cost is what makes it real. Detail is what distinguishes this from marketing. Name the thing that had already been tried and failed.

3. Include numbers where they exist

The evidence.

A timescale, a cost, a measured improvement. One real figure outperforms three adjectives. Where no numbers exist, say what changed in concrete terms instead. Approximate figures are fine if honestly labelled.

4. Describe what you actually did

The substance.

Enough detail that a reader in the same position understands the approach, without turning it into a method document. Three or four sentences. This is the part readers use to judge competence. Include the decision that mattered most.

5. Say what changed for them

The outcome.

The result from the customer's point of view rather than the deliverable from yours. This is the sentence that gets remembered. Make it concrete. Say what they can now do that they could not before.

6. Keep the quotation short and real

The voice.

One or two sentences in the customer's own words, unpolished. Edited quotations read as invented. Their phrasing is more persuasive than yours. Ask permission for the exact wording.

7. Keep the whole thing under a page

The length.

Three hundred words is usually enough and considerably more likely to be read. Length signals that it was written for internal approval. Brevity signals confidence. Cut the introduction first.

8. Include the ordinary cases

The selection.

Stories about typical work are more useful than the one exceptional project, because most readers have typical problems. The impressive case attracts attention and converts nobody. Cover both. Most enquiries come from people with unremarkable problems.

9. Put it where somebody with the problem will look

The distribution.

A story on a page nobody visits achieves nothing, however well written. Think about the search or the conversation that leads there. Placement matters as much as the writing. Link to it from the page about that service.

Be careful about a story that becomes a description of your own process. The reader is interested in whether their situation can be resolved, and a detailed account of your methodology, however good, answers a question they have not asked yet.

Conclusion

Write it for somebody who has the same problem and wants to know whether it can be fixed.

Open with the situation rather than the client, be specific about what was difficult, include real figures where you have them, describe what you did in a few sentences, say what changed from the customer's point of view, keep the quotation short and in their own words, hold the whole piece under a page, cover ordinary work as well as exceptional projects, and place it where somebody with that problem will actually look.